Anto Akkara's "Once a Decade" article, posted by Gabe Menezes, is very interesting to read. However, the following part does not correspond to reality:
«During his second trip to east Asia in 1552 he fell sick and died at the age of 46 while waiting for the boat to take him to mainland China. Months after the body was buried in the Mollucas Islands, where the saint died, local Christians found the body incorrupt and shipped it secretly to Goa». Mollucas islands are an archipelago that is now part of Indonesia. It was not there that Francis Xavier died and was buried, but in the Sancian island, off the coast of China. And it is not true that his incorrupt body was shipped "secretly" to Goa. When unearthed at Sancian, the body was shipped to Malacca (in present-day Malaysia), later on unearthed again and shipped - openly, not secretly - to Goa where it reached and was triumphantly received in 1554. Jorge ----- Original Message ----- From: Gabe Menezes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2005 10:58 PM Subject: [Goanet]Once a Decade, SFX. http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=36123 Once a Decade In an extraordinary outpouring of faith and devotion, pilgrims from all across India, and even beyond, flocked to the little town of Goa to venerate the remains of St. Francis Xavier. Anto Akkara Feb 2005 (CWR) - More than 2.5 million pilgrims from all across India and abroad had filed past the remains of St. Francis Xavier when the 16th decennial exposition of the 452-year-old body of the great saint concluded on January 2 at the Bom Jesus Basilica in Goa, a former colony on the west coast of India. Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao of Goa led the solemn ceremony closing the 43-day exposition of the mortal remains of the saint who died in 1552. When it was over, the glass casket containing his body was returned to its regular place at the side altar of the Bom Jesus Cathedral. Several Indian bishops, hundreds of priests, and thousands of lay Catholics attended the closing ceremony, as the body of St. Francis Xavier, still preserved after more than 400 years, was brought back to the Bom Jesus cathedral in a solemn procession from the Se cathedral, just across the road, where it had been exposed for public viewing and veneration since November 21. "This is really amazing. We really want to have a look at this," Sakuntala Podar, a Hindu, told CWR while patiently waiting in the queue along with thousands in the blazing sun for a glimpse of the incorrupt body of St. Francis Xavier, known to Catholics as the Apostle of the East. In fact Sakuntala and her husband had decided to take time from their vacation in Goa to visit the Se cathedral in the final hours of the exposition. Like the Hindu couple, thousands of pilgrims had lined up patiently for hours to file past the remains of the saint, day after day, from 6 in the morning until 7 in the evening, during the six weeks of public exposition. Many of the pilgrims came to Old Goa—a bit more than 20 miles from Panaji, the capital of Goa, on the coast of the Arabian Sea—after reading media reports about the rush of pilgrims, including Hindus and Muslims, to the popular shrine. AN IMMEDIATE RUSH It all began on November 21, with another solemn Mass and procession: this one starting at the Bom Jesus basilica and crossing the street to the Se cathedral. This more spacious building was chosen primarily because it could accommodate the large number of pilgrims organizers expected for the event. But Se cathedral is the oldest cathedral in Goa, the former Portuguese colony that became part of India in 1962; as such it is a national monument, under the care of the Archeological Survey of India. Beginning with the opening day of the exposition, the cathedral saw a great rush of pilgrims. Airline flights into Goa were booked to capacity; train and bus services were stretched to their limits. Parishes from cities like New Delhi and Calcutta, over 1,000 miles from Goa, arranged group trips, led by their pastors. Many of the visitors stayed in Goa to tour other churches and Christian monuments in the state. This exposition was the largest such event ever organized by the Church in Goa. The number of pilgrims shot up by nearly one-third over the 1.9-million figure attending the most recent exposition of the saint's remains in 1994. The number of visitors during the six-week exposition easily exceeded the total population of the state; Goa is home to 1.4 million people (of whom roughly one-third are Catholic). To welcome this huge influx of the faithful, the Goa archdiocese worked with the state government, making special arrangements to keep visitors as comfortable as possible. Thousands of pilgrims camped out overnight near the grounds of the cathedral, relying on local organizers to provide low-cost accommodations as they broke up their long cross-country trips to the exposition. The number of pilgrims may have surprised organizers, but the people of Goa were delighted to learn how many others, in India and even neighboring countries, shared their reverence for St. Francis Xavier. Archbishop Ferrao explained: Most of the Goans, irrespective of their religion, have great faith in St. Francis Xavier. They believe that he can intercede for them in all their problems and they come in great faith to ask for his intercession in their various needs. That is why he is universally known here as the Gõycho Saib: the Lord of Goa. Explaining the significance of the exposition for the spiritual life of the Church in Goa, the archbishop said: "Every exposition of his sacred relics becomes, in reality, an occasion for the deepening of the faith of Christians as well as of the followers of other faiths. It fosters considerably the spiritual renewal in the whole diocese." THE INCORRUPT BODY Born in Spain in 1506, Jesuit Father Francis Xavier reached Goa in 1541 while the region was under Portuguese control. After baptizing thousands, he left for east Asia in 1549 and returned to India in 1551. During his second trip to east Asia in 1552 he fell sick and died at the age of 46 while waiting for the boat to take him to mainland China. Months after the body was buried in the Mollucas Islands, where the saint died, local Christians found the body incorrupt and shipped it secretly to Goa. Ever since that servant dug up the grave and discovered the body of St. Francis Xavier incorrupt