PANAJI
Cardinal Luis Antonio G Tagle, who will be the main celebrant at the high mass to celebrate the feast of St Francis Xavier on December 3 at Old Goa, arrived from Rome on Saturday.
Tagle was received at the Mopa airport by Cardinal Felipe Neri Ferrao and Fr Nazareth, the Superior General of the Pilar Fathers.
CCP Commissioner Clen Madeira, who has been appointed by the State Administration as 'protocol officer' for Tagle also welcomed the ecclesiastical leader at Mopa.
Tagle, who is from the Phillipines, is based at the Vatican in Rome where he officiates as the Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization. He was the Archbishop of Manila from 2011 until he moved to Rome in 2020.
Meanwhle, Convenor of the Exposition Committee Fr Henry Falcao on Sunday debunked reports that the authorities will suspend veneration of the relics of St Francis Xavier on Monday and Tuesday (Dec 2 and 3) and said the veneration will continue unhindered from 7 am to 6 pm.
Monday is the vespers and on Tuesday, the feast of St Francis Xavier will be celebrated with hourly masses in the specially erected pandal in the foreground of the Basilica of Bom Jesus, including the high mass at 10.30 am where Cardinal Luis Antonio G Tagle from the Vatican will be the main celebrant.
Calling the reports of suspension of the veneration "rumours" Fr Falcao said, "the veneration will continue on December 2 and 3 as usual from 7 am to 6 pm."
