Cardinal Simon Pimenta (Gopa)

Born in Marve, a suburb of Bombay, on 1st March, 1920, the Bishop did his studies in the Local Marathi Shala upto Standard IV, in the St. John the Evangelist School and St. Xavier's High School. Passing his matriculation examination in 1936, the Bishop joined St. Xavier's College and graduated in 1940 with honours in Mathematics. The same year he joined the Bombay Diocesan Seminary, Parel, and was ordained priest in 1949. He was in Rome from 1951 to 1954 and obtained his doctorate in Canon Law. His valuable and sterling qualities were early recognised and after a number of appointments he rose to be Rector of the Cathedral of the Holy Name and Episcopal Vicar for Sacred Liturgy. Quiet and unassuming, always unruffled and ever willing to help, the Bishop endeared himself to his parishioners. In spite of his arduous work he still found time to edit the 1961 and 1964 editions of the Catholic Directory of Bombay and the official Circulars of the Archdiocese of Bombay 1926-1963. This was tedious work, but the Bishop stuck to it with remarkable zeal.

Source: St. Xavier's College Magazine, Mumbai (1972)