Rev. Fr. Mathew Vas, parish priest of Immaculate Conception Church, Kinnigoli, and producer of ‘Bhuvana Jyothi’, the first musical film in Kannada on the life of Jesus Christ, passed away following a cardiac arrest here on Friday. He was 62.
Funeral mass
The mortal remains of Fr. Vas will be brought to Kinnigoli Church for public viewing between 8.30 a.m. and 9.30 a.m. on Saturday and the funeral mass and burial rites will take place at 10 a.m. at the church.
Hailing from Siddakatte in Bantwal taluk, Fr. Vas was born to John Vas and Lucy Rodrigues on July 8, 1960. He was ordained to priesthood on April 30, 1987. After serving as the assistant parish priest in Kinnigoli and Kulshekara churches, he trained himself in mass communication in Patna.
He also underwent a short course on film production in Taiwan. As the director of Canara Communication Centre (CCC), he ventured into film production. ‘Bhuvana Jyothi’ (Jesus, the light of the world), directed by Udupi Vasudeva Bhat of ‘Nadavaibhavam’ production, was his first film.
Fr. Vas served as parish priest in Bela (1998), Udupi (2004), Angelore (2011), and Kinnigoli (since 2018). The diocese of Mangalore with Most Rev. Peter Paul Saldanha, priests, and nuns mourned the death of Fr. Vas.
