TEAM HERALD
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
PANJIM: Cardinal Oswald Gracias, a prelate of Goan origin, has stated that he has been interceding with ‘Goencho Saib’ St Francis Xavier, as he takes part in the conclave in the Vatican to elect the next pope.
Incidentally, Cardinal Gracias and another prelate of Goan origin, Cardinal Ivan Dias will be among the five cardinals from India who are in the Vatican to participate in the conclave. While Cardinal Gracias hails from Orlim, Cardinal Dias traces his roots to Velsao.
The five cardinals from India who have qualified to attend the conclave and vote for electing the Pope are Cardinal Telesphore Toppo (Archbishop of Patna), Cardinal Oswald Gracias (Archbishop of Mumbai), Cardinal Mar George Alenchery, (Head of Syro-Malabar Church) and Cardinal Mar Baselios Cleemis, (Head of Syro-Malankara Church) and Cardinal Ivan Dias (Roman Curia), former Archbishop of Mumbai.
In his statement to the AsiaNews.it, Cardinal Gracias said he would carry with him “the gratitude, love and prayers of India’s 18 million Catholics for our Beloved Holy Father Benedict XVI”, who stepped down on February 28.
“It is very humbling to be at the conclave. I have been spending many hours in personal prayer and meditation, asking for God’s most Holy Spirit to instruct my heart to be an instrument of the Lord’s grace and providence to fulfil faithfully this service, entrusted upon me as a cardinal, and upon the College of Cardinals, to elect the next Pope after discerning together the signs of the times for the Church and the world,” said Cardinal Gracias.
“In a very special way, I have been interceding with St Francis Xavier and the Blessed Mother Teresa of Kolkata – both loved by hundreds of millions and whose mortal remains are in our beloved country – and with the Blessed John Paul II, whom I knew personally.”
Cardinal Gracias, who is the president of the Catholic Bichops’ Conference of India (CBCI) as well as Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI), has also urged the churches in the country to have a special Mass during the days of the conclave.
“I have written to all the churches in India, asking them to have a special Mass during the days of the conclave. I asked all convents, monasteries and religious houses of contemplative life to pray especially for the election of the next pope,” he said.
