TEAM HERALD
bureau@herald-goa.com
OLD GOA: Archbishop-Patriarch Felipe Neri Ferrao led the church in Goa in paying rich tributes to late Fr Thomas d’Aquino Sequeira (60), a scripture scholar and an acclaimed musician, who passed away on September 9.
Delivering his homily to a packed congregation at the Se Cathedral in Old Goa during the funeral services on Saturday evening, Archbishop Ferrao described Fr Thomas as a “passionate follower of Jesus.”
“I knew Fr Thomas for the last 50 years, ever since he had joined the Saligao seminary that young age of 10. He was a passionate follower of Jesus, a man of joy who would bring energy and build a community,” said Archbishop Ferrao, while highlighting Fr Thomas’s work in the diocese during his 37 years as a priest.
Fr Thomas, who had served as deputy secretary general of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), had passed away in USA following a battle with cancer. Incidentally, Fr Thomas had had the opportunity of teaching Konkani to Blessed Pope John Paul II, shortly before the pope’s historic visit to Goa in 1986.
The funeral mass began with the Rachol Seminary paying a tribute to their former rector with a 15-minute documentary ‘Yatrikar’, highlighting the life and work of Fr Sequeira.
Besides Archbishop Ferrao, who presided over the Mass, other concelebrants included five prelates, Archbishop Anil Couto (Delhi), Bishop Lumen Monteiro (Agartala), Bishop Alwyn Barreto (Sindurdug) and Archbishop-Emeritus Raul Gonsalves, and over 200 priests, including Vicar General Fr Jose Remedios Fernandes, Se Cathedral Parish Parish Fr Alfred Vaz and Rector of Rachol Seminary Fr Aleixo Menezes.
A large number of nuns, seminarians from the Rachol seminary and people from various parts of Goa took part in the Eucharistic celebrations.
Members of ‘Gavana’, a folk music troupe which was founded by Fr Thomas, joined the Rachol Seminary choir, which was led by Fr Simon D’Cunha.
After communion, Archbishop Ferrao delivered a heart-warming tribute, thanking God for the gift of Fr Thomas to the church in Goa and extended his condolences to the bereaved family.
Later, a condolence letter sent by CBCI President Cardinal Oswald Gracias was read out by Fr Joaquim Loiola Pereira, secretary to Archbishop Ferrao.
Edwin D’Sa, son of Dr Bailon D’Sa and a neighbour of Fr Thomas, also paid rich tributes to Fr Thomas on behalf of residents of Corlim.
Archbishop-Patriarch Gonsalves later conducted the final rites and the body was laid to rest at the Corlim cemetery.
Fr Thomas had served as prefect of Saligao seminary, before proceeding to Rome to pursue Scripture studies. Fr Thomas had served as professor of Scripture at Rachol Seminary and was also appointed as secretary of the Diocesan Commission for Sacred Scripture and was the convenor of the committee entrusted to translate the Bible into Konkani.
On completion of his tenure in Rachol, Fr Thomas was sent to Utorda as its parish priest. Within a year, he was elevated as deputy secretary general of the CBCI in 2006. When his term ended in 2012, Fr Thomas left for the US to pursue further studies, besides helping the St Bernard’s Catholic Church in Tracy, California.
Incidentally, Fr Thomas’ mother had passed away in Goa at the age of 92 on August 18, barely three weeks before he breathed his last in the USA.
