Casa Pallotti
Photo Credits: Adrian Rodrigues
Very recently I had the privilege as the Mission Secretary of Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (ABVM) Province of the Pallottines to accompany Fr Reinhold Maise SAC belonging to our Mother Province which is now called 'Heart of Jesus Province, Friedberg, Germany', who was on a visit to India to learn and understand the immense contributions made by the German Missionaries to the faith in India and the birth of Pallottines in India.
Accompanying him, especially in Goa and Karnataka, made me realise that the sacrifices of the pioneering missionaries have borne tremendous fruit and we ought to be grateful. Thus, as Pallottines in Goa celebrate 60 years of Pallottine Mission, it fills us with pride and also humbles us when we recollect the vast spiritual enrichment we have been able to render to the people of Goa by the grace of the Almighty God.
Soon after twelve years of India's freedom and when India was taking baby steps as a sovereign nation, Fr Julius Moser SAC came to India for his missionary expedition. Fr Moser was a priest of valour, courage and fortitude. He was working in the remote missions of Australia but when asked to accompany the students in Goa and be in charge of them, he was more than willing to leave his comfort zone and explore the uncertain.
Fr Moser landed in Goa in September 1959 and resided in the Archbishop's house, but by December he reallocated to the Patriarchal Seminary in Rachol to be with the students, Br John Bechtlof, Br Dieter Grey and Br Anton Nenzl who arrived in Goa from Karachi on December 19, 1959. Brothers Bechtlof and Grey had completed their second year of theology while Br Nenzl was still a first-year student. They resided in the Seminario Patriarcal de Rachol, and pursued their theological studies.
Fr Moser, in view of starting a house of one's own, started to look for an appropriate house in Goa and in 1960 in Assagao, the house belonging to "Athaide" family, a colossal manor was acquired. Thus, the principal house of the Pallottines in Goa, at Assagao was established and named Casa Pallotti.
In 1964, Fr Grey and Fr Nenzl saw the need for Casa Pallotti to be an apostolic school which housed 10 students who frequented the Assagao School and consequently St Britto's School, Mapusa for the completion of their elementary education.
In 1979, Casa Pallotti was made a philosophical institute and in the same year, land was procured in Chicalim. Progressively the Apostolic School with 11 students moved into Chicalim house and when they were done with their SSC studies the school closed its attendance in May 1983. In 1985, