Fr J Loiola Pereira
When he was informed that a formal celebration of his Episcopal Golden Jubilee was being planned, his response was many-worded, lasting several minutes, but one that can be brought down to two words: “nothing doing!” True to the low-profile existence he chose to adopt after his resignation from the leadership of this Archdiocese, Archbishop Raul Gonsalves almost said, in different words: “I prefer to spend that day in prayer, undisturbed.” An organizing committee of the celebration was already in place and had begun with the preliminaries. However, having known him as our Bishop for decades, no one dared to carry on the conversation. And the idea of a diocesan celebration was shelved.
But does this mean that someone who has been his close collaborator and shares the same roof with him is not allowed to say something about the man he has grown to admire over the decades? Here is then my tribute to him: a very feeble attempt to dwell, even if in a cursory manner, on what the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman should be thankful to God for on account of Archbishop Raul Nicolau Gonsalves.
First of all, we thank God for the gift of Raul Gonsalves as the very second Goan Bishop to govern this great Archdiocese. This wonderful gift was given to us on the 5th of March, 1967, fifty years to this day. After serving the Church in Goa and Daman as an Auxiliary Bishop for five years, to help aging Bishop Francisco da Piedade Rebello, who was the first Goan Bishop to serve this Archdiocese as an Apostolic Administrator, Bishop Raul took over as the Apostolic Administrator in 1972, shepherding this Church in the name of the last Portuguese Archbishop, José Vieira Alvernaz, who was still in office, although absent from the Archdiocese. The seat of the Archbishop fell vacant after the retirement of Archbishop Alvernaz in 1975, upon which Bishop Raul continued as the Administrator of this Archdiocese sede vacante, i.e. in the vacancy of the chair. It was only on 5th March, 1978, thirty-nine years to this day, that Goa had the joy of seeing the first Goan Archbishop of Goa and Daman and Patriarch of the East Indies take charge of this Archdiocese. And the obvious choice to the post was Bishop Raul Gonsalves, who would occupy that chair for 26 years and 15 days. And this is another reason for us to thank God for: that he gave this Archdiocese a full-fledged Shepherd in the person of Archbishop Raul Gonsalves.
It is not an easy task to govern this Archdiocese, with its glorious traditions and complex problems as well. The responsibility that Bishop Raul took upon himself must have certainly weighed on his shoulders, on many an occasion, like a difficult cross to bear. More so, because he had to shoulder it at a time of a great crisis, particularly in the political and administrative spheres.
We all know that, in December 1961, Goa had to wake up to a new political identity as part of the Indian Union, after having been ‘Portuguese India’ for more than four centuries and a half. This overnight change brought about serious challenges to a Church which was left ‘headless,’ as the last Portuguese Archbishop returned to Portugal and the next Bishop, a simple Apostolic Administrator, followed almost two years later. The challenges were mainly of a politico-economic nature. If Bishop Rebello had to take the first, most difficult, steps to help Church administration find its bearings, it was Archbishop Raul who deftly steered its course towards the economic stability it enjoys today. And this is yet another legitimate reason to thank God for.
Raul Gonsalves was ordained bishop less than two years after the Second Vatican Council concluded in Rome. Gathering more than two thousand and six hundred bishops from all over the world, the Council was instrumental in the renewal of the self-understanding of the Church, both in her inner life and in her relationship with other Christian traditions, other religions and the world at large. The herculean task of helping the Church in Goa adapt herself to and integrate herself in the global process of church renewal set up by the Council fell, in its greater part, to the strong shoulders of Apostolic Administrator and, later, Archbishop, Raul Gonsalves. Somehow, in His eternal Wisdom, Christ, the Chief Shepherd, must have known that the shoulders of his chosen Shepherd Raul would be strong enough to pastor His Church in this Archdiocese, through her peculiar complexities and the particularly arduous tracks that lay before her path. With the help of the right kind of collaborators, Archbishop Raul laid down a strong diocesan infra-structure, consisting of Episcopal Vicariates and various consultative Bodies and, on the executive front, more than twenty Diocesan Centres, Commissions and other Bodies, set up mostly according to the norms and recommendations of the Second Vatican Council. This well-knit organization has made our Archdiocese a model to be followed by many others. It was with such a far-sighted vision that Archbishop Raul guided the destinies of our Archdiocese, helping her tread a cohesive way of being Church in those early years of uncertainty and great challenge and slowly paving the way, year after year, for the “new way of being Church,” to which the Archdiocese is now committed, particularly as a fruit of her Diocesan Synod 2002. And this is one more reason to thank God for.
The Lord Jesus was truly generous with His bishop, giving him an abundance of gifts for the discharge of his responsibilities at the service of the Church in Goa and Daman. And yes, let us not forget the gift of a wholesome health of mind and body as well as an athletic physical frame, which Raul continues to keep in good shape, even into the ninetieth year of his life! Although he has given up his daily badminton game, he continues with his regular workout routine.
On the other side, it was Archbishop Raul’s personal response to Christ, the Chief Shepherd, his fidelity to the Church, his faithfulness to daily prayer and the sturdiness of his character that gave him the required strength to carry out the difficult task that was placed on his shoulders. One cannot forget here the sincere and valuable collaboration that he received, during his last ten years in office, from his Auxiliary Bishop, Filipe Neri Ferrão, now our Archbishop.
Various were the stellar decisions and steps that Bishop Raul took in the 37 years of his active episcopal service to our Archdiocese. For the sake of brevity, I shall limit myself to say that he drew up some momentous diocesan policies and authored various Pastoral Letters and Circulars addressing critical and pressing issues pertaining to the life of the Church and also of the people of Goa in general, sometimes in open confrontation with the local Government; he invited or permitted various Religious Congregations of men and women to begin work in this Archdiocese; he erected a number of new parishes and educational as well as other church institutions; devised a few, time-bound, Diocesan Pastoral Plans; encouraged various programmes and activities that would genuinely promote diocesan and parish life, not forgetting what we have already said about placing the Archdiocese on a sound financial footing, particularly through a well-laid Financial Reorganization Plan. Towards the end of his pastoral ministry, almost as his swan’s song, Archbishop Raul prepared the ground for and convened, in the year 2002, the historic Diocesan Synod of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman, based on whose recommendations the Catholic community in Goa and Daman continues its march towards ever greater and more holistic renewal, working, in solidarity with followers of other faiths, for the building of a ‘New Society.’ And this is yet another reason to render thanks to God.
Our beloved Archbishop Filipe Neri has therefore inherited a strongly-built edifice, thanks to the dedicated and long-standing pastoral leadership of his Predecessor. While wishing Archbishop Raul good health and continued blessings and graces on his life and ministry at the service of the Church, we pray that the present Archbishop, drawing inspiration and strength from the work that has been done before him and aided by the remarkable qualities of mind and heart that he has received from the Almighty, may continue to build, in abiding fidelity to the lights of the Holy Spirit, on the solid foundations laid by his venerable predecessors over nearly five centuries.
* The writer was the Secretary of Abp. Raul Gonsalves during the first two and the last eight years of his tenure as the Archbishop of Goa and Daman.
