Auxiliary Bishop Simião Purificação Fernandes during his interaction with Pope Leo.
PANAJI
Auxiliary Bishop of Goa and Daman Simião Purificação Fernandes interacted with Pope Leo and presented the pontiff with a memento on ‘Goencho Saib’ St Francis Xavier during his recent visit to the Vatican.
Bishop Fernandes briefly met Pope Leo while attending a formation course for the new bishops ordained last year, which was organised by the Dicastery for Bishops and the Dicastery for Evangelisation in the Vatican.
This is the first time that Bishop Fernandes interacted with Pope Leo since he was elected pontiff through the papal conclave on May 8.
When contacted, Bishop Fernandes told The Goan that the course, which was held from September 3 to 11, brought together 192 newly ordained bishops from around the world for a period of spiritual enrichment and formation, offering them a chance to reflect on their ministry, learn about the Roman Curia, share experiences, and clear doubts.
The general topic of the course was ‘Opening a Path to Hope: Called to the Episcopacy in a Jubilee Context’.
“During these sessions, conferences, discussions, and various working groups, the prelates received guidance and tools from the Dicastery for Evangelisation and the Dicastery for Bishops to carry out with greater clarity and responsibility the mission entrusted to them by the Church,” said Bishop Fernandes.
“The pope then exhorted the bishops and listened to them during a question-and-answer session at the conclusion of his audience with newly appointed bishops in the Synod Hall at the Vatican.”
“Later, the bishops were received individually by Pope Leo XIV in the atrium of the Paul VI Hall.”
Given the large number of bishops at the meeting, Bishop Fernandes admitted that the pope could not spend much time interacting with each of the bishops. He, however, added that his brief interaction with the pope was a memorable experience.
“Each bishop was given less than a minute to meet Pope Leo. We had just enough time to identify ourselves and the diocese that we represent. I then presented the Pontiff with a memorial plate which was a souvenir of the XVIII Exposition of the Sacred Relics of St Francis Xavier at Old Goa in 2024,” said Bishop Fernandes.
“At the centre of the plate is St Francis Xavier, and all around him are the churches and monuments of Old Goa. When I presented Pope Leo with the memento, he exclaimed, “Oh, St Francis Xavier! It’s beautiful”.”
“Pope Leo then presented each bishop with a rosary.”
In a Vatican News report, Pope Leo spoke of the necessity of building bridges and seeking dialogue, even where Christians are a minority, with authentic respect for people of other religious traditions, especially through the witness of true Christian love and mercy, because “by the way you love one another, they will recognise you.”
According to a statement from the Holy See Press Office, Pope Leo reminded the newly ordained prelates that "a bishop is a ‘servant’; the bishop is called to ‘serve the faith of the people’. I ask you, therefore, always to keep watch and to walk in humility and prayer, to make yourselves servants of the people to whom the Lord sends you.”
“The Church sends you as caring, attentive pastors, who know how to share the journey, the questions, the anxieties and the hopes of the people; pastors who wish to be guides, fathers and brothers for the priest and for sisters and brothers in faith.”
