|  The Catalan philanthropist, Vicente Ferrer, died in the early hours of this morning in Anantapur, India, as the result of a deterioration of the respiratory problems he had been suffering for some time.
He was 89 years old and his health had deteriorated suddenly in March of this year when he suffered an embolism.
A spokesperson for the humanitarian Vicente Ferrer foundation, Blanca Romaņa, informed the press that the ex-jesuit missionary was accompanied by his wife, children and members of the foundation at the moment of his death.
'He died surrounded by his loved ones, as he had wished,' Romaņa told the press. His son, Moncho Ferrer, confirmed that he had been in a critical condition with serious breathing problems. 'He's in a critical condition, but he's not in pain,' he told the press last night. 'He's barely conscious.'
The Vicente Ferrer foundation carries out humanitarian projects in Andhra, bring aid to some 2.5 million people in this southern state of India. He arrived in India in 1952 as a jesuit missionary and was expelled in 1968 by the Indian authorities who were suspicious of his activities.
When he returned a year later, however, the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi, granted his a visa so that he could continue his philanthropic work in the poverty-stricken state of Andhra.
Despite leaving the jesuits, he spent his life working to improve the lives of some of the world's poorest people. |
