PANAJI, India (UCAN) – Hundreds of people, including Hindus, attended the funeral of a Jesuit priest who promoted Konkani, the official language of the western Indian state of Goa.

Father Matthew Almeida died on Feb. 18, 10 days after a fall that injured his spine and abdomen. He was 73.

Archbishop Felipe Neri Ferrao of Goa and Daman led the funeral services on Feb. 19 at the Holy Cross Church in Porvorim, near the state capital of Panaji.

Spokesperson of Goa and Daman archdiocese, Father Francis Caldeira, termed Father Almeida’s death as a loss to the Konkani movement.

“Through his works, Father Almeida popularized Konkani not only in Goa but also overseas,” he said.

A press statement from the archbishop’s house on Feb. 19 described Father Almeida as a Konkani movement stalwart whose expertise greatly contributed to the development and promotion of the mother tongue of Goans.

Tomazinho Cardozo, former speaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly, said the state lost “a doyen of Konkani.” He noted the deceased priest spearheaded a movement to popularize the state’s official language.

Some Hindus at the funeral also commended the Jesuit priest’s contribution to the language, generally associated with Goa’s Catholics. Some groups had tried to promote Marathi, the language of neighboring Maharashtra state, among Goa’s Hindus.

Shilpa Salvi, a Hindu researcher of the Konkani language, said Father Almeida was “a dedicated researcher.” Netra Veluskar, another Hindu, said the Jesuit priest was her guide for master’s degree and had instilled confidence in her.

Father Almeida wrote 13 books and co-founded the Thomas Stephen’s Konkani Kendr (center), or TSKK, a Jesuit institute to promote the language. Originally set up to teach Konkani to Jesuit seminarians, it later took in other students.

For the past one year, Father Almeida had been working on an English-Konkani dictionary. His works include two best-selling books, “A description of Konkani,” published in 1989, and “Konkani Course in Roman Script” in 2007.

TSKK director Father Pratap Naik said scholars from around the world are now trying to get hold of the first book, while common people are interested in the second one, to help them learn the language.