Re: [Goanet] A Goan Connection To Boston's Catholic Church Sexual Abuse

[Frederick FN Noronha फ्रेड्रिक नोरोन्या *فريدريك نورونيا]

While the Church undeniably has to take all complaints very seriously
(there seems to be little sense of responsibility for the most part still,
except with some contrition from Pope Francis), I would not want to place
myself in the seat of playing judge.

Recently, in a book by an African Goan on child sex-abuse allegations
against a prominent priest in East Africa, one naturally felt the hurt and
pain that the complainants would have gone through. But, on the other hand,
the descriptions of the man, his work and his actions, also makes one feel
for the accused -- who seemed to be a good priest struggling with sexual
demons he just simply couldn't control.

Frankly, had I been in his position, I do not know what would have been my
own stand.

Does this reopen the celibacy debate? Would there be a conflict between
controlling the Church's property and going beyond celibacy? At the very
least, the issue of how priests (and the rest of us) cope in a very
sexualised world needs to be taken up.

FN

On 25 February 2017 at 06:31, Roland Francis 
wrote:

> If you read Goan Voice UK's death notice today of 86 year old Fr Anthony J
> Rebeiro in the US, you might say a silent prayer for the dead priest like
> you would for someone ending life far away from where the person once
> called home.
>
> But then before the notice ends, Eddie Fernandes like the librarian he
> always will be, connects it to a small item about the priest that prompts
> you to read more. It certainly did me.
>
> Fr Rebeiro was from Nagpur Maharashtra, a small town that has spawned many
> illustrious Goans who had brilliant careers as doctors, professors, top
> police and army men and leaders of the Church. Anthony Ribeiro was one of
> them. Ordained in Rome, and later a Rhodes Scholar simultaneously
> graduating with three different masters degrees from Oxford, a polyglot
> with more than 5 languages, the man's intelligence is unquestioned, the
> path to a wide road opened to him.
>
> Going to the US however, he was caught up in the wide net of sexual abuse
> and pedophilia for which the supervising clergy of that diocese ending up
> with Cardinal Bernard Law became infamous for what was to become an
> ignominious and massive cover up of serious crime.
>
> There is much documented in the archives of the Boston Globe about Anthony
> Ribeiro's misdeeds and the pleading letters and accusations made about this
> priest to his supervising Bishop who did nothing but transfer him in the
> position of the chaplain of a hospital and a chaplain to some armed forces
> unit.
>
> Anthony Rebeiro abused across all ages. A married woman with a devoted
> husband and three young children, a 12 year old girl coming to him for
> confession and a small boy donning his alter server's clothing, were three
> of them.
>
> No matter what he did, and no matter what sorrow he may have lived with or
> forgiveness sought from his god, he could have before he died, stood up
> before his victims and apologized. Instead, he went to his end with all
> these accusations on perpetual record about him, with no admission of guilt
> on his part. The loss of his pension and his medical benefits from the
> church was apparently too much for him to contemplate losing, one concludes.
>
> The letter from the married woman's husband to the bishop of his diocese
> was particularly heart-rending. This was a family with three small children
> who were devout followers of the church and thought, mistakenly it turns
> out, that from it they would get some justice.
>
> Sorrowfully I say, "Better he had drowned himself with a millstone around
> his neck.."
>
> Roland Francis
> 416-453-3371




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[Goanet] A Goan Connection To Boston's Catholic Church Sexual Abuse

[Roland Francis]

If you read Goan Voice UK's death notice today of 86 year old Fr Anthony J 
Rebeiro in the US, you might say a silent prayer for the dead priest like you 
would for someone ending life far away from where the person once called home. 

But then before the notice ends, Eddie Fernandes like the librarian he always 
will be, connects it to a small item about the priest that prompts you to read 
more. It certainly did me.

Fr Rebeiro was from Nagpur Maharashtra, a small town that has spawned many 
illustrious Goans who had brilliant careers as doctors, professors, top police 
and army men and leaders of the Church. Anthony Ribeiro was one of them. 
Ordained in Rome, and later a Rhodes Scholar simultaneously graduating with 
three different masters degrees from Oxford, a polyglot with more than 5 
languages, the man's intelligence is unquestioned, the path to a wide road 
opened to him.

