Dr Colaco wrote: I note that you personally met Archbishop Rev. Felipe Neri Ferrao on August 12th, 2004. At his suggestion, you submitted to him a written complaint about the affairs at the Ribandar Church.
Would you care to post that complaint (minus any names) to GoaNet?. It might help the ignoramus like me to try ascertain IF there are any collateral issues involved. ------------------------------- Dear Dr. Colaco, I stand corrected. I met His Excellency the Archbishop of Goa Rev. Felipe Neri Ferrao on the evening of August 11th and the letter was handed over on 12th August. As requested I am posting a copy of the letter. I will try and give a detailed reply to your other points by the evening. With best regards, Aires Rodrigues Ribandar , ---------------------------------- 12th August 2004 To, The Archbishop of Goa Altinho - Panaji Your Excellency, At the very outset could I thank you for last evening sparing time from your busy schedule to listen the problems regarding the acute crisis at Ribandar Church. I am candidly writing these few lines as a proud villager of Ribandar, my birthplace and in the interests of protecting our Church from further disgrace. It is appalling that in spite of various complaints sent to Bishop's Palace in the last four years by various individuals including our Church committee about the state of affairs at the Ribandar Church, the Bishop's Palace chose not to acknowledge or reply to a single complaint. As well we all know, there has been a terrible state of affairs, both moral and financial, going on at our Parish Church. This has been of great concerns to parishioners who have silently stood by under a great sense of shame. The time has come to stand up and do something about the situation. It is time to give an opportunity for parishioners and the wronged victims to recount their first hand experiences. We have to save our Ribandar Church from further disrepute. Let us not allow immorality and financial unaccountability to flourish under the cloak of piousness. Our Lady of Ajuda, may She be called upon to protect our women folk, and in particular, our young girls. On 24th December last year around 11.15 p.m. the daughter of one of my neighbour, 13 year old (name omitted) was called to the Church under the guise of church activity. She was cornered by our Parish Priest who than asked her to submit herself to confession. Young, but street wise, (name omitted) questioned the logic of confession at that late hour of the night. A frustrated parish priest later fondled her private parts and molested this young girl. She was luckily to escape from the hands of the priest and was able to rush to the comfort of her mother (name omitted) who very promptly rushed to the church and questioned the Parish priest as to his outrageous conduct. The priest admitted his fault but a mere apology will never erase the lifetime damage inflicted on this budding young girl and her family. Please feel free to speak to (name omitted and (name omitted), her mother. However, I am sure that this will not arise, as the Parish Priest will not have the audacity to deny the gruesome crime. Financial unaccountably at the Ribandar church is a matter of great concern. I myself have never been given a receipt for the donations made. Our Parish Priest has commercialised our church. It is not surprising that he has chosen to be an agent for Amway himself. Something unheard for a priest to indulge in. His cook(name omitted) is paid by the church but continues to be a full time employee of Amway. Due to your intervention the mysterious lady is no longer making Ribandar Church her abode. However, she keeps popping in but the other guests have made themselves comfortable. The Priest has to explain who and as to why these guests are a burden to the Ribandar Parishioners. The Chimbel incident of the statue of our lady is not resolved. Families have many questions to ask and the Parish Priest has a lot to answer as to why he acted so immaturely and vulgarly. Your Priest at Ribandar has a serious problem. He needs to be removed from Ribandar as a matter of top priority but it would not be right to send such a priest to another parish. He will continue to do the damage he has inflicted on the parishioners in his various postings over the years. Could I suggest that he be kept at your Palace under your direct supervision and your leash. You have assured me that this matter would be dealt with on a priority basis and I hope to hear from you by Saturday morning as to the action taken or contemplated as we would be unable to continue to be mere spectators to these highhanded acts of a religious head of a community he has chosen to let down so completely. Sanctity, order and decorum has to be restored to the Ribandar Church at the earliest. Sincerely, Aires Rodrigues
