Fr. Bernard Gerritsen Roosendaal, O.Carm.
April 5, 1930 – October 23, 2019
Fr. Bernard Gerritsen Roosendaal, O.Carm. was born Bernardus Gerardus Johannes on April 5, 1930 in Doetinchem, Gelderland, the Netherlands to parents Antonius and Anna Maria. The third of seven children, he was raised in the farming village of Gaanderen, where he was also baptised and confirmed in St. Martinus Parish.
He finished his basic education in 1943 at St. Martinus Lagere School and then proceeded to the Gymnasium St. Alberte in Zenderen where he finished his college education in 1951. In college he was involved in various activities including the soccer club, choir, drama group and writers group.
He entered the Carmelites on September 9, 1951 in Boxmeer, the Netherlands as a novice with Fr. Robertus Elferink, O.Carm. as novice master. He professed his simple vows the following year, September 15.
In 1952 he started his Philosophy studies in Merkelbeek and finished in Boxmeer in 1955. After which he solemnly professed in Boxmeer and received his minor orders in 1955 and 1956 in Merkelbeek. He was ordained to the Diaconate by Bishop Jan Michiel Jozef Antoon Hanssen in Merkelbeek in December 1957 and to the priesthood by Archbishop Josephus Hubertus Gulielmus Lemmens on July 6, 1958.
Bernard did his Theology in Merkelbeek from 1955 to 1959, after from 1959 to 1960 did his pastoral year in Aalsmeer with Fr. Jan van Cialen and Fr. Swiet Schalks. During this time he was able to work at the St. Joseph Hospital in Tilburg, did apostolate work for women workers in Amsertdam, the workers in Emmen, parish work in Leiderdorp, with factory workers in Breda, and worked with Alcoholic Anonymous, also in Breda.
After fifth year in theology and ordination, Bernard was assigned to be the assistant parish priest of St. Augustinus Parish and director of Don Bosco Work, both in Nijmegen.
In 1961, he was asked to follow the pioneering Dutch missionaries to the Philippines, travelling by sea for 6 ½ weeks via MS Cambodia. On arriving in the Philippines he studied the language for seven months and from July 1962 to February 1968 was the assistant parish priest of Toboso, chaplain in Central Danao, and director of East Negros Academy (1965 to 1968), all in the province of Negros Occidental.
In August 1968, he went to the United States of America where he did a summer course on group dynamics, guidance and counseling, and tutored in English at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC.
On his return to the Philippines in September 1968, he was assigned to be the parish priest of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in San Francisco, Agusan del Sur, and then director of the schools in San Francisco, Bahbah in Propsperidad, and Rosario. It was also at this time that he became involved with the then Basic Christian Communities (BCC) which he pioneered in the area.
In 1973, he returned to Escalante where he became the assistant parish priest in St. Francis of Assisi Parish, as well as the coordinator of the BCC programs of the three Carmelite administered parish in the province. He was also the coordinator of the MCC-College of Theology, board member of MCC, and in 1977 was the rector of the college seminary of the Order.
In 1978, Bernard became the executive secretary of the BCC in the Visayas region.
From March 1982 to March 1992, he transferred to Cebu City where he held his office as executive secretary of the BCC-Community Organizing in the Visayas (1982-1989). It was during this time that Bernard became instrumental in highlighting the abuses of the Marcos dictatorship when he initiated the campaign calling for justice for the victims of the Escalante Massacre, which included a number of lay Carmelites.
He then became the executive director of VICAP (1989-1992), chaplain for political prisoners, and supervised the construction of Carmelite buildings in Manila – Titus, Elijah and Elisha (1991-1992).
In March 1992 he was appointed to be the executive secretary of the General Commissiariate and at the same time director of the Titus Brandsma Center.
In 1995, aside from his two previous assignments, he was also asked to be a member of the Commission on Carmel Promotion.
In 1997, Bernard was appointed to be the Finance Officer of Titus Brandsma Center Programs, in addition to his being a member of the Carmel Promotion Commission and the Independence Commission, tasked to study the viability of the establishment of Carmel Philippines, separate from the Dutch Province.
In 1999 he was appointed by the late Fr. Eduardo Albiño, O.Carm. to take part in the adhoc committee to re-write the Commissariat statutes as well as convenor of the Promotion Commission.
On Aptil 20, 2001, he was made the co-procurator for International Concerns and continued to be the director of Titus Brandsma Center Seminar House.
In 2002, then commissary provincial Fr. Antonio de la Cruz was appointed to be a member of the working team studying for the establishment of the Center for Spirituality, the precursor of the Institute of Spirituality in Asia.
In 2003, Bernard served as the Development Officer of the Inter-Congregational Theological Center and in 2004 as member of the Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation Commission of the Order. In the same year he was appointed as the Commissariat Development Officer and to sit as a member of the Order’s Finance Commission.
In 2005, Bernard was appointed by then general commissary, Fr. Artemio Jusayan, O.Carm. as co-bursar in the commissariat and continued to be a member of the JPIC commission. In 2006 he was made co-procurator of the commissary and in 2008 was appointed to be the liaison on special projects under the office of the commissary general and was tasked to translate Dutch documents into English, in coordination with the secretariat archives. He continued to be a member of the JPIC commission.
Before going into retirement, Bernard continued as liaison for special projects of the General Commissariat, as spiritual director, and in giving retreats and lectures on spirituality, the latter continued until his passing.
Bernard passed on in the grace of our Lord and in the bosom of our Lady on October 23, 2019.
As you said, Bernard, “I think I’ll take the risk,” and you did take the risk in crossing the bridge, “following the footsteps of the biblical and very human Jesus” as a prophet and as a Carmelite.
Today, let us celebrate the life of Fr. Bernard, God’s gift to us Filipino Carmelites and to the Catholic church in the Philippines. Let us remember Fr. Bernard in our prayers. (By Br. Ritche Salgado, O.Carm.)