FRANKFURT
The Goan community in Opel Town Rüsselsheim, Germany, celebrated their traditional annual Feast of St Francis Xavier on December 6.
Fr Rensom Pereira, a Goan priest from the Steyr Catholic Church in the Diocese of Linz-Austria, was specially invited to celebrate the Feast Mass. Jerome Simoes led the choir in the Konkani and English hymns.
After Mass, a homemade meal of various Goan dishes and sweetmeats was served to the community at a social gathering.
Santa Claus distributed presents to children, while the social event also included music and dance.
The Feast of Saint Francis Xavier is an annual event celebrated in Rüsselsheim since the statue of St Francis Xavier was brought from Portugal and installed in the Church of St George Rüsselsheim in 1965 by the Goan pioneers. They had arrived in Germany in 1963 as a result of the first employment recruitment treaty signed between Germany and Portugal, much before Portugal joined the European Union.
