Sainthood cause of Goan missionary planned

Mangalore Today News Network

Panaji, July 10, 2015:  As per reports from Church officials in Goa,  plans to start sainthood process  for Father Jacome Gonsalves, the missionary  companion of Saint Joseph Vaz in Sri Lanka.

Rev. Eremita Rebello, former vice-postular for the cause of canonization of Blessed Joseph Vaz, said a study of the  possibility of pursuing sainthood for Father Gonsalves, a multifaceted and intense personality.

Father Goinsalves was a companion of Saint Joseph Vaz, the pioneering Goan missioner in Sri Lanka. Father Vaz was canonized in Colombo on January this year, 304 years after his death in the island nation.

Father Gonsalves, a linguist, poet and writer, assisted Saint Joseph Vaz in the mission by creating literature needed for spreading the faith.

Rev Rebello said he is gathering  information about the books written by Gonsalves as well as other literature on his life, in an attempt to consider the canonization process.

St. Joseph Vaz, working amid severe persecution from the Dutch, was supported by Father Gonsalves.  The priest from Divar proved equal to the task and the large body of literature he produced earned him the sobriquet ’Father of Sinhala Christian literature’.

His copious work, comprising 42-odd religious texts written for the first time in Tamil and Sinhalese, as also a catechism, helped strengthen the faith on the island.

He died of natural causes on July 17, 1742 in Bolawatte, now under Chilaw diocese, in Sri Lanka.

Except in special circumstances, a canonization process of a person can start only in the locality of his death. Church officials in Goa said they would communicate with Church in Chilaw.

The parish priest of Bolawatte, where he was buried and his tomb is also located, and also Bishop of Chilaw will be contacted to start the process for his canonization, said Rev Rebello, rector of sanctuary of St Joseph Vaz.    Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao, many nuns, priests and around 2,000 devotees from Goa attended the historic canonization  in Colombo. They also visited other places on the island.   The visit in January gave an opportunity to learn about Gonsalves’ missionary work," Fermino Fernandes, a devotee of St Joseph Vaz, said.

Father Gonsalves was born on June 8, 1676 to Thomas Gonsalves and Mariana de Abreu at Chorao and joined Congregation of the Oratorians on November 2, 1700. He later joined St Vaz with his other companions and helped build a strong church in Sri Lanka.

Famous church historian S G Perera stated in his book on Gonsalves that St Joseph  Vaz planted and Father Gonsalves watered the vineyard of Ceylon and God gave fruits. It is these two priests more than to any other before or since, that the modern church in Ceylon owes its existence, its numbers, its traditions and its literature. The idea is expected to be  welcomed by many Catholics world wide.