Going to the US however, he was caught up in the wide net of sexual abuse and 
pedophilia for which the supervising clergy of that diocese ending up with 
Cardinal Bernard Law became infamous for what was to become an ignominious and 
massive cover up of serious crime.

There is much documented in the archives of the Boston Globe about Anthony 
Ribeiro's misdeeds and the pleading letters and accusations made about this 
priest to his supervising Bishop who did nothing but transfer him in the 
position of the chaplain of a hospital and a chaplain to some armed forces unit.

Anthony Rebeiro abused across all ages. A married woman with a devoted husband 
and three young children, a 12 year old girl coming to him for confession and a 
small boy donning his alter server's clothing, were three of them.

No matter what he did, and no matter what sorrow he may have lived with or 
forgiveness sought from his god, he could have before he died, stood up before 
his victims and apologized. Instead, he went to his end with all these 
accusations on perpetual record about him, with no admission of guilt on his 
part. The loss of his pension and his medical benefits from the church was 
apparently too much for him to contemplate losing, one concludes.

The letter from the married woman's husband to the bishop of his diocese was 
particularly heart-rending. This was a family with three small children who 
were devout followers of the church and thought, mistakenly it turns out, that 
from it they would get some justice.

Sorrowfully I say, "Better he had drowned himself with a millstone around his 
neck.."

Roland Francis
416-453-3371

[Goanet-News] Goan connection (TimeOut, Mumbai)

[Goanet News]

Goan connection

Time Out recommends
A new Bombay book is about a bygone era, finds Time Out

“Look at what’s become of Bombay today — it’s a wonder we even
survive!” exclaimed Reena Martins, looking up from her laptop which
was buzzing every other minute with a new email. In a conversation
with Time Out Mumbai, Martins, the author of the self-published
Bomoicar, reminisced about a Bombay “in which people had time for each
other. People could come over and you would cook for them; no one
said, ‘I don’t have the time’.” Martins, in a slim volume of stories,
gives us a peek into Bombay during the twentieth century, with stories
spanning from 1920 to 1980. Bomoicar is the Konkani word for Goans
from Bombay, and the 31 short stories in the 154-page book take us
back to the Bombay that used to be, through the eyes of Goan
immigrants.

Martins, a journalist by profession, started working on the book
nearly a decade ago, in 2004. She was part of a mailing list called
Goanet whose members comprised of Goans living in different parts of
the world. Using it as her only source, she crowd-sourced from members
and got an overwhelming response. “The idea was to talk about the
everyday Goan — not the rich upper crust,” said Martins. The book,
which was released in May this year, gives us stories about a city
that existed a century ago. The tales take you back to the days of the
Prohibition when the Goan Aunty thrived, “big fat” pomfrets cost eight
annas each, ladies knitted and chatted on the local to Thane, and
Goans needed a visa to come to Bombay.

Martins was keen on using the oral history method of narration,
rejecting the idea of spending days researching in a library. She got
in touch with a few people who lived through that period — Irene
Heredia (now deceased, but then in her 90s), narrated stories about
her days at Cathedral School, which she attended with “white girls”.
Another source was John Menezes, a retired chief mechanical engineer,
who gave her all her food stories. “I felt like I was being taken back
into a completely different world, into another Bombay; I could never
even imagine that it existed,” she quipped.

When Martins, a born and bred Punekar of Goan descent, first moved to
the city in 1995, she used to take a bus to Bandra, to walk around and
gaze at the Portuguese cottages. But over the years she saw the
cottages being broken down and replaced by high-rises, which deeply
affected her. “I think it was that sadness that led me to work on this
book. I wanted to see Bombay in a much better light and capture the
lost glory of the city,” she explained, “I’m so disappointed in the
Bombay of today — the city has become unlivable, attitudes have become
completely callous. Everybody is so self-involved.”

