Team Herald
PANJIM: Amid false and misleading propaganda regarding the property of the Church of Our Lady of Health, Sancoale where the frontispiece now stands, the Diocesan Centre for Social Communication has circulated a video on social media asserting that the property very much belongs to the Church, based on history.
Fr Kenneth Teles, Parish Priest of Sancoale, said the Church of Our Lady of Health, Sancoale has been with the diocese from 1606.
In the same century, after Jose Vaz became a priest, on 5th August, Fr Teles said, Jose Vaz wrote his letter dedicating himself as a servant to Our Lady of Health and Jesus. The church then caught fire and collapsed. From 1606, the place is with the diocese, much against the propaganda made on social media to the contrary.
“These days you must have heard or seen on social media there is lot of publicity about this place. You also may be confused whether there was a temple here earlier? You may be thinking about this. And some people were asking why our priests are not speaking. So we thought of shedding some light on this,” Fr Teles says in the video.
“The Church was built in 1606 and in the least the church was standing for 200 years. After Joseph Vaz became a priest, within one year he wrote a letter of dedication to the patroness of this Church — Our Lady of Health. He went on his knees before the altar and wrote this letter of dedication to Our Lady,” Fr Teles said.
“So this history is there. Later the church collapsed after a fire. So after collapsing, for few years it remained like this. But many years you see this chapel is standing here,” Fr Teles pointed out.
In this entire history, there is no story of any temple. But the propaganda which has been made in the last few days is for the only reason, to usurp the property of the Church. This propaganda is going in this direction.
The video further shows Fr Teles saying, “So in this place this Church (Our Lady of Health) was present. Apart from this there are seven more properties. All these properties are under the ownership of the Sancoale Church and the Diocese of Goa. The church belongs to the diocese and therefore the properties belong to the diocese. You have to go and tell others the truth and dispel the lies.”
In the same video, Fr Manuel Dias, Rector, St Joseph Vaz Sanctuary says, People recall with fond memories that their weddings and baptisms had taken place at this Church. Joseph Vaz as a youngster used to come here. There was no other church, this was his parish church. There are so many proofs.
“Why am I saying this now since many have woken up now and claiming the properties. They want to create history which has never taken place,” Fr Dias stated.
“This is creating trouble for us; waste of money to fight in courts, there is pressure on us. Since now courts do not entertain them, they are trying to create divisions among the people on the basis of religions. All the false propaganda, by trampling on the truth, we have to condemn it,” Fr Dias concluded.
