St.Andrew's Parish, Vasco-Da-Gama, Goa
Church of St. Andrew’s the Apostle, Vasco-Da-Gama was founded by the Jesuits in 1570. The inaugural mass was celebrated with great solemnity on the 5th of April the same year. The present church building was erected in 1594, having gone through some substantial structural changes over the year. The parochial residence was considerably extended in 1989 by the then parish priest, late Fr. Antonio F. Couto. In the year 2009 the church saw massive expansion and renovation work being undertaken under the guidance of the parish priest Fr. Jose Antonio Costa.
The city of Vasco-Da-Gama has a population of over a lakh of which more than 23,000 are catholics. This is more than the total population of Mormugao district in the 1930s. Vasco is the most cosmopolitan city of Goa. Here you will find people who have come from various states of the country , many of whom have made Vasco their home. This is so because the city provides job opportunities to people from all over .
The Naval base, the Goa Shipyard, the Mormugao Port Trust, Railways and various other Public Sector Undertakings employ thousands of job-seekers who come from all parts of the country to earn their livelihood. As a result there are people belonging to various faiths residing in the Port Town. There are of course the Hindus which form the major community along with Muslims, Sikhs, Jains, the Parsis, Buddhists Khojas, Sindhis etc, not forgetting people belonging to various Christians sects like Protestants, Believers, etc.
Over the years there have been major communal clashes in several parts of the country. States like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Orissa and Kashmir among other states have seen blood baths because of religious intolerance. Politicians in various states have been sowing the seeds of religious intolerance and have pitted people against each to achieve their own political gains. It must be said that a city, a state and for that matter the entire country can survive only if there is religious tolerance and communal harmony.
Goa has been the epitome of communal harmony. Even though certain anti-social elements have tried to disrupt this communal harmony by desecrating religious places and, in the recent past, even attempting to plant bombs during a religious function, Goans have shown exemplary patience and understanding and have never fallen prey to the motive of these unscrupulous elements. A great contribution for this communal harmony in the state comes from the Church in Goa. The Catholic church in Goa, like elsewhere in the country, has been advocating communal harmony by preaching love, peace, brotherhood, and social service irrespective of the faith one follows. The Bible says “Have we not all one Father? Hath not one God created us?” Malachi 2:10.
In this respect the St. Andrew’s church in Vasco has been doing tremendous work in binding together people of various faiths. In the Port Town you will see people belonging to other faiths bowing in reverence as they pass the St. Andrew’s church. The procession of Our Lady of Fatima on 13th October which wends through the street of Vasco brings together our brothers and sisters of other faiths in reverence and worship to Mother Mary. Shop owners belonging to the majority community and even other communities are seen lighting candles during the processions. This is a true sign of the brotherhood and mutual respect which exists between the people of this cosmopolitan city.
Goa: Christmas is a joyous time when we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. “Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding” wrote Albert Einstein. The message of living in love, peace and harmony needs to be spread among the people belonging to other faiths. As the saying goes “He who cannot love his brother whom he can see, how can he love God whom he has not seen? The St. Andrew’s church was conscious of the need to maintain communal harmony in the parish. Hence inter-religious dialogues were being held between religious leaders of different faiths. St. Andrew’s parish under the guidance of the then parish priest Rev. Fr. Britto Furtado started a unique program during the midnight Christmas mass. Here religious heads of various faiths are invited by the parish priest for the midnight Christmas mass.
The leaders are offered Christmas gifts by the parish priest. In the course of the mass these religious leaders carry a cake in the shape of a dove as an offering during the offertory procession. The cake is kept aside as the mass goes on. After the mass is over these guests gather around the cake placed on the dais along with their spouses. As a sign of unity all the leaders hold the knife together and cut the cake as the choir sing “Happy Birthday Jesus”. Instead of blowing the birthday candle off a candle is lit which is symbolic of Jesus Christ being the light of the world. A representative of the guests is allowed to speak for about two minutes. While offering the sign of peace the main celebrant shakes hands and embraces each of the religious heads. After the main program it is time for a small get-together and fellowship.
ADELMO FERNANDES
(Above content copied from http://citizensreport.in)
