Jim Borst (3 August 1932 – 5 September 2018) was a Dutch

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

missionary of

Saint Joseph's Missionary Society of Mill Hill The Mill Hill Missionaries (MHM), officially known as the Saint Joseph's Missionary Society of Mill Hill (), is a Catholic Church, Catholic society of apostolic life founded in 1866 by Herbert Vaughan, Herbert A. Vaughan. History The society wa ...

, commonly called Mill Hill Missionaries. He was well-known spiritual leader in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and abroad. He was a frequent speaker at many conventions and seminars. In 2011, he was summoned by

Sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

court and served a

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in 2012, following which he was given a Quit India Notice from Kashmir's Foreigners Registration Office. He was the last Mill Hill missionary serving in the

Kashmir Valley The Kashmir Valley, also known as the Vale of Kashmir, is an intermontane valley in northern Jammu and Kashmir, a region in Indian-administered Kashmir.(a) (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern Indian subcont ...

Early life and education

He was born on 3 August 1932 in Ursem,

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

to Mr. Leonard and Mrs. Margaret. He completed his secondary education at

Hoorn Hoorn () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the northwest of the Netherlands, in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland. It is the largest town an ...

Tilburg Tilburg () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. With a population of 22 ...

and Burn Hall. He joined

in 1945 and from 1951 to 1953 studied philosophy in Roosendaal. He completed his studies of theology in 1957 from

Mill Hill Mill Hill is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is situated around northwest of Charing Cross, close to the Hertfordshire border. It was in the Historic counties of England, historic county of Middlesex until 1965, when it b ...

, London. He was ordained a priest for

, in

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on 7 May 1957 by William Cardinal Godfrey. After ordination he studied Science and Economics at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

and completed his master's degree in Arts. He started to serve his mission as a

Parish Priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

in Jammu and Kashmir, India, in September 1963.

Missionary work in India

In 1975 Jim, decided to serve as a travelling missionary and traveled throughout India conducting charismatic renewal conventions, retreats for priests and religious, and ‘village retreat ministry’. He returned to Kashmir in year 1991 and helped in translating

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

in Kashmiri. He also established two schools in Kashmir by the name Good Shepherd. He also founded Good Shepherd Sisters community but the congregation could not survive. He also helped in drawing current Constitutions and Directives around the time of the 1982 Chapter for the Mill Hill Society.

Field of education

Borst was the principal of St. Joseph's School (Baramulla) from 1974 to 1975 and served as a parish priest of St. Joseph's Catholic Church (Baramulla). He directed Burn Hall School Srinagar for some time. He also translated the

Holy Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

into the local Kashmiri language (

Koshur Kashmiri ( ) or Koshur (Kashmiri: , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language of the Dardic languages, Dardic branch spoken by around 7 million Kashmiris of the Kashmir region, primarily in the Kashmir Valley and surrounding hills o ...

). Borst started two charitable schools, one in Srinagar and other in Pulwama named "Good Shepherd Mission School". He is the author of several books and articles.

Writings

''A Method of Contemplative Prayer''
*
Coming to God in the Stillness
'
From Holland with love: The life of a Mill Hill missionary founder of the Sisters of our Lady of Fatima, Francis Xavier Kroot, 1854-1900

Death

In August 2018, he suffered a heart attack and was admitted to a hospital in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

. He was operated on and a pacemaker was installed. Fr. Borst died on 5 September 2018 at 11:45 am in

Srinagar Srinagar (; ) is a city in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kashmir dispute is supported by the tertiary ...

, Kashmir. He was suffering from heart ailment and had recently received treatment. Funeral was conducted on 7 September 2018 at Holy Family Catholic Church. He was buried at Sheikh Bagh Cemetery,

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borst, Jim 20th-century Dutch Roman Catholic priests Dutch Roman Catholic missionaries Dutch expatriates in India Christianity in Jammu and Kashmir 1930 births 2018 deaths Roman Catholic missionaries in India Alumni of the University of Cambridge 21st-century Dutch Roman Catholic priests People from Koggenland