[First appeared in the Herald - 1 February 2015]
MELVYN MISQUITA
The canonization of Goa’s first Saint Joseph Vaz has not only ushered in celebrations in the archdiocese, it has also encouraged a group of Goan priests to renew efforts to revive Asia’s first indigenous order, started by St Joseph Vaz and his companions three centuries ago.
Led by senior priest Canon Saturnino Dias, president of the Se Cathedral Chapter, attempts to revive St Joseph Vaz’s ‘Congregation of the Oratory of St Philip Neri’ in Goa had had their fair share of challenges in the archdiocese for over a decade.
Unfazed by those difficulties, Fr Dias and two other senior Goan priests, Fr Eusico Pereira (Parish Priest at Santo Estevao) and Fr Roque da Costa, (Parish Priest at Rachol) are confident that the sainthood to Joseph Vaz would now give them the much-needed impetus to revive the Oratorian movement.
St Joseph Vaz and his companions had founded the ‘Congregation of the Oratory of St Philip Neri’ in Goa in 1685. These Oratorians had served the Goa archdiocese as parish priests and preachers, manned three major seminaries (their own, Chorao and Rachol), two hospitals (Goa and Sri Lanka) and opened missions in Mangalore, Pune and Indonesia.
This Asia’s first native religious congregation came to an abrupt end in Goa around 150 years later, when religious orders were suppressed in 1835.
Inspired by the life and works of St Joseph Vaz, Fr Dias and a group of priests then decided to revive the saint’s Oratorian congregation in Goa.
“I had some association with the unsuccessful attempt initiated by late Fr Edwin D'Souza of Saligão in the 1960s, but it remained dormant after I went abroad for further studies. However, my interest in the Oratory was rekindled in 1996, when I met the Procurator General of the Oratorians in Rome and he requested me to revive the Oratory in Goa. I took his request seriously and collected material from him about the Oratory,” recalled Fr Dias.
However, Fr Dias could not pursue the idea due to his engagement as parish priest of St Andrew’s church (Vasco) and subsequent appointment as executive secretary of the office of Evangelization of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC) in New Delhi in 1998.
“In 2000, the Goa archdiocese announced a retreat for priests on the spirituality of Blessed Joseph Vaz, preached by Bishop Vianney Fernando of Kandy (Sri Lanka). During this retreat, all 38 participants attended my talk on the revival of the Oratory. Then, 25 of them expressed their desire to revive the Oratory as a means of renewal of priestly life and of missionary vocation of the diocese,” said Fr Dias.
But given that many religious congregations were already operating in Goa, Fr Dias was aware that questions would be asked on the need to start yet another congregation and whether it would have made any difference to promote Catholic faith or the devotion to St Joseph Vaz in Goa.
“There was consensus among us that our priestly life was getting more secularized and in need of renewal. We felt the Oratory could help achieve our goal. Another missionary congregation was always welcome as it would have rekindled the enthusiasm and a new dimension to our life and commitment,” said Fr Dias.
Five priests then undertook a ‘pilgrimage of faith’ to Sri Lanka to visit and pray in some places where St Joseph Vaz exercised his missionary and pastoral activity.
“We made a retreat at the Benedictine Retreat House in Kandy and on October 13, 2003, committed ourselves to pursue seriously what we felt as a call to revive the Oratory founded by St Joseph Vaz in Goa,” said Fr Dias.
Fr Dias was chosen as coordinator of the group to represent their cause before diocesan authorities.
“Four of us from the group submitted our petition to the archbishop on August 4, 2004, to allow us function as a group and revive the Oratory,” he said.
Their efforts, which included many letters, reminders and even interactions, were, however, met with lukewarm response from church officials.
“Unfortunately, the response of diocesan officials has not been encouraging right from the beginning and some of them created obstacles in our path,” regrets Fr Dias.
“The archbishop has regularly said he is open to the idea of reviving the Oratory, even when I met him in the Archbishop’s House in Panjim together with Fr Edoardo Cerrato, then procurator general of the Confederation of the Oratorians, on October 13, 2005,” he said.
But though their proposal was repeatedly ignored by diocesan authorities for six years, the group found new hope when 2010 was declared “Year of Bl. Joseph Vaz” by the diocese.
They held meetings with the original sympathizers and seven of them decided to give the archbishop a fresh petition to allow them function as a Pious Union of Aspiring Oratorians.
“Despite these efforts, the experiment too was unsuccessful. Hence, before diocesan authorities could further dampen the movement, we suspended temporarily our experiment of living as Aspiring Oratorians in 2012, till we find a conducive atmosphere and better understanding from the authorities,” he said.
Fr Dias is, however, undeterred by the challenges. “We are confident that the canonization of St Joseph Vaz will give us the much-needed boost to revive the saint’s own congregation. We hope and pray our archbishop will bring St Joseph Vaz’s Oratory back to Goa, especially since it was abruptly disbanded 180 years ago,” he said.