The story “Our Lady is Coming” makes us relive a common Goan
tradition, in which the statue of Mother Mary is brought to a Goan
Catholic house, and all neighbours, friends and relatives of the
family come together to celebrate and to pray. This tradition still
continues in some Goan communities in Bombay. Martins pointed out,
“Our Lady had come to my neighbour’s house the other day, and so we
all went over.” But traditions like these are dying out, “These days,
nobody has time for Our Lady to come to their house, we’re all busy
with work. But this is a conscious choice that we have made for
ourselves.” Referring to “Cotton Mary”, a story about a woman who used
to beg and sing on the streets of common Goan areas like Grant Road
and Byculla, she said, “Back then, people would come out and listen to
her and throw coins. Some of them would even send down their children
with potato chops — who would do that in this day and age? Would a
Cotton Mary stand a chance today if she came to my building?”

Martins never expected such an overwhelming response to the book, and
her phone has been ringing ever since it has been published. She
attributes its success to the sense of nostalgia that she, and many
other Goans living in different corners of the world, are trying to
helplessly hold on to. “If that were not the case, Goans from all over
the world would not be asking for this book, it would have been an
insignificant book,” she explained, and hopes that while reading
Bomoicar, they will relive those precious moments which, for some, are
now lost forever.

To order a copy of Bomoicar, email reenamart...@hotmail.com/
goa1...@gmail.com.

By Tanya Sharma on July 03 2014
Photos by Stashia D'souza

http://www.timeoutmumbai.net/mumbai-local/features/goan-connection

[Goanet] The goan connection to the US president (was Poor American)

[Mario Goveia]

Date: Wed, 13 Jan 2010 13:46:38 -0800 (PST)
From: marlon menezes goa...@yahoo.com

There is a Goan connection to the current American president. Fitz D'souza 
(http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2009-April/176250.html) , 
in a story told to me at this year's New Year's eve party at his house in 
Bambolim, told me that he was one of three on the committee who decided on the 
scholarship application of Barack's father to come to the US.  Good or bad, the 
rest is history.

Mario responds:

Good for America's mortal enemies.  Bad for everyone else.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/01/12/obama-approval-rating-hits-new-low-latest-national-opinion-poll/

Excerpt:

President Obama's job approval rating has hit a new low, according to the 
latest national opinion poll released Monday. 
[end of excerpt]

I wonder if Mr. Fitz D'Souza can find me George Obama's address so I can help 
him out since his affluent brother apparently refuses to do so.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/01/31/george.obama.arrest/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/2590614/Barack-Obamas-lost-brother-found-in-Kenya.html

http://shapblog40.wordpress.com/2009/12/27/article09obama-brother-2010/

[Goanet] The goan connection to the US president (was Poor American)

[marlon menezes]

There is a Goan connection to the current American president. Fitz D'souza 
(http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2009-April/176250.html) , 
in a story told to me at this year's New Year's eve party at his house in 
Bambolim, told me that he was one of three on the committee who decided on the 
scholarship application of Barack's father to come to the US.  Good or bad, the 
rest is history.

Marlon



- Original Message 
From: Tony de Sa tonyde...@gmail.com

and then wondered why he can't find a good paying job in AMERICA

AND NOW HE'S HOPING HE CAN GET HELP FROM A PRESIDENT

MADE IN KENYA

GOD BLESS AMERICA. UP THE STARS AND STRIPES.

[Goanet] The Goan Connection

[Angela Simoes]

* G * O * A * N * E * T  C * L * A * S * S * I * F * I * E * D * S *


Apartment for sale in Campal/Miramar area, Panaji, Goa. Spacious 3
bedroom flat (3BHK)available for sale in upscale area near Miramar beach
Contact: goaengineer...@aol.com



Hi

Was just reading your blog and pleased to hear that Goans are making a mark 
around 
the world.  I too have a webpage www.action.org.uk/sponsor/angelasimoes, live 
in 
London, know an Andrew Liston who lives in Essendon Victoria and hope to visit 
very 
soon.  I have taken up cycling to keep fit and would recommend this sport to 
all 
women of a 'certain age' who want to maintain their youthful persona and 
stamina 
long into the night.

Angela Simoes



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