Dear Friends in Christ,

It is hard to put to words the great legacy of Fr. Clement. I hope I do justice.

Alphonsus Clement Campos was born in Hyderabad on 19 th December, 1946 to late Mr.  Francis John Campos and Late Mrs. Lena Campos. He was the youngest of 10 brothers Late  Regis, Fr. Gerard Campos, Emile, Late Bruno, Joseph, Claude, Mario, Eugene and Felix and  5 sisters Marilla, Leila, Anne, Pauline and Bernadette. Most of them are here with us this  morning. Mrs. Lena Campos was in her ninth month of pregnancy when she had gone to  attend her son Gerard Campos' first profession into the Congregation of the Most Holy  Redeemer. The then rector gave Mrs. Lena Campos the relics of St. Alphonsus, St. Clement  and St. Gerard and asked her to pray to them for safe confinement. She later went to the Icon  of our Mother of Perpetual help and prayed to her saying, "If it is a boy child, he is yours."  This the mother revealed to the family much later after Clement joined the congregation. No  wonder Clement received the names of two of our Redemptorist saints, our founder St.  Alphonsus Maria De Liguori and St. Clement Mary Hofbauer.

Clement was keen on joining the Redemptorists soon after his schooling. His mother seemed  to have said to him wittingly, just because you are named after Alphonsus and clement  doesn't mean you have to join the Redemptorists. His father wanted Clement to join later,  but Clement was persistent. He joined the congregation of the Most holy redeemer on 10th  June, 1963. He made his first profession on 2nd August, 1964 and his final profession on  2nd

August, 1968. He was ordained a priest on 25th July, 1971.

In his early days as a young priest Clement worked in the north of India, especially in our  community at Lucknow where he preached and worked in Hindi. Fr. Clement was later sent  to do his master's in theology at JDV, Pune and later to complete his doctoral studies in  Moral Theology with a specialization in Bio-Medical Ethics from the Alphonsian Academy  in Rome. He served the province of Bangalore under various capacities. He was a provincial  Vicar and Second counsoltor, Rector of Mt. St. Alphonsus and St. Gerard's community, Co- pastor of Holy Ghost church, Editor of Breaking the Word, Dean of Studies, Prefect and  Socious of the Theologate and Pastoral year director training young priests for ministry. He  has been several times moderator of our provincial chapters and very recently of the General  chapter. He has also been a member of the Doctrinal Commission of the Conference of  Catholic Bishops of India, President of the Association of Moral Theologians of India,  member of the bioethics forum and co-founding member of the association of Catholic  doctors in Bangalore.

Clement imbibed in his life and ministry the very spirit of our founder St. Alphonsus. Like  our founder St. Alphonsus, Clement was a gifted musician, singer and composer, a great  moral theologian after St. Alphonsus the patron of Moral Theologians, A great writer,  brilliant Preacher and a wonderful pastor reaching out to all sections of the society both  young and old, rich and poor.  1. As a musician, singer and composer: Clement used this gift to evangelize and to  communicate God's love to all. Among his compositions, his most famous one is

undoubtedly, "The World Stands in need of Liberation my Lord" a hymn seeking the  intervention of God to bring justice and liberation of the poor and downtrodden. In this  very church Clement sang the passion narrative on Good Friday for so many years, the

exultet on Easter vigils, the litany of saints on important occasions. He taught us  redemptorists, liturgical music for years and helped us to appreciate the place of music in  sacred liturgy.

2. Respected Moral theologian of India: Fr. Clement is one of the most respected moral  theologians of India and a brilliant teacher. He has taught in most of the major seminaries  in India and Singapore. Clement spent a great deal of his life teaching with passion  Moral theology for more than 25 years. Almost 3/4 th of our present redemptorist in India  and good number of the priests in India were taught by Fr. Clement. He taught us to be

persons of integrity, to do what is always morally right and to be pastorally sensitive and  caring to the needs of others especially the most abandoned poor. He has written more  than 15 articles in some of the leading journals in India and abroad. His last article on

"Laudato Si" was published in Theological Studies which is one of the most prestigious  international journals on Moral Theology. Soon we will be bringing out a collection of  his writings.

3. As an eloquent preacher of God's word: Fr. Clement is undoubtedly one of our best  preachers. His zeal for God's word was always tempered with God's mercy and love.  There was great depth in his content, his sermons were always inspiring and challenging

us to lead a better life. He was not only a wonderful preacher, but he also trained so  many of us Redemptorists to be good preachers.

4. As a pastor after the spirit of St. Alphonsus: he was sensitive to the needs of others.  He cared and counselled those who came to him in need. He was always available for  confessions, blessings, reaching out to those who were wounded due to a broken

relationship or battered by domestic abuse. He has prepared so many for the sacrament  of Marriage, blessed so many marriages and journeyed with so many married couples  encouraging them to live their calling. He also cared for the sick and the dying and

prepared them to meet the Lord. There have been so many messages pouring in on my  facebook page of what Fr. Clement meant to each one of them and how he has made a  difference in their lives.

5. As a fellow brother and confrere: Fr. Clement has been a wonderful friend and  companion to many of us. He had a great sense of humour and in all our community  gatherings it was never a dull moment with Clement around. He knew how to lighten

things through his wits. On missions he was a great companion to work with, always  there to encourage, to teach, to guide and share his knowledge with his companions. He  was a person of integrity, humble, prayerful and committed to his vocation as a  Redemptorist.

In the first week of June this year, Fr. Clement complained of back pain.  He consulted  Orthopaedic Dr's. Srinivas and Chandy. Even after treatment the pain persisted. It was only  then, that he was asked to do a series of tests including MRI of the bones as well. It was only  when the bone scan was done that the doctors found traces of cancer. With the advice of Dr.  Kenneth, he was admitted in Cytecare Cancer hospital on 20th July. Bone marrow test and

biopsy were done to trace the primary source of cancer. On 25th July which happened to be  Fr. Clement's 47 th anniversary of Ordination, the tests confirmed it was pancreatic cancer  which had spread to the bones. Clement on that very day sent a message to the province and  to all his friends and family members, that he had accepted his cancer as God's invitation to a  new way of participating in his Redemption. Requesting us to pray that he will be faithful till  the end. He was given 6 to 12 months to live. The doctors started the radiation but before  chemo could be given, jaundice had already set in. The doctors tried to do a complicated  procedure but was a failure because the tumour was big and hard. He was brought back  home. Later after two days at the advice of Dr. Kenneth he was admitted in St. John's. He  was brought back home to his community at St. Gerard's on the 16 th of August where he was  under palliative care. On 28 th August on the feast of St. Augustine, a great theologian and  doctor of the Church at about 12.50 PM in the company of his confreres and family members  Fr. Clement breathed his last.

In my last meeting with Fr. Clement I said to him, "dear Fr. Clement you mean a lot to all of  us" and Fr. Clement replied back by saying, "the congregation means a lot to me." So true,

the congregation meant everything for Fr. Clement, he was a true son of St. Alphonsus,  faithful till the end. Farewell good and faithful servant, you have fought a good fight, you  have finished the race and you have kept the faith.  Dear Fr. Clement, we thank you for everything you have been to each one of us. For your  great witness of faithfulness to God and to the congregation. May the Lord and our blessed  Mother, whom you loved so very much in your life with St. Alphonsus our founder, St.  Clement Hofbauer your patron, St. Gerard Majella, St. John Neumann and all our blessed  Redemptorists welcome you into the eternal kingdom of peace and happiness. Farewell dear  Fr. Clement, until we meet again in God's heavenly home.