I've just watched the YouTube video of Fr. Demi that you posted, Rico. What an amazing man!! Goa and the world have undoubtedly lost a great and devoted humanitarian.
Patsy 'Patricia Nazareth' via Saligao-Net <[email protected]> wrote: >Unfortunately, I did not have the privilege of knowing Fr. Demi as well as >many of you did. However, I've always heard lots of good stuff about him. >Priests like him are hard to come by...outspoken, dynamic and always striving >to do the right thing. He will, undoubtedly, be greatly missed by >many...especially those who worked with him and knew him well. > >Patsy > >Frederick FN Noronha फ्रेड्रिक नोरोन्या *فريدريك نورونيا ><[email protected]> wrote: > >A Liberal, Caring and Justice-Driven Face of Goan Christianity > > >FN > > >Someone reading him online once accused Desmond de Sousa of > >being an "angry young priest", possibly even a young upstart who > >was critical of the Church in Goa. But Demi, as he was known > >to his friends, clarified, without missing the irony: "Let me > >assure one and all, I'm 73 years old this September [2012], > >54 years a Redemptorist and 46 years a priest.... Among my > >many illustrious students who have become my superiors over > >the years are bishops, including the present Archbishop of > >Goa, with whom I enjoy a very cordial relationship." > >[http://bit.ly/1ZZ8xAg] > > >Demi came from a priviledged background, yet he spoke boldly > >and without mincing words -- like the prophets of old -- > >against injustice and for the poor. His family has played a > >prominent role in village affairs in Saligao (I remember the > >'Saligao Bulletin' sold for 15 paise in the 1960s and a book > >called *Floreata Saligao* authored by his septuagenarian dad > >C. Hubert de Souza). And yet he was one of the few priests at > >the frontlines of the ramponkar agitation in the 1970s in Goa. > > >If you saw him cycling along the humid roads between Porvorim > >and Saligao (as he did till a few years back), you would > >hardly guess that he had been the globe-trotting Executive > >Secretary of the Office of Human Development (OHD) of the > >Federation of Asian Bishops (FABC) for over 10 years during > >the 1980s and co-ordinated the Asia-Pacific national offices > >of Caritas Internationalis. > > > Demi passed away suddenly and without any > > prolongued illness on May 14, 2016, on the > > operating table, during emergency angioplasty, > > after suffering a massive heart attack just a few > > hours earlier. "Those of us who knew him well and > > met him often are in shock at how suddenly and > > unexpectedly it all happened," wrote Mario > > Mascarenhas, activist who had been an associate of > > Demi decades ago. > > >He was a friendly, concerned, helpful and outspoken man. When > >he had something to say even about the Church, he said it > >without mincingi words; you would scarcely guess that the > >criticism came from a man of the cloth. In a 2012 article he > >wrote for Goanet Reader [http://bit.ly/1TdilrN], titled 'The > >Challenge to the Church in Goa: Revivalism or Renewal?' Fr > >Desmond de Sousa CSsr acknowledged the colonial roots of the > >Goan church and wrote: > > > ...The clergy generally find it extremely difficult > > to accept a more participative, co-responsible and > > socially committed Church with the laity.... The > > laity however, are deeply divided about the pace > > and direction of change that renewal demands. A > > paradigm shift in faith formation is needed. They > > need a more inductive reflection on the daily > > realities of life to discover the challenge of God > > acting within these realities, rather than the > > traditional deductive process of learning abstract > > truths of faith by heart. > > > ...Some of the more enlightened laity support and > > participate in the renewal process as a genuine and > > necessary expression of the Catholic Church in Goa. > > But the vast majority are caught up in the > > revivalist spiritual awakening that is sweeping Goa. > > > ...Will the Church in Goa continue to operate as a > > decrepit, colonial Church or become transformed > > into a vibrant, indigenous Church? Renewal of the > > Church or Revivalism in the Church -- that is the > > question. The caliber of the Church's leadership > > will be severely tested by the question of whose > > perspective will ultimately triumph! > > >He worked at the grassroots and on picket lines, and he > >understood it. Elsewhere, Demi narrates his experiences in > >meeting the young Matanhy Saldanha, the > >activist-turned-politician who ironically played a crucial > >role in helping the BJP return to power in Goa in 2012. He > >says: "In the early 1970s during a retreat to college > >students in Belgaum, I first met this rather shy, aloof, > >silent 20 plus-year-old, who immediately struck me as > >different. His friends made fun of him because he had dreams > >of entering politics when he returned to Goa. Which > >20-year-old is so focused in life?" > > >"Immediately I recognized his rather unusual name when > >reading the news about the leader of the agitation against > >Zuari Agro Chemicals polluting the land and then the sea > >around Velsao. In 1975, when I was transferred to Goa, I made > >it a point to renew our acquaintance. By 1977-78, I was > >heavily involved with him in the Ramponcar agitation." > >[http://bit.ly/1WBQnq7] > > >Some time around 1980, Fr Demi motivated a group of about > >half-a-dozen young nurses, many if not all trained at the > >prestigious St Martha's of Bangalore known for creating > >nurses with a commitment. He got them to take their skills to > >the rural area of Pernem in northernmost Goa. In those times, > >health care facilities were even more unequally spread out > >over Goa, and transport was not easy to come by either. > > >Some of these nurses still recall the times they put in > >there. Their mission was not to push for religious > >conversions, which Christians often get accused with in > >today's Indian discourse, but to take succour to the poor. > > >Writes Sr Dorothy pbvm from Patna: "In his later years, being > >at Porvorim, Goa, he was disturbed with influx of young women > >as domestic help from a remote district of Odisha, Gajapati. > >So passionate was he about this phenomenon that he began to > >explore the reason for it. He personally visited Gajapti and > >found out that there was utter poverty in the villages which > >forced the parents to send their daughters for work in other > >parts of the country and the involvement of agents in > >trafficking women and girls to the cities. With the help of > >a religious sister he began to organize the women who were > >brought to Goa and look into the menace of trafficking. He > >began to rescue young women and put in place a system at both > >the entry and destination points to check trafficking." > > >He held a Master's degree in Social Work, and taught Church > >History, Social Analysis and Catholic Social Teaching. > > >In the 1990s, he became the Executive Secretary of the > >Ecumenical Coalition on Third World Tourism (ECTWT), now > >called Ecumenical Coalition on Tourism (ECOT), a coalition of > >continental Catholic and Protestant churches. During his > >tenure he participated in the setting up of ECPAT, formerly > >known as the global network, campaigning to End Children > >Prostitution in Asian Tourism, now renamed End Child > >Prostitution and Trafficking. > > > Interestingly, the Goa government and some in the > > tourism trade saw the protests in Goa of the 1980s > > as a result of conspiracies seeded by touristic > > rivals like Sri Lanka or Malaysia. The more likely > > inspiration, at least in part, came from elsewhere. > > It was men like Demi whose work helped concerned > > citizens in Goa to understand what Protestant > > groups were doing to study and cope with the impact > > of modern mass tourism (including on the > > environmental and economic fronts), rather than > > just see it from a moralistic perspective alone. > > >He was a friend of Goanet too, as a search for his name > >online would show. Most readily he would come along for our > >meetings and share his insights, catching our attention with > >interesting stories and experiences. Some years back, not > >long ago, he was at the annual Goanetters meet. He offered a > >perspective to counter the tendency of seeing the Goan past > >with rose tinted glasses. > > >This is how I reported what he had said then: > > > Redemptorist FR. DESMOND de SOUSA gave another take > > on "the past was better" logic that one often hears > > about Goa. Their family lived in Bombay and "we > > used to hate to come to Goa", he pointed out. > > "There were two Customs posts to cross, at Castle > > Rock and Collem. The old carreira took one from > > Collem right home. Saligao of course had no > > electricity." He said a rupee coin pressed into the > > palm of the Customs cleared everything, something > > he noticed in his childhood days. > > > He came to Goa as a young priest in 1969. "It was > > still very difficult, because things were very > > traditional. In society. And in the Church. > > Everybody wanted to poke their nose and tell you > > how to run your life in a certain way, because that > > was how it was done in the past." > > > But after his 1969-71 stint, he returned in 1975, > > only to see Goa with new eyes. "I saw it as a > > challenge then. There were youth movements taking > > place, and protest movements. We really began to > > hope that people's power would change things in > > Goa," he said. "I am still hopeful." > > > "The problem with people's power is that it comes > > up only in fits and starts, when the people are > > fighting some issue, or have their backs to the > > wall." > > > After 13 years as the secretary to the Asian > > Bishops Conference, he visited almost "every > > country in the world". > > > Giving the example of the Cook Islands, the > > largely-Maori 15 small islands that comprise the > > "self-governing parliamentary democracy in free > > association with New Zealand", he pointed out that > > their population is below 20,000 (probably more > > earlier). He says when he asked students there how > > big they thought India was, they felt it could be > > 50,000 or maybe 100,000 inhabitants strong. "If you > > think small, you're going to see everything else as > > small," he suggested. > > > He said other countries often "seemed to have a > > better impression of us Indians rather than what we > > have of ourselves." He wanted to come back home, he > > said, because he was tired of being termed an > > outsider everywhere. > > > DeSouza argued the challenges faced here is > > something many other countries had gone through > > "till a time comes when (it is no longer acceptable > > and) things start working out and change for the > > better takes place". > > > "I've eaten raw fish, snake and what not in > > different parts of the world I've been to," he > > said, suggesting that change is the key to > > surviving and understanding others. "I've eaten > > everything except balut, in the Philippines," de > > Souza mentioned. (A balut is a fertilized duck or > > chicken egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside > > that is boiled and eaten in the shell.) > > > He dramatically narrated how he just couldn't > > stomach the idea. One day, at a bishop's breakfast > > table, he was asked how he managed to cope with > > balut, also commonly sold as streetfood in the > > Philippines. "I told him I didn't eat it. Till the > > bishop said I just had!" It was a battle to resist > > throwing up on the spot! > > >This is a video of Demi which I just noticed today, quite > >like him, making very deep points packaged in seemingly light > >comments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMVsZEDfcFA > > >You don't feel sad when someone like Demi passes away. You > >feel privledged for having known the man! > > >### > > >Rev Fr Desmond de Sousa C.Ss.R (Porvorim/Saligao) b. > >27-07-1939 d. 14-05-2016. Beloved son of late Hubert and > >late Julia (nee Saldanha). Brother/brother-in-law of Neville > >Joseph (Joey)/Mena; Thelma/late Maurice Britto; Greta/late > >Raymond Noronha, a great uncle and friend. Passed away > >suddenly on the 14th of May 2016. Body will be brought to the > >house of the Redemptorist Fathers in Alto Porvorim at 11 am > >on Tuesday 17th of May 2016 and will be taken at 3.30 pm to > >Our Lady of Mae de Deus Church Saligao, for the Eucharist > >Celebration and last rites at 4.30 pm. > > > > >-- > >_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ >_/ >_/ Frederick Noronha http://about.me/noronhafrederick http://goa1556.in >_/ P +91-832-2409490 M 9822122436 Twitter @fn Fcbk:fredericknoronha >_/ Hear Goa,1556 shared audio content at https://archive.org/details/goa1556 >_/ >_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ > >-- >-- >Saligao-Net is at http://groups.google.com/group/saligao-net >To post to this group, send email to [email protected] >To unsubscribe email [email protected] > >--- >You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >"Saligao-Net" group. >To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >email to [email protected]. >For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > >-- >-- >Saligao-Net is at http://groups.google.com/group/saligao-net >To post to this group, send email to [email protected] >To unsubscribe email [email protected] > >--- >You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >"Saligao-Net" group. >To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >email to [email protected]. >For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- -- Saligao-Net is at http://groups.google.com/group/saligao-net To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe email [email protected] --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Saligao-Net" group. 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