PANAJI
Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai set the tone by quoting 'secularism' as the bedrock of India's Constitution in his speech at the event he hosted to felicitate Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrao at the Raj Bhavan on Sunday evening.
"No one can challenge it," Pillai said of the basic principle enshrined in the Constitution in his address at the felicitation of Ferrao, where Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, his cabinet colleagues, legislators, the pontiff of the Tapobhoomi mutt, Catholic priests and nuns and prominent citizens were in attendance.
Pillai also made it a point to mention that Goa was the only State in India to implement Article 44 of the Constitution which mandates the State to pursue the implementation of a Uniform Civil Code.
In response, Cardinal Ferrao stressed on India's tradition of unity despite diverse religions, ethnicities and communities.
In his brief speech, Ferrao recalled an experience during his years as a student in Rome where he identified himself as an Indian to a peer who wore his allegiance to the province of Yugoslavia and not the country.
"Despite Goa having been ruled for so many centuries by the Portuguese, we always remained Goans, rooted in our Indian ethos," Ferrao said.
"We all belong to this country and India has always been known as a lovely cradle of religions, cultures, languages, ethnicities... and they have all lived as one family," Ferrao said.
Ferrao also said that the Church in Goa and India, like in all countries across the world where it exists, has put in immense work especially in the fields of education and healthcare.
"We have always collaborated with the civil authorities and in turn have received a lot of collaboration as well," Ferrao said.
Ferrao also mentioned in his speech that he was touched on having received a personal letter from Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulating him on his nomination as Cardinal.
He praised Pillai for his initiative to reach out to Goans afflicted with sicknesses like those needing dialysis, cancer patients and others who face financial difficulties.
Ferrao was feted by Pillai with a shawl and presented him a traditional Goan brass lamp.
