Can a person who committed suicide get a Christian burial? This is the point now a day under discussion because of the suicide committed by the young lady Mrs. Nadia Torreado supposed to be a friend of Mickey Pacheco, First of all, what proof is there it was a genuine suicide? Or can’t it be a case of genuine homicide forcibly inflicted on the poor lady by the interested person or persons in a well planned manner to liquidate her from this planet for some ulterior motive or to hide some secrets from her mouth? Everybody says it was a case of suicide and some people are even asking whether she is entitled for a decent Christian burial in a Catholic Church Cemetery? If Catholic Church refuses to bury the deceased in a Catholic Cemetery, then there is no other Church Cemetery from non-Catholic Cemetery? In the current volatile situation burial topic is secondary, if not burial then there is cremation but what is important now at this moment is to know who is responsible for her death. The whole of Goa must rise in unison now to demand justice for this mysterious type of death of a Goan married woman. Why Goans in Goa in bigger number are sleeping now? If the late Tiatrist Alexinho de Candolim was alive now, surely he would sing a song as he did in the past, saying “Goycheam dadleani ani chodd korun Saxttikarani, justice magonk zaina zalear hatink kanknnam ghalat re”. Goans in general and social activists in particular should demand thorough probe into this death otherwise influential persons involved in this death with their power – official, fianancial and “goonda” like Agente Monteiro will prowl on every female in Goa and thus destroy the moral and religious fabric of Goa which is otherwise to a certain extent still good.
Our Goan females in large number are kept as hostages by the rascal sexually perverted priests who are not fit to be priests in the first place and secondly by our Ministers and MLA’s with their official power and financial power which they get by looting and robbing the people. The moment a priest wears his priestly robes he thinks of exploiting his holy position for sexually abusing innocent females. The first class “Cheddio” are those ladies who not only flirt with priests but also those who blindly support the priests, some of these “chedio” are those who send me fake emails in support of their priest (boy) friend who committed a crime against his priesthood by acting badly with me. Secondly, the moment a person gets elected and becomes an MLA and a Minister, his mind first goes on how to get maximum number of females like “Nistem” in his “Ramponn”. Montri and Padri are the worst criminals in our society because they commit any type of crime to achieve their goals. According to my information, the topmost and best Pimps in our society are the Priests and Ministers. They can supply any number and any type of females for their customers.
While asking Goans to rise up in revolt for the cause of justice I also and very strongly ask the Church in Goa as a whole and also individual priests in Goa in particular to campaign for the cause of justice in this particular case where the deceased is a Christian lady and the person accused in this foul play is also a Christian, both are Catholics. Catholic Church in Goa is duty bound to use its Pulpits and other Church fora to raise its voice against such criminal acts committed by our females and also against all those who force our Catholic ladies into submission to the powerful. Committing a suicide is a Sin and for such a Sin the punishment as we are given to understand is a Hell. So also for those responsible in forcing the people to commit suicide. In this case it is not only a Sin but a Sacrilege committed by those involved in provoking Nadia into committing a Suicide.
The duty of the Church and priests is to prevent faithfuls from going into Hell. Hence, at this stage Goa Church and its leadership from Altinho Panjim cannot remain silent. Priests’ duty is to save souls from going into Hell and not to bark like Dogs in the Church Platforms as Capuchins are doing in their preachings on the topics which are not pertinent to save the souls. Capuchins are now preaching in the Church against those who write in the e-media on mischief done by the priests and thus the Capuchins support injustice in our midst. Such preachers are possessed by the Satanic power. The present generation of priests are not ready to challenge the brute might of the brute big and Goan priests are totally impotent for this reason discriminations based on so many factors existed in Goa with the silent nod of the Church and Goan priests. If Goa Church is still on strong footing it is only because of the strong base put by the senior priests of those days and not because of the efforts of the present generation of priests including the “kalche porche potte Padri zanchi bombli azunui dodd pekonkna”, that also includes the Capuchin who pushes the faithful out of the Church by using his physical force exactly like a ruffian. Such Priests should be thrown out by the Bishop or Head of the Church before he creates major confusion in the Church.
Martin Luther King in USA challenged the brute might of the White skinners and in this battle for the eradication of apartheid in his home State he succeeded. Cardinal Sin in Philippine challenged the brute mighty power of Government in Manila headed by the late dictator president Ferdinand Marcos. In South America, Fr. Torres fought against the brutalities of the brute people against the weaker section of the society there. To fulfil his ambition towards weak, Fr. Torres during those days even against Church ruling removed his Cassock and used Gun to oppose those who were opposing the weak. Can our priests and Bishops act that way? Most of our Priests and Bishops want cosy life; they want to befriend Ministers, moneyed persons and Prostitutes also, for this reason Goa Church quality under the current Bishop and his predecessor has gone down. Injustice in our midst will never disappear unless our Catholic Church and its priests act appropriately by siding with the weaker segment of the society.
It was somewhere in 1958, the Church laws were very rigid in Goa at that time. One elderly Catholic man in my village at Orda St. Sebastiaum Vaddo committed a suicide by hanging himself with a rope tying to the roof of his house. A few days before this incident he told us the students of Parochial School that he will commit suicide because of certain family disputes. When the time of burial of his body came, our Candolim Church refused to participate in his funeral. Hence, his close relatives and few people from his Vaddo joined together and buried his body behind but outside the Cemetery, WITHOUT ANY PRIEST and WITHOUT ANY CHURCH RITES. As a small Choir Boy I attended the funeral. The nickname of that person who committed the suicide was “KERBO”.
Later on in my village I attended the funerals of at least 2 more persons who committed suicide, both were Cancer patients and in order to finish their agonising pain, they committed suicide, both were females and both were given decent Church burials because nobody could justify that they have committed suicide. Secondly Church thinking during this time was changed a lot forcing the Church to take lenient view of such incidents.
A.Veronica Fernandes,
Kuwait.
