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Religious congregations to exhibit their special values


Mangalore Today News Network

Old Goa, Nov 21, 2014: The 17th Exposition of the Sacred Relics of St Francis Xavier will be a multifaceted spiritual experience, and a unique exhibition will help showcase the massive body of spiritual and social work of different Religious Congregations.


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A total of 33 religious congregations, out of 65 working in the archdiocese, will share their charism in the temporary hall outside the Se Cathedral during the course of the 44-day Exposition.

"We have confirmations from 33 congregations to share their charism with pilgrims," said Father Alfred Vaz, chief of the 17-member Exposition committee.

A charism, in relation to a congregation, is a divinely conferred gift or talent that a congregation exercises for the mission of Christ in the world.

The religious orders are engaged in pastoral, educational, and social work through the network of their institutions. Each religious group is typically engaged in social work in the specific field of its charism.

Missionaries of Charity, a religious congregation set up in 1950 by Mother Teresa, has a network of 133 branches across the world with over 4,501 religious sisters.

"The charism of our congregation is sharing our God experience. Handmaids of Christ reach out in compassionate love and justice to the poor and marginalized, especially children and women in distress," said Sr Amelia D’Souza, in charge of the orphanage at St Alex orphanage, Calangute.

A diocesan priest from Cana Benaulim, Msgr Herculano D Gonsalves, set up the Handmaids of Christ congregation in January 16, 1935.

"But even before its inception, the orphanage was set up based on the core of our apostolate. To run the orphanage the founder felt the need of starting a religious congregation," said D’Souza.

The group now has 22 institutions in Goa, 11 in other parts of the country, and one in the West Indies. "In all, 150 professed sisters are working in the congregation and we run schools, vocational training centres, homes for senior citizens, health centre, mission houses, boardings, hostels, destitute homes, and orphanages," she added.

The congregation of Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, better known as the Sancoale Sisters, housed in the ancestral home of Blessed Joseph Vaz at Sancoale, are inspired by the mission of their founder, a young visionary pastor, Fr Faustino D’Souza to "liberate the poor and needy".

"He was inflamed with zeal for the poor and women, and wanted to consecrate their lives to God, and began in the year 1935 this new religious congregation," a source from the congregation said.

From humble beginnings, it has institutions in 37 places, including Goa, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Port Blair, and extends a helping hand to women and children in the flesh trade, to slum dwellers in inhuman condition, and does other social work.

The religious orders will present their charism through modern means of communications. "This is a unique conglomeration of different congregations coming together to share their uniqueness in a unique way," summed up Fr. Alfred Vaz. This will enlighten the faithful to know their religious better.


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