PANAJI
Days before the opening of the 45-day decennial exposition of the sacred relics of St Francis Xavier, the North Goa Collector, Sneha Gite, IAS, has barred the entry of tourists and the public from gaining entry into the Basilica of Bom Jesus and the Se Catedral at Old Goa from Monday.
Gite's order states the ban will be in force until November 20 (Wednesday), a day prior to when the Exposition is slated to open with a solemn Eucharistic celebration on the foreground of the Basilica of Bom Jesus on Thursday morning.
Gite said that these restrictions have been imposed to facilitate the preparations for the Exposition.
The relics ("uncorrupted" body) of the sixteenth century Jesuit priest anointed a Saint by the Catholic Church, lies in a silver-glass casket on a mausoleum in the Basilica of Bom Jesus.
At the decennial Exposition, the relics are solemnly taken to the Se Cathedral where it is kept for veneration for 45 days.
Meanwhile, with just three days to go for the start of Exposition, contractors on Sunday began work at a frenzied pace to repair and relay the old Ribandar road a crucial access for pilgrims from North Goa.
Road rollers, labourers and earthmoving machines were milling all over the approximately 3-kilometer stretch of road which winds through thickly populated hamlets of Ribandar, Fondvem and Sao Pedro.
