Catholic Priest Donates Kidney to Save Muslim

"In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets." ~Jesus, Gospel of Matthew, 7:12

Fr. Sebastian with Rasad Muhammad

India—Diagnosed with chronic kidney disease a year-and-a-half ago, 30-year-old Rasad Muhammad's hope of living had sunk with each passing day as a donor remained elusive. Until last month, when his saviour appeared suddenly — in the form of a Christian priest he had never met before.

Father Kidangathazhe Sebastian, 41, will donate one of his kidneys to Rasad so he can live. Preparations are under way, and the transplant surgery is likely to be performed next month.

On February 25, Rasad had boarded a bus from Aluva to go to Kochi for his check-up. Fr Sebastian, who is associated with the Catholic Goodness TV, and who was then not wearing his cassock, was seated next to him.

"He looked very weak and burdened. He told me the story of his tragedy and his desperate search for a kidney donor," Fr Sebastian said. "I was seized of the pain of a life facing death. I made a cursory query about his blood group, which matched mine."

For the priest from Idukki, the fortuitous match held special significance. It signalled to him the end of his silent quest to practise what he had been preaching.

"Inspired by the story of Fr Davis Chiramel, who had donated one of his kidneys to a Hindu man in 2009, I had been longing to make the same sacrifice. Somewhere, I hoped, I would meet the deserving person. What mattered to me most was that the decision would save a life. I realised that the person seated beside me in the bus was the most deserving person," he said. (Continue Reading.)