PANJIM: MLA of San Andre constituency, Vishnu Wagh has called on the government to welcome the newly elected Pope Francis to the Sate and support the moves of the Jesuit community, which has expressed its desire to invite the Pontiff for the exposition of the Blessed relics of St Francis Xavier, scheduled to be held next year.
“Next year will be the exposition of the relics of St Francis Xavier. This is an important event in the socio-religious calendar of the state. The Jesuit Society has said that they would call the Pope. The state government should also extend an open invitation to the Pope to visit the state,” Wagh said, stressing that the state should start readying its infrastructure for the visit of the Pope.
“Do we have the infrastructure ready in the state?” Wagh asked, while urging the government to expand the existing roads from Batim, Santana, and Neura into Old Goa which will take care of the entire traffic seeking to enter Old Goa from the South.
Fr Savio Barreto, Rector of the Basilica has, in statements to the press, said that they would welcome the popular Pope Francis to the exposition.
Pope Francis is the first Jesuit to become a Pope and like all Jesuits, he will have strong devotion to St Francis Xavier, who along with St Ignatius of Loyola formed the Society of Jesus. St Francis Xavier was among the first priests and the first Jesuit to preach Christianity in these lands.
Wagh has called for building flyovers as well as ‘vertical planning’ in a bid to make a statement on the state’s economic progress.
“The number of flyovers is an indicator of the state’s economic status. This ground level planning will not do. All cities like Mumbai, Pune,
