The wishful part of Frederick’s open letter echoes my thoughts: Archbishop Ferrão has not done anything significant so far in the areas of community life.
The areas are: 1. Education and coaching for high level government service. 2. A significant Catholic presence in healthcare in the form of a general or specialty hospital (cancer comes to mind), referral services to other facilities in India, dental care and the like. 3. A footprint in special needs (handicapped) education and rehabilitation and senior services. 4. A strong lay lobby group for advancement of the community’s political interests. This means calling out corruption and opposing unreasonable state and local government diktats. 5. Consolidating Goa’s communal harmony and not being silent when this traditional peace between the two major communities is suffering from a thousand cuts. I don’t share Frederick’s hope that the Cardinal nominee will do any of this now that his new appointment will require him to be frequent dashing to Rome on useless expeditions that have little to do with the welfare of Goan Catholics or Catholics throughout India for that matter. And that’s a pity because Goa and its Diaspora has the resources that can be mustered to meet these objectives. What is needed is Church leadership. The existing Catholic political leadership is mostly bankrupt and corrupt. Roland. Toronto.
