The Udupi Diocese has made all arrangements to declare Holy Priest Fr. Alfred Roche, fondly known as AmchoPadryab, as the Servant of God on Sunday, in recognition of his service to society.
The declaration ceremony would be conducted by Udupi Bishop Gerald Issac Lobo at 8 a.m. at the Holy Family Church, Brahmavar, where Fr. Roche had served as the first Capuchin parish priest and where he was laid to rest. Servant of God is the first step in designating an individual who is being investigated by the church for possible canonization as a saint, said a release. Upon declaration, Fr. Roche will be the first from Udupi diocese and the second person of Karnataka origin, to be declared as Servant of God. The first one was Mgr. Raymond Francis Camillus Mascarenhas, former vicar feneral of the Diocese of Mangalore and Founder of Congregation of the Sisters of the Little Flower of Bethany. He was declared Servant of God in 2008.
Fr. Roche was born Peter John Roche in Moodahadu under St. Peter’s Church Barkuru on April 3, 1924. After completing his primary and high school education in Moodahadu, Sastan and Milagres Kallianpur, he joined the Capuchins in 1944 and received the name Alfred. He was ordained priest on April 11, 1951 at Kotagiri. He was the first Capuchin parish priest of the Holy Family Church of Brahmavar in 1956 at a time when the region was reeling under poverty, illiteracy etc. Fr. Roche ushered in a new spiritual, academic, economic, social and inter-faith era in Brahmavar, the release said. He later went on preaching the word of God and living a life of pious, humble Capuchin as parish priest in Binaga and Lower Kasarkod in Karwar Karwar where he is already considered a Saint. He came back to Brahmavar in mid-90s after his retirement. He was laid to rest after he on December 31, 1996 at Brahmavar. When he passed away thousands of people from Karwar diocese arrived to have the last glimpse of their ‘SaantPadryab.’
