PANAJI
The untimely passing of Fr Bolmax Fidelis Pereira at just 50 years of age has left Goa bereft of one of its most courageous voices, who, as Vicar of the St Francis Xavier Church, Chicalim, Chairman of the Diocesan Commission on Ecology, and Assistant Professor of Botany at St Joseph Vaz College, Cortalim, embodied a rare synthesis of faith, science, and activism.
His collapse at Vasco railway station on Saturday last, while preparing to join parishioners for a picnic, and his death in the early hours of Tuesday at Goa Medical College, is a tragedy that is reverberating far beyond the parish of Chicalim, which he shepherded in the last few years.
His research and knowledge of the sustainable management of wetlands were not confined to academic journals but lived out in the fields with the Chicalim Youth Farmers’ Club, where his “You Sow You Eat” initiative taught young people that farming was education, love, and sustainability.
His work was recognised with awards from the Goa State Biodiversity Board, the Thomas Stephens Konkani Kendra, and the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) Ecology Commission.
However, it was his role in the 'Amche Mollem' campaign that defined him as one of Goa’s most steadfast green defenders. From the pulpit, he urged parishioners to write to their representatives and, through livestreams, he shared protest toolkits and jingles. Out on the streets, he stirred thousands through his walks alongside citizens in peace marches, flash mobs, and gatherings like the unforgettable “Future Full of Forests” in Panaji on December 19, 2020, in the midst of the pandemic.
Fr Bolmax believed that protecting Goa’s forests and rivers was not just an ecological duty but a spiritual one too. Therefore, as a priest, he championed the idea that stewardship of creation was integral to faith, and lived this conviction with courage and activism rooted in love for the land, the people, and future generations yet to come.
In his death, Goa has lost a priest who dared to speak truth to power, a teacher who inspired through action, and a campaigner who never wavered in solidarity. His absence may be felt in the classrooms where he taught and the pastoral realm of Goa in which he worked, but his legacy is expected to endure through the hundreds he inspired to plant saplings, defend forests, and pursue a vision of a Goa where life and ecology walk hand in hand.
