THE DEATH OF FR. EDUARDO D'SOUZA.

It is with deep grief I am writing these few lines to express my sorrow, gratitude and appreciation for our dear Fr. Eduardo Antonio De Souza known only as Fr. Edwad when he was a teacher and Rector of the boarding at St. Joseph’s High School, Arpora for some years there from mid sixties when I was a student there.  In 1966 he was my teacher and looking after the interest of extra curricular activities by taking care of the needs of sportsmen. In the scholastic year 1966-67 when I became the individual champion of Goa and by running the fastest 100 mtrs in Goa, it was partly he was responsible to encourage me to run faster and faster.  And after the meet got over and when I was declared the  hero of that year’s All Goa inter-school Athletics Meet, held at Tembi Ground – Anjuna, he was the happiest person among all because he always took pleasure in my merits either in sports or academics.

He was a very humble priest but top disciplinarian befitting the tradition of this school.  As a teacher he was very smart because he was easily understanding  the psychology and difficulties of the students and accordingly he used to come to the level of the students to teach them.  Students used to like him very much not only because he was a good teacher but more because he was very helpful to the personal needs of the students but never disclosing to others. He was our Confessor in the school for both the day scholars and boarders.

Under his supervision, boarders in my school were given very good discipline by him. He enjoyed good respect of everyone in the school both from the  teaching staff and management and also the students.

After my retuning back to Goa he was constantly in touch with me  and used to discuss with me many topics of my articles as he used to read me everywhere where I was writing admiring where it was to be admired and pinching me where it was required.  He was a sincere person and straight forward and always obedient to his superiors and the same he was expecting from his subordinates.

Priests of his caliber are rarity now.  His love for Goa and Goan causes was extreme.  We will miss him very much from our midst.

May his soul rest in peace.

A.Veronica Fernandes.

CATHOLICS SHOULD NEVER ALIGN WITH MGP.

This is in reference to the news item in Herald dated 25.12.17 under the title “MGP to unite, take minorities into its fold”.

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Minorities mainly the Catholics will not be the Catholics if they don’t disown the MGP because MGP since its  inception in 1962 always worked against the Catholics.  In fact one of the purposes of MGP was to sideline the Catholics from the mainstream by falsely labeling Catholics as major beneficiaries of Portuguese rule in Goa  I disagree with this view, in fact other than a few Catholics Bhattkars. overwhelming number of Catholics have not received any especial benefits from the Portuguese while the Hindu community have received.  For example, almost the entire commerce and trade was in the hands of Hindus.  The major mining industry was held by the Hindus, the import licenses for goods and commodities and other products were given by the Portuguese Government to the Hindus. 

MGP when it was  formed used this ploy of defaming Catholics to keep them as non-entities. By telling this type of false stories to their hoi-polloi supporters, MGP has brain washed their supporters who had no proper knowledge of Goa and its history. The first CM of Goa, Dayananda Bandodcar who was like a curse on Goa, wanted to liquidate Catholics from Goa but overwhelming majority of Goans did not subscribe to this view. It was even wrongly propagated at the top of their voices by the MGvadis that Christians were responsible for bringing Portuguese to Goa. However, I must correct this wrong opinion by saying that it was a non-Catholic  Timoja the big man under Adil Shah who was responsible for the Portuguese conquest of  Goa. It was they who brought Portugese to Goa.

Secondly, MGP falsely projected Goan Catholics as pro-Portuguese while they along with the majority of Hindus were Pro-Bharati.  Here again I disagree with this view.  Goan Catholics were known to have opposed the Portuguese presence from Goan soil vehemently much before others could do this. Much before others could raise their voice against Portuguese rule in Goa, Goan Catholics like Abe Faria, Pintos Revolutionaries, Dr. Francisco Luis Gomes and many more have indicated their patriotism towards Goa by opposing Portuese presence in Goa. the only thing which was common between Portuguese and Goan Christians was the Catholicism.  But this common factor never made Goan Catholics to be dumb berfore the Portuguese.  In fact, the greatest freedom fighters of Goa were coming from the Catholic community and they got themselves involved in freedom movement with the genuine feelings for freedom for Goa and not like many others whose motto was to convert Goa into a Hindu Raj.  Those who stressed on the former ideology were not genuine freedom fighters but they were comunalists many of them have taken shelter in BJP now. 

