Jesuit priest who enhanced liturgy in India’s Bengali mission dies at 91

Father Jean Engelbert was director of liturgy for the Calcutta archdiocese when St. John Paul II visited India in February 1986

A Jesuit priest who served the Bengali mission in India for more than six decades and who enhanced the celebration of the liturgy died in Belgium on September 7. He was 91.

Father Jean Engelbert, SJ, was director of liturgy for the Calcutta archdiocese when St. John Paul II visited India in February 1986. During the celebration of the pope’s visit, he encouraged the faithful to come attend celebration, which featured three choirs in Bengali, English, and Hindi.

Father Engelbert was born on Nov. 7, 1929. He spent most of his life in Bengal as a missionary. He was a Jesuit for 72 years.

He joined the Jesuit novitiate on Sept. 15, 1948, and was ordained a priest on March 19, 1962.

He worked mostly among migrants in Taltola, an area in the heart of Kolkata. He was associated with St. Teresa’s Church and Prabhu Jishur Girja. He also served as parish priest of Prabhu Jishur Church.

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