As 133 cardinals gather in the Sistine Chapel this Wednesday to elect the next pope, the event holds special significance for two of them, both hailing from the Goan village of Aldona: Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão, Archbishop of Goa, and Cardinal Joseph Coutts, Archbishop Emeritus of Karachi.
This conclave, tasked with selecting the 267th successor of Saint Peter, stands out as the most geographically diverse in the Catholic Church’s 2,000-year history. Cardinals under 80 years old from 70 different countries will participate in this historic event.
Cardinal Ferrão, 72, currently serves as the president of both the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India and the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences. He was appointed to the College of Cardinals by Pope Francis in August 2022 and was elected to the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod in October 2024.
Cardinal Coutts, 79, another Aldona native, recently returned to Goa to take part in the Feast of St Joseph Vaz at Sancoale. Appointed as a cardinal in 2018, he previously served as the Metropolitan Archbishop of Karachi and played a key role in interreligious dialogue and humanitarian work within the Catholic Church in Pakistan.
Aldona, situated in North Goa, boasts a remarkable legacy as a stronghold of the Catholic faith. It is the birthplace of seven high-ranking prelates, including Cardinals Ferrão and Coutts, Archbishop Anil Couto of Delhi (Cardinal Coutts’ cousin), Archbishop-Emeritus Evarist Pinto of Karachi, Bishop Earl K Fernandes of Columbus, Ohio, the late Auxiliary Bishop Ferdinand J Fonseca of Mumbai, and the late Bishop Anthony Lobo of Islamabad-Rawalpindi.