Fundació privada ADA Món Adivasi

The Jesuit missionary Federico Sopeña has died in India at the age of 90 after almost seven decades dedicated to social action with the most disadvantaged. 

Federico Sopeña Gusi, Father Sopeña as he was known for the great Indian family with which he has lived for almost the last seventy years, died today at the age of 90 in the Holy Spirit Hospital in Mumbai by natural causes. The Fundation  ADA per al Desenvolupament dels Adivasis, created by the people around him in Barcelona to ensure the stability and the continuity of the projects of social action, education, and health that the Jesuit missionary implemented in  India, expresses its condolences and makes a call to remember his teachings which he asserted in his own words: “The Adivasis have taught us to aspire without ambition, to share with generosity and to live in harmony with the environment”.

Born in Barcelona on March 10th of 1926. When he was 23 years old, in 1949, the company of the Jesuits sent him to India with the mission to evangelize the local population, but after his first formative phase in the North of the country, the contact with the people from the shanty towns of Bombay radically changed the orientation of his work. “I believe we arrived with the idea of talking about Jesus, Christ as a unifier of humanity but, rather than evangelize them, they converted me… not once but several times!”. He said about his relationship with the local population.

His personal evolution and the impact of his work in India, is described in the documentary “Father Sopeña: 60 anys aprenent Hindi”, premiered on TV3 on 2013. The film includes his thoughts about faith, friendship, love and death among other essential topics in his life. “Salvation lies in loving each other. If I am capable of truly loving, love will never die and that is our salvation because it makes us change, it transforms us. I believe in the eternity of love, love is indestructible”.

Federico Sopeña’s work laid emphasis on the empowerment of people regardless of their religion. “The first need is to have a full stomach, he argued, but next it comes  access to health, education and the emphasis on human rights, fundamental rights and civic rights such as the right to information or to work”.

Federico Sopeña will be buried tomorrow Thursday, January 26 in Mumbai, fulfilling his dream of dying as Hindu in India. The funeral chapel will be opened at 4 p.m.