Fr Jose Kuriedath CMI, a scholar and academic among us CMIs, has completed his sojourn on this planet and has entered the next phase of his existence. It doesn't come as a shock to me or to most of us, his brothers in the order of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, and definitely not to him. It was a well-prepared, expected exit, rather, release to the painless world of eternal peace!
I came to know Fr Jose as the director of Chavara Cultural
Centre, Kochi, way back in 1979. I was a learner of public speaking under his
tutelage there. (No claims of having been a success on that front.) He had also made some rare appearances at the
KCSL camps, which used to be held at Rajagiri, Kalamassery, or Sacred Heart,
Kochi.
My next encounter with him was as a young scholastic. I took the freedom to ask him to borrow the
scooter (vespa or bajaj) under his custody, to go for my two-wheeler driving test
(this was in 1989). He did not show any reservation in this regard, though such
freedom with a senior priest was not so easy to conceive. It was perhaps the next year or so, I
happened to pass by SH college, and we had an unplanned and casual encounter. I
remember him taking me to the auditorium and proudly sharing his experiment in
participatory management – the parent council members were seated and were
persuading the new parents to support the college by voluntary donations.
Though we never kept in touch with each other, during my
first visit abroad, in 2001, I managed to fit a short visit to Canada, and he
had been the CMI coordinator there. I managed to secure a visa in those days
and perhaps announced my arrival by email. I was received warmly – met the two
former Principals of SH – Fr George Palamattam and Fr Jose Kuriedath. Fr Jose
took me around Toronto; we went to an IMAX show, and on my departure, he gifted
me 200 Canadian dollars, a happy surprise for me.
I was privileged to be at the electoral body which elected him
to be the general councillor for education for the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate.
While he made efforts to rearticulate the CMI educational vision and its core
values, he also went around all the CMI educational institutions, animating the
ministry across the globe. I also felt
honoured to be invited to felicitate him on his golden jubilee of religious
profession held at his parish.
Immediately thereafter, I was fortunate to have him as my
Prior and as the Manager of Sacred Heart College, where he had served as a
well-respected Principal long before my time. He always commanded the respect
of the faculty, many of whose senior members had once been his colleagues. He
spoke with clarity and conviction, whether preaching in church or addressing an
audience. His erudition was beyond question.
Despite his formation in the traditional grant-in-aid
system, he had the courage to defend a model in which those who benefited from
the management quota in admissions also contributed to the development of the
college infrastructure, while insisting on transparency in the process.
His tenure as Prior of SH seemed to confirm, for the members
of the Province, their trust in his leadership, eventually leading to his
election as Provincial. He guided the Province with wisdom and balance. After
completing his term as Provincial, he transitioned with ease to leading a
self-financing institution, Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology,
thereby dispelling the notion that he was a “kattar socialist.” Rather, he
proved himself to be a rational thinker who could discern and justify the need
for CMIs to venture into such fields of education.
Already a two-time survivor of cancer, a third and entirely
different onset was wholly unexpected. Yet, even at the age of over eighty, he
displayed remarkable courage, becoming a personification of fortitude. Until
April 2026, he continued to attend to his responsibilities in the Director’s
office with unwavering commitment. Amidst his suffering, and without complaint,
he brought out a book on CMI ministry from a sociological perspective. The
Province acknowledged his intellectual and spiritual contributions by electing
him to the supreme body of the Congregation, which he attended despite immense
physical suffering.
Perhaps the congregation's decision to have him come to Keralam from an otherwise fertile thinking environment of Delhi and be part of its typical higher education culture, has deprived the world from have an Indian Sociologist who could have contributed to Sociological concepts and theories from an Indian-Asian perspective. Perhaps, no body remebers that, or regrets that!
As he now bids farewell after a valiant innings of
scholarship, leadership, and endurance, dear Jose Acha, we salute you. May your
example inspire emulation among your younger brothers. Adieu. May your
grace-filled presence rest in peace!
