Asia’s first Catholic Diocese, also the seat of the Patriarch of the East Indies, for centuries had as its head an Archbishop Patriarch. Now, finally, the head of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman will be elevated to the stature of a Cardinal – a Prince of the Catholic Church. Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao will in August this year in a Consistory be created Cardinal by Pope Francis. The announcement that came on Sunday evening surprised and thrilled many, as congratulations poured in on social media for the new Cardinal but the Church in Goa refrained from any grandiose announcement and restricted itself to a short congratulatory message released to the media.
For anyone familiar with the manner in which the Archbishop turned Cardinal has led the Church in Goa, this would come as no surprise. Archbishop Ferrao has never sought the limelight and when he exchanges the purple zucchetto for a scarlet one there will perhaps be a quiet moment for reflection rather than any public felicitation which he would be uncomfortable with. Yet, the same Archbishop has never fought shy of speaking out on issues that have affected the people and the social fabric. He has in fact utilised the Christmas reception he hosts to make public the feelings of the Church on certain issues, even if what he has had to say was not palatable to the political class.
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This elevation, however, has a lot more significance for the church in Goa. It’s not just that the Archbishop of Goa will get a new title that allows him to be an elector at the next Papal Conclave should it take place before the new Cardinal attains the age of 80. Significantly, given the fact that a Cardinal can be called by the Pope for particular requests and have direct access to the occupant of the See of St Peter, there will be someone from Goa that has a voice in the Vatican. Archbishop Ferrao, with his long experience in heading the Church in Goa and Daman, knows exactly what this diocese and the faithful need.
As would most likely happen, there is already speculation of whether there will be another bishop appointed or whether Goa will get an auxiliary but it’s not clear whether Archbishop Ferrao will stay on in Goa after he receives the red biretta from the Pope or whether he will be given new responsibilities elsewhere. Goa, despite being an old Diocese and an important one given the role that it has played in the history of Catholicism in Asia, never had a Cardinal so it could be very possible that Archbishop Ferrao could get appointed elsewhere and if that happens there could be a new Bishop for Goa. However, an auxiliary bishop to assist the cardinal is very likely, and such an appointment was expected even earlier.
The announcement of the new Cardinals, of Archbishop Ferrao and of Hyderabad Archbishop Anthony Poola is very significant to India as it takes the number of active Cardinals in the country from four to six. Archbishop Poola will also be the first dalit Cardinal. India now has a prominent place in the Catholic Church and its influence in the Vatican could increase in subsequent decades. It is pertinent here to recall that during a brief visit to India in 1999, the then Pope John Paul II, now a saint, referring to the growth of Christianity in Europe and Africa in the first and second millennium, had speaking of Asia said that ‘may the third Christian millennium witness a great harvest of faith on this vast and vital continent’. The successors of John Paul II haven’t forgotten this, as just a few weeks ago, India got another saint, the first lay person from the country who was canonised.