I hope all Catholics will subscribe to my view because as a young school going boy I know how much I have worked against this false tirade let lose by the Bandorkarists MGP and some of whom are still holding this view touching to their hearts because they are anti-Catholics. The MGP wanted to merge Goa with Maharastra not because they love Maharastra and Marathi but because they hated Catholics and to get Catholics dissolved among Maharastrians as unknon entiies.  The MGPvadis were not perfect in Marathi languge but yet they preferred Marathi because they knew when Goa is merged with Maharastara, the Goan Catholics will be totally at a loss for not being conversant in Marathi.  When Goan Catholics suffered MGPvadis enjoyed.  The MGPvadis total anger on Goan Catholics was because they could not bear to see the development Catholics have made in their life. Though the MGPvadis would also suffer under Maharastra and among Maharastrians yet they prefer this but by all means they wanted to see Catholics crying.  This is te deep rooted hatred MGPvadis have for Goan Catholics and this  hatred will never exit from the blood of MGPvadis. 

In view of what I said above, we Catholics should be very careful in front of MGP which means “ANTI CHRISTIANS – ANTI  CATHOLICS”.

A.Veronica Fernandes.

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A.VERONICA'S FELICITATION OPPOSED BY CANDOLIM CHURCH.

On 14^th August this year, the renowned Goan Tiatrist and Playwright Irineu Goanslves staged his Tiatro in Candolim at the entrance of the Church.  During the interval, Mr. Gonsalves called me at the Stage and felicitated me for the enormous work I did mainly from Kuwait for the cause of Konkani in particular and for Goa in general.  As the director of this Tiatro he had all the rights to felicitate me or for that matter anybody for which he need not require anybody’s permission since this felicitation was organized on the stage which was totally under his control.

While the felicitation was in progress on the stage some of the members of the different church groups  mainly the females tried to stop this felicitation by trying to push their male leader who was responsible for making arrangement to stage this Tiatro. Then according to my information these opponents of mine went to Pe. Vigar who though played coolly yet supported those irrelevant opponents of mine but ultimately nobody dared to fulfill his/her wish.

Now my question on this whole “tamasha” created by these useless people including the Pe. Vigar and those who are  involved in the Church to gain cheap prominence and also to those Donkeys who were asking “why feliticitate him, what was his help for the Church and Church School?”  My reply to these stupid people is this:  what I have done for Candolim Church and School none of you has done.  Only one incident I give: When there was a need of money to construct the upper floor of the School/Hall, I was requested to help the then Principal of the School to get him the  Visa to come to Kuwait to collect fund for this cause.  Because of my help in getting him the visiting Visa the then Principal landed in Kuwait and collected a huge amount from Kuwait.  When this incident happened none of these stupid people were existing in the Church area, they were kids then like the present Pe. Vigar who has to mature himself more if he wants to survive in Candolim  which is not Agacaim.   

This news none of those useless people knows neither the Pe. Vigar who is just a “kalcho porcho potto” in my ancestral village of which he has to learn a lot before passing a comment on me.  My village is the only village in whole of Goa that is known to give birth to the world renown persons such as Abade Faria of whose type world is yet to produce another one and Pintos revolutionary priests who were the first in the whole of subcontinent to create a revolt against their own colonialist government.   

My other question here is this:  Am I a migrant or non Goan in my village?  Was it a crime to felicitate me thus?  What was wrong in felicitating me the real son of Candolim whose contribution in the support of Goan causes, Goan language and Catholicism cannot be challenged by any of the expatriate Candoicar nor Goyencar?  They should have felt proud that their villager is felicitated for his good work and felt ashamed that this felicitation was done by non-Candoicar instead of by them or Candoicars. As a fatherly figure Pe. Vigar should have been judicious but he failed and even he will fail in the future because I find him now more volatile.  He must know that he is surrounded by the useless people involved in the Church affairs. Instead of directing their ire on me and waste their time they should go after those corrupt Catholic locals who are involved in immorality and other corrupt practices and yet they come to the Church and receive Holy Communion. These Church involved people and Pe. Vigar must do something to stop the concubinage Catholics are involved instead.    

Because of the idiotic minded Catholics involved  in our Church affairs, more and more Catholics are leaving Catholicism and embracing other denominations which are mushrooming everywhere in Goa.  If our Church leaders have guts and grace of God then they will arrest the move of non-Catholic groups from taking our Catholics in their fold.  This is what my opponent on 14^th August 2017 should stop and not me. I am unstoppable and you people are too tiny to stop me.

A.Veronica Fernandes,

Candolim, Bardez, Goa.