TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Over 8000 delegates from Goa, India and abroad have registered for India’s first ever Small Christian Communities Convention to be held at Old Goa. The inaugural mass on the first day will be celebrated by the Apostolic Nuncio, Most Rev Salvatore Pennacchio along with other bishops. Governor Bharat Vir Wanchoo and Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar will be present at the inaugural mass.
The event will see a host of presentations detailing on SCCs and their importance by various bishops including Rev Filipe Neri Ferrao, Archbishop of Goa and Daman, Rev Selvister Ponnumuthan, Bishop of Punalur and Rev Bosco Penha, Aux bishop Emeritus, Mumbai.
Around 5,000 delegates have been registered from the 157 parishes that form Goa. 2,000 are out station delegates from 164 dioceses in India. Bishop Fritz Lobinger of South Africa, a pioneer in the SCC movement will be one among the international delegates.
The three day event, from November 19 to 21, to be held in front of Bom Jesus Basilica, Old Goa, will consist of community prayers, talks by speakers, testimonies, talk shows, cultural exchanges and sharing of spiritual exchanges. The convention is being organized by the National Service Team (NST) for Small Christian Communities under the aegis of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI).
Addressing the press, Fr Vijay Thomas, secretary of the NST for SCC said, “The final preparations are in full swing for this unique and historic three day event,” while Fr Leonard Souza, Goa coordinator informed that other delegates from out stations areas will be residing with families in Goa. “The 2,000 out station delegates will be housed in our 157 parishes across Goa. The national delegates will start coming in on November 16 and 17 and will be housed temporarily in some of the diocese institutions and transported to the parishes from November 18 onwards. 1,500 families in Goa have opened their houses for the delegates to stay during the convention,” said Fr Souza.
Organizers say the main purpose is to provide a chance for SCCs all over India to interact in one place, pray and to learn from one another. Currently, the 140 dioceses in India have around 68,105 SCCs.
The first and third day programmes will be in the pandal in front of the Basilica while on the second day a sharing experience followed by an interaction session will be held in 19 deaneries of the archdiocese.
