A great honour for Goa
It is a very proud moment for Goa and Goans that our so Rt Rev Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao has been chosen by Pope Francis to be one of the 21 new Cardinals, indeed as a Cardinal elector in the Consistory. Goans across the world have a great occasion to rejoice about.
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The sense of legitimate pride should also be an occasion for us to all deepen our spirituality and to enhance our solemn commitment to social justice, religious harmony and universal brotherhood.
There is no doubt that our so proven Spiritual Shepherd will continue his mission of serving humanity by focusing on the upliftment of the poor and downtrodden without distinction of caste or creed. His passion for the environment, in the true spirit of Franciscan devotion, will help make our neighbourhood a better place for all to live in. May we fervently pray to God that someday he dons the mantle of Peter in Rome.
Let us wish our dear Rev. Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao all the very best as he prepares for his formal elevation as Cardinal on August 27 at the Vatican when he achieves that distinction of being the first ever Archbishop of Goa and the sixth person of Goan origin to attain this magnanimous rank. Am looking forward to be in Rome for that momentous occasion.
Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
Humble priest
to Cardinal!
It is with great joy that Goa woke up to the good news of our Archbishop being elevated to the rank of Cardinal. Indeed a proud moment for Goa and Goans! With the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to be held in Rome in October it makes it all the more significant for Goa and Daman and the rest of India where our Bishop holds charge as the President of the Bishops Conference of India.
I remember our Bishop in the early eighties as being a very humble, devout and a dedicated priest. His qualities first struck me when he was invited to preach a retreat at our Island of St Estevam by our then dynamic and versatile Parish Priest Fr Almir D’Souza.
Filipe Nery proved to be a forward thinking Bishop who always prefers the policy of ‘wait and watch’ relying and trusting upon Divine Providence. He is a great devotee of Our Lady and has recently consecrated his Archdiocese to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. What better person to head our Archdiocese than our beloved Bishop especially in these trying and difficult times when those in power instead of easing people’s pain as we slowly come out of the deadly pandemic are adding to their misery by creating division and mistrust in people’s minds.
It is indeed at this opportune moment in history that our Bishop will be elevated to rank of Cardinal and will be entitled to vote in future for election of the next Pope.
Adelmo Afonso, St Estevam
PIL is being misused
Any Indian resident can submit a Public Interest Litigation, but the only condition is that it must not be filed with a private interest but in the greater public interest. PIL can be filed in the Supreme Court and High Courts by invoking their Writ jurisdiction under Article 32 and Article 226 respectively.
Careless PIL activists across the nation began to play a vital but not constructive role in the area of litigation. The PIL is being misused by the individuals agitating for private complaints in the garb of public interest as well as seeking publicity rather than espousing the public cause.
But some people have started using PIL as a tool in order to register false cases to harass people. It is used by people to settle personal vendetta, business scores, and political scores.
The misuse of PIL will stop when the courts are vigilant and the challenge is for the State to prolong a balance in allowing legitimate PIL cases and discouraging waggish ones.
K G Vilop, Chorao
I cry for my Motherland
My Goa you were so beautiful all over and wherever we went you were shining like a bright morning star with your greenery, hills, fields, rivers, meadows, grazing for cattle and lakes with clean water. Cattle used to drink and get refreshed, ducks were swimming by the nearside lakes. Now there is no water in the lakes and the poor animals go far away in search of water. No hay in the fields to graze and hence we can see the cattle on the roads. There were so many coconut trees and now they are cut for unwanted roads. Roads were so clean and there was no rotten garbage on the road side. Destruction for money.
The Portuguese never destroyed any land of Goa but protected all the things which God has created and it was so clean everywhere. Though the Portuguese are gone, they kept a very special thing to remember, that is the delicious papaya tree. Now those days are gone and it really makes me cry. People nowadays have no peace of mind. Everywhere our beautiful land gets devastated by demolition for unwanted roads, projects, etc. The bowl has turned down on our heads and everything is going beyond measures. It is we the people who choose the government to do good and to listen to our grievances but now people have to come on the streets for agitation to fight for their demands.
No contractor should come and destroy the beautiful land in Goa. Please take action and save our motherland Goa.
Sovita Almeida, Assolna
Is this the State we wanted?
This has reference to the article ‘Goa is a beautiful package tied with the Ribbon of Harmony; the CM holds that ribbon of harmony’ (Herald Insight, May 30, 2022). That was an interesting insight provided by Herald on the 35th year of Goa’s statehood. The pertinent question posed by you is something we all need to ponder is this the State we wanted, is this the State we want to leave for your children. Yes, rightly said, in fact, this is the question people in all States in our country ought to ask themselves.
And, as we near World Environment Day June 5, we need to think of our planet, our Earth? The manner in which we have been plundering the Earth, destroying lands, destroying nature, etc.
We also offer to ask ourselves, is this Earth we are leaving for our children? Coming back to the statehood of Goa, well, we need to look back over what we have achieved. Are we growing in unity with the rest of the nation or are we being torn apart by differences of religion, caste, language, culture? We are all responsible for the state of politics in the State and in the entire nation. Goa, and indeed, our entire nation is a beautiful package tied with the ribbon of harmony. We need to preserve that package and hold on tight to that ribbon of harmony, there is no other way. In unity lies our strength!
Melville X D’Souza, Mumbai
Why can’t the US stop gun violence?
Sadly and unsurprisingly mass shootings in the US have become a common affair. But when victims happen to be primary school students, the entire world sits and takes notice of the extremity of the tragedy. The slaughter at the primary school in Texas raises again the most obvious question that has been discussed and debated many times in the past: “why can’t America stop the scourge of gun violence?”
Distressingly enough, it cannot for the reason that gun violence in the US is symbolic of a broken political system that fails to protect its own citizens. Frequent mass shootings are a stain on the country’s international reputation.
In a broader sense, the failure to implement bold measures against gun violence is seen as a dysfunctional system of a government.
Ranganathan Sivakumar, Chennai
