Thank you Melvyn for all the facts presented in your interesting Goanet Reader article.
It was of course a pity that the Sri Lanka ecclesiastical authorities did not give any importance to the canonized saint's Goan heritage or to the thousand Goan and Indian visitors to the celebrations. However, in all fairness, it was their moment of a place in the Catholic sun and they may have wished not to share it. There could be Goa's own celebration of the canonization out-rivalling theirs for there is great reverence for the holiness of Jose Vaz in Goa even to this day. The presence of a Pope even as good a specimen as Francis One does nothing to increase the sanctity of the achievements of JV. If Catholic is universal, then the saint belongs to all Catholics, though in practice most of the saints are "political" appointments (ask George Pinto) with the convenient finding of miracles where there are none and fast tracking, a move inspired by Indian TADA courts, no less. If you ask me, your late and sainted father, Valentine in his own way outdid the Catholicism of many saints and himself deserved to be canonized. I say this not lightly, but from knowing him for many years. No wonder the Protestants say that every true believer is a Saint. Roland. Sent from my iPhone
