US President Joe Biden along with Fr Nicholas Dias.
PANAJI
When US President Joe Biden sought a private Mass in his hotel before the G20 Summit on Saturday, the US Embassy Staff turned to a priest of Goan origin based in Delhi.
Not only did Fr Nicholas Dias get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to celebrate Mass for the president and his small delegation of Catholics, but he also gifted the president Goa’s much-loved sweet, Bebinca.
Hailing from Benaulim, Fr Nicholas Dias is presently a priest serving in the Archdiocese of Delhi as secretary for Commission of Liturgy and a Chaplain for the Anglo-Indians of India.
Narrating the details of his interaction with President Biden, Fr Dias told The Goan that President Biden wanted a Catholic Mass celebrated at the Maurya Sheraton hotel where he was residing in Delhi on Saturday morning, before the G20 Summit began.
“The US Embassy staff who knew me got in touch with me. I felt quite honoured to be invited to celebrate Mass for the President of the USA. The embassy staff briefed me on the requirements,” said Fr Dias.
“I prepared and printed the liturgy for the Mass a week earlier. The White House staff then took over and briefed me on the protocols. I then had to send all items required to celebrate Mass on Friday evening and I took with me only the consecrated hosts with me on Saturday morning.”
THE MASS
Fr Dias celebrated the Mass in a private room of President Biden at 9 am and it was a 30-minute service.
“President Biden read out the Prayers of the Faithful which were printed by me. Two other members, including the president’s personal doctor, read out the reflections on the Gospel for Sunday. We all prayed for the participants as well as for the success of the G20 Summit and for global issues,” said Fr Dias.
Asked if he felt circumspect celebrating Mass for the President of the US, Fr Dias said: “Having had an experience meeting with national and world leaders and hosting international events, I had the confidence to celebrate Mass before a world leader.”
THE INTERACTION
During his short conversation with President Biden, Fr Dias said the US President told him of the three influences in his Catholic faith.
“The president said he is extremely close to Pope Francis and that, the pontiff has been a strong influence in his life. Secondly, the president told me that his grandmother had a great influence in his Catholic faith. Third, he told me that he studied in a Catholic school,” said Fr Dias.
“I told President Biden that Christianity in India is as old as the faith itself, with the arrival of two apostles, St Thomas and St Bartholomew, in India. I told him that I had the privileged to be born in Goa which houses the incorruptible body of St Francis Xavier, a saint who has been an inspiration of my priestly missionary vocation.”
THE GIFTS
President Biden and Fr Dias then exchanged gifts to each other, and Fr Dias decided on the Goan delicacy, Bebinca.
Asked what had made him to consider the Bebinca, Fr Dias said: “I was on a recent trip to Goa, and I had brought with me some Goan goodies and delicacies gifted by people. I was wondering what to offer President Biden. I then thought of Goa’s much-loved Bebinca, and decided to gift it to President as it was a sealed packet prepared by a company. It was sent the previous evening along with my baggage.”
“President Biden accepted the Bebinca and told me: “Wait Father, I have something special to gift you.” He gave me a seal of the President of the United States, which has only been given to 260 select persons. The medal gifted to me had the number 261.”
“He asked me to open my palm and then placed the medal on my palm and closed my palm. “This is the way we gift this medal,” President Biden told me. This medal will be a cherished memory of our relationship.”
To a query on what memory of his interaction with the POTUS would remain with him, Fr Dias replied: “I don’t just consider him a President of the USA, but also as a faith-filled person and a devout Catholic. So, we not only met and interacted as a president and priest, but also as two persons bound by Jesus Christ.”
