Very recently I had the privilege as the Mission
Secretary of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (ABVM) Province of the
Pallottines to accompany Fr Reinhold Maise SAC belonging to our Mother Province
which is now called ‘Heart of Jesus Province, Friedberg, Germany’, who was on a
visit to India to learn and understand the immense contributions made by the
German Missionaries to the faith in India and the birth of Pallottines in
India.
Accompanying him especially in Goa and
Karnataka, made me realise that the sacrifices of the pioneering missionaries
has borne tremendous fruit. Thus, as Pallottines in Goa celebrate 60 years of
Pallottine Mission today, April 22, it fills us with pride and also humbles us
when we recollect the vast spiritual enrichment we have been able to render to
the people of Goa by the grace of the Almighty God.
Soon after twelve
years of India’s freedom and when India was taking baby steps as a sovereign
nation, Fr Julius Moser SAC came to India for his missionary expedition. Fr
Moser, as I am told, was a priest of valour, courage and fortitude. He was
working in the remote missions of Australia but when asked to accompany the
students in Goa and be in charge of them, he was more than willing to leave his
comfort zone and explore the uncertain.
Fr Moser landed in Goa in September 1959
and resided in the Archbishop’s House, but by December he reallocated to the
Patriarchal Seminary in Rachol to be with the students, Br John Bechtlof, Br
Dieter Grey and Br Anton Nenzl who arrived in Goa from Karachi on December 19,
1959. Brothers Bechtlof and Grey had completed their second year of theology
while Br Nenzl was still a first year student of theology. They resided in the
Seminario Patriarcal de Rachol, and pursued their theological studies.
Fr Moser, in view of starting a house of
one’s own, started to look for an appropriate house in Goa and in the year 1960
in Assagao, the house belonging to ‘Athaide’ family, a colossal manor was
acquired. Thus, the principal house of the Pallottines in Goa, at Assagao was
established and named Casa Pallotti.
In 1964, Fr Grey and Fr Nenzl saw the need for Casa Pallotti to be an
apostolic school which housed a modest number of ten students who frequented
the Assagao School and consequently St
Britto’s School, Mapusa for the completion of their elementary
education.
In 1979, Casa Pallotti was made a
Philosophical Institute and in the same year a land was procured in Chicalim.
Progressively, the Apostolic School with 11 students moved into Chicalim house
and when they were done with their SSC studies the school closed its attendance
in May 1983. In 1985, Pallotti home, a retreat hub was erected and blessed in
Chicalim. Fr Henry Kieffer SAC who was a prisoner of war in the Second World
War spent 20 years of his priestly life in Goa. Fr Kieffer is a well-known
priest who came to Pallotti Home in the year 1985 and contributed immensely to
the faith formation of the faithful; hearing confessions for long hours, and
visiting and taking communion to the sick, the suffering, and the poor in and
around Chicalim.
Fr Nenzl, on the other hand, worked in
different capacities in Goa. I had the privilege to be his student in Pallotti
Jyothi Niwas, Chandor where he worked last. As a rector, I have noticed in him
a special commitment to the priesthood and exceptional devotion to Mother Mary, Queen of the Apostles. The three institutions that
continue to flourish in Goa are due to his foresight.
Fr Henry and Fr Nenzl became silent
visionaries and leaders who through their humble personalities taught the
Pallottines in Goa to stay rooted to the charism i.e. to revive faith and
rekindle charity, and execute change. From then on till date, the Pallottines
have been working in the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman, and have been faithfully
entrusted with three foundations: Casa Pallotti (1962), Pallotti Home (1978),
and Pallotti Jyothi Niwas, Chandor (2002) for formation and five parishes for
pastoral care in the Archdiocese: St Joseph’s Church, Pernem (1996), St Francis
Xavier Church, Mormugao (1997), St Sebastian’s Church, Tormas (1997), Our Lady of Assumption Church, Sarzora (1999), and
Our Lady of Miracles Church, Badem (2012). Pallottines through the pastoral, educational, and social ministry
continue to assist the faithful to come closer to God.
On this auspicious occasion of 60 years of
Pallottine Mission in Goa, we remember the efforts of our missionary German
Pallottine priests, the Goan priests and other priests who have tirelessly
worked in Goa, and the lay faithful who accompany us all through, and hope and
pray that we will zealously continue to revive faith in the current changing
world and rekindle charity reaching out to the marginalised in our society.
