Bishop Emeritus Ernest Boland was instrumental in starting 7 churches, 10 hostels and at least 20 schools in Punjab
Father James Channan (left), director of the Dominican Peace Center, presents gifts to Bishop Ernest Bertrand Boland of Multan on his 97th birthday in the US (Photo: Father James Channan)
Bishop Emeritus Ernest Bertrand Boland of Multan, who championed education among Pakistan’s rural children, died on May 29 after battling cancer.
The 97-year-old Dominican prelate passed away at a home for the elderly run by the Little Sisters of Poor in Providence, Rhode Island in the US.
According to Father Pascal Paulus, prior vice-provincial of Ibn-e-Mariam province, the bishop emeritus insisted on only palliative care being given to him after doctors informed him his cancer was advanced.
“I am ready to go to my Lord,” said Pascal, quoting the last words of the late bishop, born in Providence in Rhode Island, one of the smallest states in the US.
“It is indeed sad news. Our beloved bishop was a great missionary and a visionary who loved the poor and became the voice of the voiceless. He loved Pakistan,” Pascal said.
We offer our condolences, the priest added.
Boland attended Providence College and joined the Dominican order in 1949. Following his priestly ordination in 1955, he first went to Pakistan in 1957.
He was elected the third bishop of Multan in Punjab province on May 17, 1966, and installed on Oct 25, 1966.
He resigned in 1984 and moved to St. Dominic’s monastary in Bahawalpur in Punjab province and from there back to the US.
Boland was instrumental in starting seven churches, 10 hostels as well as more than 20 schools in rural areas of southern Punjab, where he also set up many welfare commissions.
He was succeeded by Bishop Patras Yousaf in 1984 who was the first local prelate from the diocese.
Archbishop Christopher Michael Cardone of Honiara, Solomon Islands, will preside at the funeral Mass on June 2 in the chapel of St. Thomas Aquinas Priory in Providence County.
The Dominicans in Pakistan are planning a special Mass on the same day.
The newly installed Bishop Yousaf Sohan of Multan remembered his interaction with the late prelate before he joined Saint Mary’s Minor Seminary in Lahore in Punjab province.
“The local Church leadership grew in his era. He loved us like his own children. He was a sufi [a Muslim monk] who dared the extremely hot summers of Multan. He brought teachers from other dioceses to run educational institutes,” Sohan realled.
“His loss is a huge tragedy,” the prelate told UCA News.
The UK-based editor of the Minority Concern of Pakistan magazine remembered the late bishop as a humble person who was always with people.
“He often visited people’s homes, sometimes without informing them. He traveled a lot to meet people and perform sacraments. He focused on promoting the local leadership, primary education and youth empowerment,” said Aftab Alexander Mughal, who was mentored by Boland.
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