Congratulations to Catholics for having declared at a time Two Saints yesterday by the Vatican. History has been recorded and we as Catholics should be very proud of this history. Though nothing is impossible with Vatican yet the pace of canonization of both these Popes, John Paul II and John XXIII was extraordinarily fast while that of both the Goan priests Fr. Agnelo and Fr. Joseph Vaz is extraordinarily slow for the reasons best known to Vatican only. It would have been a great pleasure to witness the canonization of both our holy priests together. But this honour has been denied to us so far. Let us meantime pray to God to help them to reach to the highest pedestal.
Saint John XXIII when he was the Pope he brought in revolution in the Church thru Second Vatican Council thereby bringing in progressive changes in the Church while Saint John Paul II as a Pope brought in revolutionary changes in this world starting first in his home country Poland by supporting the Solidarity movement and then by helping the demolition of the communism in Eastern Europe. The globe-trotting Pope he travelled many parts of the globe including India to promote his doctrine of evangelization and democratization of the States system.
While Pope John Paul II exerted tremendous pressure on Eastern European governments including Soviet Russia to liberalize their rigid system of governance in the name of Christianity, both the Goan holy priests remained dumb and deaf to the autocratic governance in Goa. Both of them were guilty for not raising their voices against the harsh dictatorial government system existing in Goa under the colonial rule.
When Pope John Paul II moved forward, both our Goan priests moved backward like slaves of the colonial rule and this point I think created more weight in favour of his canonization so fast while the canonization of both our holy priests is moving with Snail pace though both are standing on the edge of sainthood. Will they both attain the sainthood during our life time? I doubt very much. They may never reach to their final destination because though they served God well yet they did not serve human beings with the same degree as they served God. Like Pope John Paul II, they did not strive to fight with the colonial power in Goa to obtain freedom for Goa neither they fought against the Apartheid system practiced in Goan Churches.
A Veronica Fernandes,
Candolim,
Goa.