Francis Pereira


Reverend Professor Francis Pereira S.J. is a well-acclaimed Jesuit priest, scripture scholar and Marathi writer. He is professor Emeritus of Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune, India. He has contributed to the study of the Bible and especially through his Biblical commentaries in Marathi, the language of Maharashtra, India.

Early history

Fr. Francis was born on 4 December 1931, at Vadawali, Palli, Vasai of Catholic parents. The region of Vasai, like Goa, was evangelised by the Portuguese missionaries in the sixteenth century.
His parents were simple people without much formal education, sufficiently well to do; they had their own farm and vegetable garden. By their life more than their words his parents taught Francis deep faith and genuine piety, integrity and honesty, love for all without discrimination of caste and creed, especially the poor and needy around in their neighbourhood. Francis and his brother and four sisters grew up in an atmosphere of peace and happiness within the family and in the neighbourhood. Two of his sisters are religious nuns.
After his high school studies he did BSc at the Bombay University in 1953, after which he joined the Society of Jesus at Andheri, Mumbai. He holds master's degrees in Philosophy and in Theology (Pontifical Athenaeum, Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune. Francis was ordained a priest on 18 March 1964.

Academic Life

Fr. Francis was appointed to teach Sacred Scripture in Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth. Accordingly, he did his Licentiate in Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome. He started teaching New Testament Scripture from 1969. After teaching for a couple of years he did his Doctorate in Sacred Scripture at the same Biblical Institute in 1975, under the guidance of Fr. C.M. Martini, S.J.. Most of his life from 1969 onwards has been spent in teaching at Jnana-Deepa Vidyaapeeth, except for the break of five years when he was called to St. Pius College Seminary at Goregaon, Mumbai, to teach Scripture and to be a Spiritual guide for a period of five years.
While he was at St. Pius College Seminary in Mumbai, he received a congratulatory letter from the Jesuit General, Fr. Hans-Peter Kolvenbach, S.J. on the occasion of his golden jubilee in the Society of Jesus on 1 July 2003. That letter shows how Fr. Francis came across to others. In the letter he wrote the following:

His Books

It was the letter of Fr. Kolvenbach which gave the impetus to Fr Francis to write Commentaries on NT books in Marathi. There has not been much written in Marathi regarding the Bible either by Catholics or even Protestants. So it was a challenge and inspiration from the Lord. There was a genuine need.
With the encouragement and support of both the Bombay Provincial and the Provincial of South Asia, Fr. Francis returned to the Papal Seminary, Pune in June 2005 with this important 'assignment'. He has been primarily engaged in writing the Marathi Commentaries for the last eight years. He has been busy also with part-time work of being a spiritual guide to a good number of the Seminarians.
So far, by the grace of the Lord he has been able to write five Commentaries in Marathi. They are of scholarly and scientific nature, but written in a simple, clear style so that even ordinary lay people can understand the message of the Word of the Lord. The five Commentaries are:
It may be interesting to know that during the last 30 years or so, beginning with 1982, Fr. Francis has had a number of life experiences, moments of physical illness, which have in fact made him more happy, more peaceful and fruitful in the Lord. The words of St. Paul, "When I am weak, then I am strong; because Christ's grace and power take over" have been experienced by him on these occasions.
The first was the massive heart attack in 1982, Then in 1993, he had a fall in the bath room at home in Vasai, and fractured his right femur and shoulder bone. The femur fracture, however, was healed miraculously. While he was recovering from the shoulder bone minor fracture, he had a mild stroke in May 1994. A year after that, when he was heading for another heart attack, he had a bypass surgery on 7 July 1995. Prior to that, he had an exceptional spiritual experience during the second half of May. He feels that for the greater glory of God something should be said about it. The following is an extract from the account of his "My Trinitarian Bypass Experience" :
From 2003 Fr. Francis has been suffering from a serious vertigo problem which still troubles him. And more recently, in April 2008 he had a severe stroke, A year after that came the prostate operation. In all these experiences, he sincerely feels that it has been the power of the Lord which has made him bounce back through all these ailments. And with all these limitations, his life has gone on as usual: the writing of the Marathi Commentaries on NT Books, Spiritual Guidance of Seminarians and others, etc.

The Person

In the perception of the staff and students in the Papal Seminary:
According to a recent decision of the Jesuit Superiors, all the Jesuit professors in the Common Houses of Formation in India are supposed to return to their respective Provinces after their retirement at the age of 65. So Fr. Francis also, now 81, is going back to his Bombay Province in May 2013. He goes to Vinayalaya, Andheri, where he hopes to do more or less the same type of work he has been doing at the Papal Seminary.