CORTALIM: The euphoria over the celebration of the feast of Blessed Joseph Vaz in January which would be the first after his declaration as Saint could take a hit as controversy has erupted over the feast venue.
Stating that a meeting was fixed at Sancoale Sanctuary on November 10, Monday at 6 pm to take a call on the venue which will be attended by Archbishop’s representative, Sanctuary Rector Fr Erimito Rebelo said the Archbishop had in mind to celebrate the feast at the old Church at Sancoale, especially in view of the high turnout of devotees expected for the feast. “The Archbishop after taking into confidence the counsellors, Diocesan Pastoral Council, Diocesan Parish Council, Deans, Sancoale Confraria and Fabrica and the village Parish Pastoral Council, is of the view that the feast should be celebrated at the old Church premises in view of its huge capacity to accommodate the devotees.”
“But I have already conveyed my opinion to my higher authorities. I know that the proposed new venue also has its disadvantages. But like Blessed Joseph Vaz, I will follow the directives of my superiors,” Fr Rebelo said.
However, Sancoale Confararia President Philip Fernandes said although they were invited for a meeting with the Archbishop, they were not informed about the purpose of the meeting and hence they could not speak on the issue since they were not prepared.
However, a section of the villagers feel that since Blessed Joseph Vaz attained Sainthood with all the devotion carried out from the Sanctuary for decades it would be just and proper and befitting that the first feast post sainthood be celebrated at the Sanctuary.
The villagers also felt that the issues of parking and accommodating of devotees were not a problem at all and these issues could be dealt with effectively by the villagers themselves. They felt that problems at old Church were of larger magnitude and with less than two months to go for the novenas to begin, it would be difficult to have infrastructure in place at old Sancoale Church.