He also wants to involve the lay Catholic community in supporting their initiative to revive the Oratory of St Joseph Vaz.
“I can state without hesitation that the Catholic Community will support and promote this noble initiative. Incidentally, the Oratory began when a group of lay people were being guided by St Felipe Neri as a prayer group. In fact, the word “Oratory” derives from the Latin “orare” (to pray). Even now, we have lay Oratorian members across the world,” said Fr Dias.
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MELVYN MISQUITA
1 FEB 2015
PANJIM
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| Fr Roque da Costa, Fr Saturnino Dias and Fr Eusico Pereira hope to revive the Oratorian movement of St Joseph Vaz in Goa. |
Led by senior priest Canon Saturnino Dias, president of the Se Cathedral Chapter, attempts to revive St Joseph Vaz’s ‘Congregation of the Oratory of St Philip Neri’ in Goa had had their fair share of challenges in the archdiocese for over a decade.
Unfazed by those difficulties, Fr Dias and two other senior Goan priests, Fr Eusico Pereira (Parish Priest at Santo Estevao) and Fr Roque da Costa, (Parish Priest at Rachol) are confident that the sainthood to Joseph Vaz would now give them the much-needed impetus to revive the Oratorian movement.
St Joseph Vaz and his companions had founded the ‘Congregation of the Oratory of St Philip Neri’ in Goa in 1685. These Oratorians had served the Goa archdiocese as parish priests and preachers, manned three major seminaries (their own, Chorao and Rachol), two hospitals (Goa and Sri Lanka) and opened missions in Mangalore, Pune and Indonesia.
This Asia’s first native religious congregation came to an abrupt end in Goa around 150 years later, when religious orders were suppressed in 1835.
Inspired by the life and works of St Joseph Vaz, Fr Dias and a group of priests then decided to revive the saint’s Oratorian congregation in Goa.
 |
| Fr Jacome Gonsalves, fellow Oratorian and companion of St Joseph Vaz. |
However, Fr Dias could not pursue the idea due to his engagement as parish priest of St Andrew’s church (Vasco) and subsequent appointment as executive secretary of the office of Evangelization of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences (FABC) in New Delhi in 1998.
“In 2000, the Goa archdiocese announced a retreat for priests on the spirituality of Blessed Joseph Vaz, preached by Bishop Vianney Fernando of Kandy (Sri Lanka). During this retreat, all 38 participants attended my talk on the revival of the Oratory. Then, 25 of them expressed their desire to revive the Oratory as a means of renewal of priestly life and of missionary vocation of the diocese,” said Fr Dias.
“There was consensus among us that our priestly life was getting more secularized and in need of renewal. We felt the Oratory could help achieve our goal. Another missionary congregation was always welcome as it would have rekindled the enthusiasm and a new dimension to our life and commitment,” said Fr Dias.
 |
| Bishop Vicent do Rosario Dias, the first Goan Oratorian bishop of Ceylon (1837-42). |
“We made a retreat at the Benedictine Retreat House in Kandy and on October 13, 2003, committed ourselves to pursue seriously what we felt as a call to revive the Oratory founded by St Joseph Vaz in Goa,” said Fr Dias.
Fr Dias was chosen as coordinator of the group to represent their cause before diocesan authorities.
Their efforts, which included many letters, reminders and even interactions, were, however, met with lukewarm response from church officials.
“Unfortunately, the response of diocesan officials has not been encouraging right from the beginning and some of them created obstacles in our path,” regrets Fr Dias.
“The archbishop has regularly said he is open to the idea of reviving the Oratory, even when I met him in the Archbishop’s House in Panjim together with Fr Edoardo Cerrato, then procurator general of the Confederation of the Oratorians, on October 13, 2005,” he said.
But though their proposal was repeatedly ignored by diocesan authorities for six years, the group found new hope when 2010 was declared “Year of Bl. Joseph Vaz” by the diocese.
 |
| Bishop Caetano Antonio Pereira, the second Goan Oratorian bishop of Ceylon (1843-57). |
“Despite these efforts, the experiment too was unsuccessful. Hence, before diocesan authorities could further dampen the movement, we suspended temporarily our experiment of living as Aspiring Oratorians in 2012, till we find a conducive atmosphere and better understanding from the authorities,” he said.
Fr Dias is, however, undeterred by the challenges. “We are confident that the canonization of St Joseph Vaz will give us the much-needed boost to revive the saint’s own congregation. We hope and pray our archbishop will bring St Joseph Vaz’s Oratory back to Goa, especially since it was abruptly disbanded 180 years ago,” he said.
He also wants to involve the lay Catholic community in supporting their initiative to revive the Oratory of St Joseph Vaz.
“I can state without hesitation that the Catholic Community will support and promote this noble initiative. Incidentally, the Oratory began when a group of lay people were being guided by St Felipe Neri as a prayer group. In fact, the word “Oratory” derives from the Latin “orare” (to pray). Even now, we have lay Oratorian members across the world,” said Fr Dias.
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