RAWALPINDI, Feb 20: At the Cathedral of St. Joseph, hundreds of mourners gathered on Wednesday for the funeral mass of Bishop Emeritus Anthony Lobo, who died on February 18 aged 76.

Mourners and speakers remembered him as a kind and dedicated man committed to the service of his country.

Delivering the eulogy, Rufin Anthony, Bishop of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, described Lobo’s “legacy of learning”.

As Bishop of Karachi, he had been Principal of St. Patrick’s High School, and opened a sister school for girls. “He worked very hard for education in Karachi and in Rawalpindi and Islamabad,” Bishop Anthony said.

“His life teaches us the importance of learning and educating others.”

Bishop Lobo was committed not just to educating students, Rufin Anthony added, “but always stressed the need of teachers themselves to learn before trying to educate someone else”.

Bishop Lobo studied religion in Paris, and earned degrees from Harvard University.

Trying to bring education to “every nook and corner” of Pakistan, he later enrolled at Urdu College, in Karachi, and earned a degree from there as well.

Despite suffering from illness from 2008 until his death, “Bishop Lobo continued to read a great deal and to teach others,” Bishop Anthony concluded.

John Anthony, a former student of Bishop Lobo’s, shared this memory.

“He taught me to consider books as friends,” he said. “Every time I spoke with him, he talked about the importance of teaching and learning.”

Archbishop Joseph Coutts remembered Bishop Lobo’s contributions to the church and the people of Pakistan.

After nationalising missionary schools in the 1970s, the government later agreed to return them to the missionaries, on the condition that the churches would pay one year’s salary to all of the staff.

“It seemed very difficult for us to collect so much money,” Archbishop Coutts recalled.

“Bishop Lobo was the one who met with the President, the prime minister, and everyone he could,” eventually reaching a compromise that enabled the missionaries to take over the schools after paying six months’ salaries.

At the mass, priests, deacons and seminarians took turns flanking Bishop Lobo’s casket, in front of the marble altar, and offering prayers.

Mourners came to pay their respects; some hoped to touch the coffin, but were asked not to do so.

After the Bishop was laid to rest, the congregation discussed his memory and his efforts to spread education and peace.

“He was a true gentleman who walked in the footsteps of Christ,” said S.K. Tressler, a former federal minister.

“He loved people, and everything he did was for their betterment. His was an exemplary life.”