OLD GOA
Thousands of devotees thronged Old Goa for the veneration of the Sacred Relics of St Francis Xavier on Sunday, which was also the first day of the Novena. Devotees stood in queue from early morning, and the crowd was so massive that the queue extended beyond the Gandhi Circle.
For a major part of the day, the queue spilled onto the road as the crowd continued to grow. Devotees had to wait for more than an hour to reach the Se Cathedral to venerate the Relics of St Francis Xavier.
Meanwhile, Fr Lawrence Fernandes informed that on the first two days, around 80,000 people had venerated the Relics. Fr Fernandes further mentioned that they are working on a mechanism to record the number of people venerating the Relics daily.
Novena masses were celebrated from 6 am, continuing until the last mass of the day in English at 6.15 pm. Two masses were celebrated in Tamil (11 am) and Malayalam (12.15 pm).
The 10-year pastoral plan of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI), headed by the Archbishop of Goa and Daman, Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrao, was unveiled during one of the Novena masses at 3.30 pm.
The CCBI pastoral plan, which will run for 10 years until 2033, will be implemented nationally throughout India and at the parish level in Goa.
The massive spike in footfalls on Sunday caused some strain on the arrangements. Devotees, especially those arriving in their own vehicles, faced difficulties as parking spaces were full and overflowing.
Police personnel deployed on the ground had a challenging time managing the surge of vehicles converging on the approach roads to the heritage Church Complex.
