TEAM HERALD
bureau@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao has urged the parish priests and rectors of various church institutions in the archdiocese to participate in prayers either during Sunday services or in special celebrations on April 27, to mark the double canonization of Popes John XXIII and John Paul II in the Vatican.
A special Eucharistic celebration will also be celebrated in the gardens of Archbishop’s House on April 27 evening to commemorate the event.
“The whole Catholic world is eagerly awaiting the Canonization of two contemporary Popes who greatly helped shape the Church into what it is today: John XXIII (1958-1963) and John Paul II (1978-2005). If the first was the chosen instrument to convoke the Second Vatican Council, which reshaped the face of Catholicism forever, the second was instrumental in implementing a great deal of the conciliar directives throughout the world,” stated Archbishop Ferrao, in a circular to the priests, religious and laity of the archdiocese.
“Pope John Paul II, who served the Church for a much longer time, was closer to us both in time and, in a certain way, in space. For, he was the only Pope to visit Goa, to this day. Those of us who had the joy of seeing him in our midst between February 5 and 7, 1986, will remember how he stole our hearts by speaking flawless Konkani for more than 15 minutes, at different times during his Mass,” says the circular.
“Nine years later in January 1995, Pope John Paul II beatified our own Fr Joseph Vaz, who was proclaimed the patron of our Archdiocese in 2000. The Pope’s stay in this Archbishop’s House 26 years ago prompted us to install in our gardens, last November, a monument to his memory, which was blessed and inaugurated, along with another monument to Blessed Joseph Vaz, by Apostolic Nuncio, Most Rev Salvatore Pennacchio,” states the circular.
“It is but fitting that we join our Holy Father Pope Francis and the Universal Church in thanking God for the gift of these two great Popes,” states the circular.
“We earnestly recommend, therefore, that our parish priests and rectors of our Church institutions urge their faithful to join in thanksgiving prayer, on the day of the double Canonization, April 27.
Incidentally, we have decided to hold a special Eucharistic celebration that same evening, in the gardens of Archbishop’s House,” the archbishop’s circular adds.
