The Salesian Province of Bombay regrets to inform that Fr Mathew Thalanany SDB passed away at 12:10 pm on November 22, 2025 at Holy Family Hospital, Mumbai, after he suffered a cardiac arrest. He was 96 years old, a Salesian for 75 years and a priest for 66 years.

 A Requiem Eucharist was held at at 9 a.m. on November 24, 2025 at St Domnic Savio Church, Wadala East, among his own people, followed by time for the faithful to pay their last respects in the same Church.

 St. Domnic Savio Church, Wadala East is the church where Fr Thalanany spent 18 years of his life as the Assistant Parish Priest between 1996 and 2014. Prior to this term, he spent 20 years as Assistant Parish Priest in Our Lady of Dolours Church, Wadala West. Here he served the poor with a heart of gold, full of missionary zeal. Over the forty years he spent in Antop Hill (Wadala) – 1962 to 1984 and 1996 to 2014 – Fr Mathew Thalanany came to be the ‘Father Teresa’ of the poor and suffering people in that difficult district of the city.

 It is a rare occurrence for a Salesian to live to celebrate their Platinum Jubilee of religious profession which Fr Thalanany was able to see this year. His legacy will always be remembered among the Salesian Family of the Mumbai Province as a passionate apostle of the poor with a humble and grateful heart.

 The Funeral Eucharist was held at 3 p.m. on 24 November, 2025 at the Shrine of Don Bosco’s Madonna, Matunga, Mumbai followed by the burial at the Sewri Christian Cemetry.

 May Fr Mathew Thalanany rest in peace. We pray for the members of his bereaved family and ask the Lord to be their consolation.