a year after his death, the condition of the saint's remains has been an object of wonder and veneration. When the body arrived in Goa in 1554, the news spread like wildfire, and virtually all of the Catholics in the region lined up for a glimpse of the missionary's remains. As a result of the public sensation, in 1556 King John III of Portugal ordered his viceroy in Goa to conduct an inquiry into the life, work, and miracles of the great saint. That study added to the popular devotion to the Jesuit missionary, and in 1624 Goa witnessed massive celebrations following the canonization of St. Francis Xavier. The first exposition of the saint's remains took place in 1782; the next two were in 1860 and 1878. Since then, the exposition has been held more or less every ten years, with the notable exception being in 1964, on the occasion of XXXVIIth International Eucharist Congress in Bombay, coming soon after the regular 1961 exposition. FOCUS ON THE EUCHARIST The Goa archdiocese had begun gearing up for this year's exposition months beforehand. A copy of "A Prayer For the Success of the Exposition" was sent to every Catholic home registered in the 157 parishes of the archdiocese. Next there were several seminars on the theme that had been chosen for the exposition: "As Fellow Pilgrims, Nourished by the Eucharist, Sent to Build Communion." Later, when the exposition began, each of the 19 deaneries within the archdiocese was assigned days to lead prayers at the Bom Jesus basilica. As a result, each of the eight regular daily Masses at the basilica drew a large congregation—typically over 2,000, according to the rector, Father Savio Barretto, SJ. In addition to these regularly scheduled Masses, groups of pilgrims accompanied by priests were free to organize their own Eucharistic celebrations at the main altar in Bom Jesus basilica, with each day witnessing at least a dozen such "private" Masses. That number increased substantially during the Christmas season, as the flow of pilgrims reached its peak. "We are very happy to be here," Father John Andrew from Chennai told this correspondent after saying a "private" Mass with 85 people from his parish, who had joined in a weeklong trip to Goa for the exposition. "This visit will certainly help the spiritual formation of our people." Organizers in the Goa archdiocese had done their best to ensure that the Eucharist would be the focus of the exposition; one of the five committees set up to prepare for the event was devoted exclusively to the liturgy. Another committee was assigned to consider how the event could be used to enhance the spiritual life of the archdiocese. (The remaining three committees had logistical tasks—to arrange lodging, food, water, hygiene, and security for the pilgrims.) Father Barretto, the rector of the shrine, said that he was struck by the "devotion of the people" who came to Goa. "Many pilgrims have personally told me that they have come in thanksgiving for having a child at last or getting back lost jobs, and for peace in their families," he said. "For them, St. Francis Xavier is a real savior." The Jesuit rector saw many pilgrims making personal sacrifices, even at the end of their journeys, such as the "disabled pilgrims who refused to jump the queue," insisting that they would stay in the long lines with everyone else. Most of these pilgrims came from outside the archdiocese. But Father Barretto remarked that Goans who have left the state, to settle elsewhere in India or even abroad, tend to return for the decennial expositions, so that each time the saint's remains are exposed, it is an "opportunity for a family reunion." THE GOVERNMENT'S INVOLVEMENT Catholics account for only one-third of Goa's population, and the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has controlled the machinery of the state government in recent years. However, despite the unhappy record of conflict between the BJP and Christian groups in other Indian regions, the government in Goa never erected any hurdles to complicate the planning for the exposition. On the contrary, the BJP helped to guarantee the smooth running of the event, extending its full support to Church officials. In addition to appointing a Catholic as liaison offer to coordinate the plans of civic and Church leaders, the BJP-led government bore the cost of printing 100,000 colorful booklets that carried the entire day-by-day program of events for the exposition, including the Scripture readings for each day's Mass. More important, the government assumed the responsibility for security and crowd control—and for traffic management, which was a considerable challenge, with hundreds of vehicles arriving at the little Old Goa township every day. Father Barretto had 600 state police officers at his disposal, posted around the premises of the shrine every day to control traffic and guide visitors. The rector reasons that the government had no real choice but to join in planning the event. "I don't think they could afford to jeopardize the exposition," he observes. "So they had no option but to cooperate with us, and they extended good support." But whatever the motivations of the government leaders, the help was gratefully received. "We are thankful to them," Father Barretto said. FUTURE EXPOSITIONS Asked to comment on widespread rumors that the latest exposition would be the last—since decay has finally begun to take an obvious toll on the corpse of St. Francis Xavier after more than 450 years—Archbishop Ferrao was dismissive. "Such rumors have also made the rounds, with reference to each of the last four expositions," he said. (The archbishop refused to blame anyone for starting these rumors. But in Goa, many observers believe that the tourist-and-travel industry was responsible, with agents doing their best to encourage tourists to visit Goa, by hinting that this might be the last exposition of the saint's remains. Tourism is already a major industry in Goa, whose coastline is a favorite vacation spot for some Western visitors.) Archbishop Ferrao also dismissed a very different rumor: that after the phenomenal success of this year's exposition, the Goa archdiocese might break the once-a-decade cycle by arranging a special exposition for the 500th anniversary of the saint's birth, which will come in 2006. "For the time being, there are no plans for such an event," the archbishop said. -- Cheers, Gabe Menezes. London, England
