Grants to 500 Goans to attend Sri Lanka canonisation ceremony IANS | Panaji December 19, 2014 Last Updated at 21:42 IST Five hundred Goans will be granted financial assistance of Rs.12,000 each for a trip to Sri Lanka for the canonization ceremony of Blessed Joseph Vaz early next year, Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar said Friday. Parsekar was speaking during a ceremony held on the state's 54th Liberation Day here. The ceremony marked Goa's liberation from 451 years of Portuguese rule. "The government will provide financial assistance of Rs.12,000 each for 500 devotees as grants to use as air fare to visit Sri Lanka for the canonization celebrations of Blessed Joseph Vaz which are scheduled in second week of January 2015," Parsekar. Vaz was born in Goa April 21, 1651, at a time when the Portuguese were already entrenched in the state for nearly 150 years. In 1686, Vaz left for Sri Lanka to propagate Catholicism in the Dutch-held nation, where Calvinism, a major Protestant branch, had begun taking root. His socio-religious contributions in the island country earned him accolades and the title Blessed subsequently. In January, he will be canonized in the presence of Pope Francis. __._,_.___ Posted by: <gerardl...@gmail.com> Reply via web post • Reply to sender • Reply to group • Start a New Topic • Messages in this topic (1) Visit Goans In the Netherlands: http://www.g-i-n.nl Visit Your Group • Privacy • Unsubscribe • Terms of Use . __,_._,___