Cleveland missionary celebrates 50 years in NepalJAWALAKHEL, NEPAL -- In a country about as far from Cleveland as one can get on earth, a Jesuit priest has marked an incredible milestone of dedication and service.
Father Casper "Cap" Miller, S.J. recently celebrated the completion of 50 years of missionary work in Nepal, a remote country whose northern border is the Himalaya mountain range and Mount Everest. At 75, his pace has slowed very little from the day he arrived here on September 2, 1958, as one of the first Jesuits to penetrate a centuries old barrier. This day he quickened his step to greet the fellow St. Ignatius High School alumnus who had traveled 12,000 miles to visit.
"I'm sorry I could not see you yesterday," the spry septuagenarian apologizes, "but I was on a trek."
For Fr. Miller, a trek is not a half-block stroll to the corner store. In this case it was a three-day hike across the rugged Himalayas, at elevations above 17,000 feet.
The Lakewood native has made this country and this lifestyle his home for more than 50 years, ministering to the people of Nepal and becoming part of Nepal's history.
"We started out small," Fr. Miller recalls, referring to the Jesuits' first appearance in Nepal in 1951, when they founded a Catholic school with an enrollment of 60 boys. Today they tend to the sprawling campus of St. Xavier School on the outskirts of Kathmandu, where more than 1,200 boys and girls study and where thousands more apply for the average 100 openings each year.
"We built up a lot of warm relationships with the students and their families," the gentle priest explains in what is an understatement. At St. Xavier and two other schools founded and run by the Jesuits in Nepal, generations of children have been educated and have integrated themselves into every aspect of this developing country's life.
"Live for God, lead for Nepal," is the school's motto, appropriate in a country which has dozens of political parties and just as many government changes in recent years. Thousands have been killed in insurgencies and unemployment is over 40-percent.
"There is a feeling of uncertainty here," says Father Miller of the most recent developments in his adopted country, the rise of a Maoist communist government. "There's extra stress that we haven't had before, not knowing what's going to happen day to day.
"We really have to work on the virtue of hope, and we trust in God through it all that peace will come to this country. But it won't come until there's justice, and there has not been justice for centuries."
Cap Miller's dedication to his calling is complete. He is recognized as an important figure in Nepal's recent history. He was awarded citizenship in 1971, authored an anthropological book about the country's shamans, wears the traditional topi on his head, and is one of a handful of foreigners to be honored by Nepal's king for his service to the people.
He has also helped build and oversee a vast network of social services throughout Nepal. They minister to the homeless, outcast, addicted, and the sick.
"From our side we would like to thank Cleveland for giving us Father Miller," says Navin Singh, a Nepalese management consultant who for a time lived in the United States. He credits his education under Fr. Miller at St. Xavier School for the career he pursues today.
"He came to Nepal, dedicated his whole life to Nepal, and is more of a Nepali than any citizen of this country," Singh says of the Jesuit priest. "And I believe he was destined to be here."
Nepal has great challenges ahead including a literacy rate that has only recently fallen below 50 percent, the recent overthrow of a 250 year monarchy, and the rise of the Maoist government.
"This has been an unjust feudal society so social transformation is quite necessary, but it's happening very painfully," Father Miller observes from his simple Jesuit Residence on the grounds of St. Xavier.
"I think people are suffering but if the outcome is social justice then that gives me hope."
The gentle Jesuit rarely makes it back to Northeast Ohio, but his thoughts are never far from his hometown. "One thing I haven't retained is my Cleveland accent," he jokes. "People don't recognize that I have a strange accent. "But what I do retain is my love of the water, of the lake. I grew up in Lakewood and I love the outdoors and the beauty of the trees, the outdoor life. And I retain so many happy memories of my school days there, especially my time at St. Ignatius High School."
When he can, Father Miller still treks through the majestic Himalayas, sometimes for days with the clouds miles beneath him. "We are all one people, children of the same God," he reminds his visitor.
"That's one thing I've found among the Hindus and Buddhists here. They'll say 'there's only one God, Father,' the illiterate people in the village. So we all agree on that. My prayer is that I'll be able to remain usefully here in Nepal."
It has been a prayer that for more than 50 years has been answered every day.
Link (here) to the original article with video of Fr. Miller, S.J. being interviewed
Photo is the entrance to St Xavier's, see more photos (here)
Books by Fr. Miller
Decision Making in Village NepalFaith Healers in the Himalaya
Jesuits in Nepal
Portuguese Jesuit Fr. John Cabal who passed through Nepal in the Spring of 1628 (here)
Nepal's 50 Ruppe coin commemorating "St. Xavier's Golden Jubilee, Nepal 1951—2001." (here)
Jesuit Home In Nepal Helps Disabled And Poor Children 'Stand On Their Own Feet' (here)
Jesuit Priest Anthony Sharma Appointed First Bishop Of Nepal (here)
Jesuit Center In Nepal Helps Addicts Lead New Lives (here)
Time Magazine article entitled Jesuit Growth from Feb 11th, 1952 (here)
Catholic History of Nepal
Roman Catholicism in Nepal (here)
Short History of the Catholic Church in Nepal (here)
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