Congratulations to Catholics for having declared at a time
Two Saints yesterday by the Vatican.
History has been recorded and we as Catholics should be very proud of
this history. Though nothing is impossible with Vatican yet the pace of
canonization of both these Popes, John Paul II and John XXIII was
extraordinarily fast while that of both the Goan priests Fr. Agnelo and Fr.
Joseph Vaz is extraordinarily slow for the reasons best known to Vatican only.
It would have been a great pleasure to witness the canonization of both our
holy priests together. But this honour
has been denied to us so far. Let us
meantime pray to God to help them to reach to the highest pedestal.
Saint John XXIII when he was the Pope he brought in
revolution in the Church thru Second Vatican Council thereby bringing in progressive
changes in the Church while Saint John Paul II as a Pope brought in
revolutionary changes in this world starting first in his home country Poland
by supporting the Solidarity movement and then by helping the demolition of the
communism in Eastern Europe. The globe-trotting
Pope he travelled many parts of the globe including India to promote his
doctrine of evangelization and democratization of the States system.
While Pope John Paul II exerted tremendous pressure on
Eastern European governments including Soviet Russia to liberalize their rigid
system of governance in the name of Christianity, both the Goan holy priests remained dumb and deaf to the
autocratic governance in Goa. Both of
them were guilty for not raising their voices against the harsh dictatorial
government system existing in Goa under the colonial rule.
When Pope John Paul II moved forward, both our Goan priests moved backward like
slaves of the colonial rule and this point I think created more weight in
favour of his canonization so fast while the canonization of both our holy
priests is moving with Snail pace though both are standing on the edge of
sainthood. Will they both attain the
sainthood during our life time? I doubt
very much. They may never reach to their
final destination because though they served God well yet they did not serve
human beings with the same degree as they served God. Like Pope John Paul II, they did not strive
to fight with the colonial power in Goa to obtain freedom for Goa neither they
fought against the Apartheid system practiced in Goan Churches.
A Veronica Fernandes,
Candolim,
Goa.
