My dear FN, Once again you have demonstrated your propensity to make a simple matter complicated. And you have shown that your habit of shooting from the hip without reading and digesting the matter is just incorrigible. You say, 1. I think that there were just three Goan bishops/archbishops/auxiliary bishops. All the rest were Portuguese. And I don't think it is also factual that all "were bamons". 2. More important than judging them by their own caste-backgrounds, I would think, is what role they play in creating a level playing field and fighting discrimination within the institution. 3. Here, you have a Cardinal, one of the princes of the Church, who comes from a Sudir background. An amazing achievement indeed; which should be a matter of great pride for anyone wanting to move towards equal access and ending a system of 'reservations-from-the-top'. Yet, you choose to see the glass as half-full (or less than that), by arguing that if he was born in Goa he would not have been "ordained priest". 4. Agreed that Goa has had the stagnancy of a non-metropolitan backwater. It was not a Bombay or Karachi, at least not in the 18th and 19th centuries. It may have been a land of opportunity in the 16th century and earlier; then too, not for all. But then, if viewed positively, Goa did give opportunity to (or unwittingly created necessity for) its people to migrate, who had access to top quality educational institutions. Migration + education created opportunities and a level playing field in many ways. This we have to be grateful for, in my view, not see the negatives only. 5. Though, to be fair, at an even earlier point in Goan history, even Bamons/Chardos did not get access to the priesthood! So why be silent about that? 6. Let's leave history aside for the moment. What is the reality today? 7. There are records of attempts to end caste-based confraria distinctions going back to at least the 1940s, as you yourself have noted. It is quite possible though that such issues are not taken up seriously and consistently enough by Church and State. 8. I've personally seen the late Danzil Dias (who was then a priest) empower the Gawada community around Manora, Raia, while they sought to access their share of political power. My reaction: 1. Please read my post again. For convenience, I am pasting here the relevent portion here: <<All the Goan bishops, without exception, were bamons. The first Indian cardinal, though of Goan stock (Navelim), happened to be neither a Bamon nor a Chardo descendant; this was because he was born and educated in Karachi, outside Padroado influence. Had he studied in Goa, it would have been very difficult if not impossible for Valerian Gracias to be ordained priest!>> It should be obvious that I am talking about bishops who were Goans and not Bishops of the diocese of Goa who were all Portuguese. I said that Valerian Gracias was ordained priest and consecrated bishop outside the Padroado influence. Hence, it should be clear that I am referring to Goans who were consecrated bishops under the Padroado dispensation, i.e. prior to 1961; and there were several of them. These were never made Bishops of Goa, but were sent elsewhere, including Cabo Verde. So please advise which of these was a non-bamon. Also please note that of the three post-1961 Bishops of Goa, two are bamons. 2. Please cite a few actions of the pre-1961 prelates towards creating a level playing field and fighting discrimination within the institution. 3. You are deliberately burying your head in the sand. I reiterate that the 'amazing achievement' was possible only because he was outside the ambit of the bamon-ridden Padroado. So, how can you say that he ended a system of 'reservations-from-the-top'? After becoming cardinal, Gracias visited Goa and was given a reception by the people of Navelim; but not a single bamon priest from Margao attended the reception! 4. What is this balderdash in aid of? How is it relevant to my post? 5. Who is stopping you from crowing about it? Please howl to your heart’s content! 6. I have already recounted two recent instances in this regard; I am pasting them here for your edification: A boy from a neighbouring ward (grandson of Kumbiabhat) was determined to become a priest. But, for whatever reason, he was expelled from the Seminary. He joined an Order, but was hounded out from there as well. He tried several Orders with the same result. His brother had committed suicide, and I do not know whether this was held against him. But, finally, he did succeed with an Order that does not have representation in Goa. However, he was refused Ordination at his own parish church (Velim). Even our Archbishop having declined, the Ordination Ceremony was performed at Old Goa by the Bishop of Bangalore! At that time, he did relate his tribulations on the way to the Altar. This happened two years ago. Once I enquired (telephonically) about this case from a priest friend at the Seminary, a Bamon. What he said is instructive; his opinion was that "they" are uncouth, "they" lack in manners and hence not suitable for priesthood. The second case is from Raia and was reported by Marcos Gonsalves in Gulab Konkani monthly about a year ago. This boy was persecuted so systematically that a complaint would reach every Seminary that he joined, within months! Thus thwarted, he was driven to suicide. But friends and relatives managed to dissuade him from taking such a drastic step, and he went to work in the Gulf. 7. Please cite the records. Attempts by whom? With what result? And why do you want to bring the State into matters which are exclusively the business of the Church? 8. What we are talking about is the attitude of the Church as an institution, and not individual priests. Your statement in no way contradicts mine. Here is what I had said: << There is a large Chapel in Khursabhat dedicated to Holy Cross with annual feast on 10th May and Santos passos on the third Sunday of Lent. It is close to 100 years old and Sunday Mass has been celebrated there continuously for over 80 years. For about three decades after Liberation, it had the benefit of a resident Chaplain. These priests contributed tremendously to the uplift and progress of the community, especially the educational development of the children.>> Sebastian Borges
