Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Apr 10: Fr Melwin J Pinto SJ, Pro-Chancellor of St Aloysius University, Rector of St Aloysius Institutions, and Vice President of Mangalore Jesuit Educational Society (MJES), passed away on Friday, April 10. He was 63.
Born in 1963, Fr Melwin Pinto completed his school and college education at St Aloysius and joined the Jesuit order on June 20, 1981.
He held an MA in English, a Master’s in Education, and a diploma in psychology and counselling, in addition to a diploma in school administration.
He was ordained as a Jesuit priest on April 14, 1997. He served as headmaster at St Joseph’s Primary School and High School in Hassan between 1996 and 1999, before founding St Joseph’s Indian PU College, where he served as principal until 2007.
He later served as headmaster of St Aloysius High School, Mangaluru, from 2007 to 2011 and as principal of St Joseph’s PU College, Hassan, until 2012.
Fr Melwin Pinto had also worked with Vatican Communications and Radio in Rome on its English desk for Asia and Indian languages.
He served as superior and director of Fatima Retreat House, Valencia, for a period of two years from May 2017, before being appointed as superior of the Jesuit study home ‘Vidyaniketan’ in Dharwad.
Colleagues and students remember Fr Melwin as an intellectually deep yet remarkably humble individual. Known for his radiant smile and gentle demeanor, he was celebrated for his insightful homilies and his unique ability to make everyone he encountered feel respected and important.
The St Aloysius community and the Jesuit province have expressed deep mourning over the loss of a leader who balanced professional excellence with a profound, soft-spoken kindness. Funeral arrangements are expected to be announced shortly.
Watch Fr Melwin on Daijiworld TV's 'Hello Father':