Thank you Joe for posting that clarification. Considering the source of the clarification, I will assume that there are no other relevant facts in this case - which can be revealed without violating any privacy issues.
This experience will probably guide the Archbishop's office to (in future) 1: invite / direct the parish priest (in similar situations) to make the initial announcement himself. 2: to consider itself making the announcement to the parishioners before the departure of the priest. jc > On Oct 2, 2013, at 6:05 PM, JoeGoaUk <[email protected]> wrote: > > Email/clarification received just now from Bishop House (Upon request) > > updated blog > http://joegoauk-pointofview.blogspot.in/2013/10/whats-going-on-in-sanvordem-parish.html > > Quote: > The case of the resignation of Fr. James Silva (Sanvordem) > > A Clarification > > > On behalf of the Archbishop of Goa, the following clarification is being > issued regarding the matter of the resignation of Fr. James Silva as Parish > Priest of Guardian Angel Church, Sanvordem. > > 1. The matter of a priest’s appointment to any ecclesiastical post or his > transfer thereof is exclusively of the competence of the local Bishop. The > Archbishop of Goa is therefore the only competent Authority to send a > suitable priest to any parish in the Archdiocese or to transfer him from > there, as per the needs of the Church. Consultation with the respective > parishioners has never been part of the process. > > 2. The Bishop may also transfer a priest from time to time, considering > the pastoral needs of each parish. Conversely, the priest too may ask to be > relieved of his duties, for personal reasons to be approved by the Bishop. > > > The specific case of Fr. James Silva > > a. Fr. James Silva approached the Archbishop in the month of July 2013 > (without any prior appointment) and, across the table, revealed to him that > he would like to be relieved of his responsibilities as Parish Priest of > Sanvordem Church. The Archbishop tried to elicit the reasons for such a > request. > > > b. Subsequently, on August 1, 2013, Fr. James submitted a written petition > to the Archbishop, requesting to be relieved of his duties with effect from > August 10, 2013 and stating the reasons for his request. > > c. After giving serious consideration to what was written by Fr. James, > the Archbishop granted his request and relieved him of his duties with effect > from August 10, 2013, as per the wish of the petitioner. Fr. James collected > the relieving Order and went to the United States of America, for which he > had already obtained prior permission from the Archbishop. > > d. Incidentally, it has come to our knowledge that the parishioners were > made to believe that Fr. James was forced by the Archbishop to tender his > resignation, if he wanted permission to go on vacation abroad. The fact is > that the Archbishop had already granted him permission to go abroad on 27th > June, 2013, while the request to be relieved came from Fr. James only on the > 1st of August. > > e. It is also being disseminated in Sanvordem that the Order of the > Archbishop amounts to Fr. James being divested from his priestly state. This > is a false propaganda, since the Order of the Archbishop only states that Fr. > James ceases to be the Parish Priest of Sanvordem with effect from August 10, > 2013. > > f. It is clear that the announcement of this Order was not taken kindly > by some of the parishioners of Sanvordem, who decided to hold a meeting in > the compound of the Church, following which a memorandum addressed to the > Archbishop was handed over at the Archbishop’s House. In that memorandum > they even threatened that “if (their) demands are not met within a period of > 8 days, the parishioners will march to the Archbishop’s House and hold a > dharna and go on a chain hunger strike until the demands are fully met.” The > memorandum is dated 9th September 2013. > > g. Since the memorandum did not indicate any person who could be > contacted, a response to this memorandum was communicated to the parishioners > of Sanvordem through an announcement made during Saturday/Sunday Masses on > 14th and 15th September, 2013. Besides conveying the response of the > Archbishop to the memorandum, the purpose of this announcement was also to > enlighten the parishioners concerning the mind and the norms of the Church > with regard to the appointments/transfers of priests and appointments of the > committees assisting the priests in the administration of the material assets > of the Church. Both these points had been raised in the said memorandum. > > h. Fr. Lucio Dias, the Episcopal Vicar for the South Zone of Goa, was > deputed as the Representative of the Archbishop to make the above mentioned > announcement to the parishioners of Sanvordem. Incidentally, Fr. Dias has > since been appointed also as a provisional In-Charge or Parochial > Administrator of the Parish of Sanvordem. > > i. The announcement that the Episcopal Vicar read out ended with an > appeal to the parishioners to accept the mind of the Church, to extend their > willing collaboration to the new priest who would be assigned by the > Archbishop to the parish of Sanvordem and to maintain peace and harmony in > the parish. > > j. However, it is highly regretted that some of the parishioners > gheraoed the official Representative of the Archbishop on the 15th of > September, after Mass, insulting him and holding him hostage for almost three > hours, thereby creating an unnecessary law and order situation. This was > followed by frequent press statements, ending up today with a march to > Archbishop’s House, in order to press for their demands. > > We fail to understand why some parishioners of Sanvordem have the above > demands, while Fr. James himself sought to be relieved of his post out of his > own free will. > > Archbishop’s House, Panjim, Goa, October 1, 2013. > > > Issued by the Diocesan Centre for Social Communications Media > > [email protected] > > for Goa & NRI related info... > http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/GOAN-NRI/ > > For Goan Video Clips > http://youtube.com/joeukgoa > > In Goa, Dial 1 0 8 > For Hospital, Police, Fire etc
