Basilio <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Priests in Goa, and in the rest of India, actively > socialize and work as > good collaborators with non-Catholics, be they > Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or of any > other religion. They too come to the priests to seek > assistance, guidance > and support. The Church in the villages is not just > a place for Catholics, > but a public square for all villagers of all > stripes. The Church square in > the villages serves a marvelous function to gather > and build the community > of people with its myriad activities, be the > plays/social functions, sports, > health related programs, etc The Church¹ schools in > all villages in > Goa/India are places where everyone melds as one > village community grounded > in tolerance and respect for each other at the > deepest level. Priests in > Goa/India have wonderful and rich friendships with > many non-Catholics be > they males or females. May be this is the secret, > which has nourished the > legendary harmony we all brag about in Goa. Many > non-Catholic friends have > been and are staunch and genuine supporters of many > common-good activities > initiated by the priests. When this legendary > harmony, built painstakingly > block by block, is shattered by ugly incidents, we > mourn for the demise of the ethic of our society.
Basilio, Most of my remaining male relatives are R.C. priests serving in Goa and Bombay. As such, you email will be saved and cherished. > Yes, and thank the good Lord for that, in Goa and in > India very frequently > priests, and many people in the villages, make room > at their sparse dining > tables for non-Catholics and enjoy the solidarity > and brotherhood and > sisterhood of common humanity, even when they arrive > unannounced. Indeed, > they do not hesitate to provide shelter to those > seeking a place to lay > their head and rest their tired bodies, without > asking their religious > affiliation and place of origin. The vaulted > corridors of our Churches > provide at least a token of warmth. Almost all > beneficiaries are grateful > for this act of compassion, and leave transformed > (not proselytized) having > experienced humanity of another human, albeit a > stranger. > > May I suggest to our overseas living goans/NRI > brethren, who have been away, > may be for too long, from their motherland, to take > time and re-familiarize > with Goa/India, and its authetic life lived in the > lush villages of Goa. It > may surprise you that the priests in Goa, without > pomp and circumstance, > with their warts and all, do a heck of a job not > only for the Catholics, but > for the greater good of society. As a NRI, it is also my duty to state that there are "priests" who are known sexual deviants. Here in Canada, there have been several cases of parishioners reporting sexual offenders to the local church authorities and the Vatican. In most cases, the Vatican has chosen to remove those from the parishes where the abuse is reported and send them to rural areas (where the abuse continues.) The church I attend has a second collection almost every Sunday for "the Bishops needs." I assume the money collected is used to pay for the damages awarded to those who have been abused. However, this is just a guess as we are never told what exactly are the "Bishops needs." > These priests are not perfect, and they need not > need be perfect in order to > do good; Nonetheless they reach to anyone who seek > to be reached, and in > fact at any time of the day or night. I hope this > will not surprise those > who harbor a parochial notion of the life of the > priests in Goa/India. With regards to the murder of Fr. Eusebio Ferrao, we all have to sit back and wait for the evidence to unfold. Making accusations and counter accusations is not going to be productive. We also have to keep the possibility open that this is not, so far, an open and close murder case. Mervyn3.0 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
