Churches across the state and elsewhere reverberated through the midnight of Christmas of 2017 preaching peace, harmony and tolerance amid a celebration of fireworks and religious pomp where even the Pope condemned the ‘cancer' of cliques in his Christmas message to staff.
Welcome to Sancoale, a village simmering with discontentment and discord between parishioners, ironically over holding novenas in honour of Goa's first saint, St Joseph Vaz, the very saint who ventured into Sri Lanka to safeguard and revive the Catholic faith.
Both the factions had their points of argument. The majority group preferred the old Sancoale church site since it had better infrastructure and larger parking areas to accommodate the hundreds of devotees that were expected to pour in. The opposing group's arguments were hinged on sentimental attachments to the Sanctuary where people have been working since 1923 and breaking traditions and closing the sanctuary for ten days was not acceptable.
The decision to hold services at the old Sancoale church was widely accepted by various diocesan bodies without any hesitation in comparison to the Sanctuary venue which was found to be not conducive for an adequate liturgical participation for the growing crowds of devotees. Sparks flew thick and thin as the opposing group decided to hold Litany and Novena at the Sanctuary and not to attend the feast at the new site, besides deciding to hold mass at the home of St Joseph Vaz near the Sanctuary, followed by a get-together to celebrate the feast.
The differences have created so much angst between communities that the village is now divided between the twin services. This is despite the intervention of the Archbishop who, after a patient hearing of the groups, listed out the reasoning behind the shifting.
The opposing group should have respected the fact that the Archbishop acknowledged and regretted that there was a lack of communication between the diocesan authorities and the local parishioners before the decision about the Novena and the Feast was conveyed. However, in such a situation, the onus was also on the majority group to extend the arm of friendship and try to work out some solution keeping in mind the sentiments of the opposing group. Mudslinging and making provocative statements on either side was uncalled for.
The church should be mindful of the fact that the parish will remain divided during the 10-day services and work out a reconciliation between both the groups to bring about unity. More so, because there are instances in the recent past that issues within some parishes have inflicted deep wounds and groups continued to remain disintegrated. The church leadership should play a crucial role here and take corrective steps to bring in unity within its flock which have been going astray in recent times.
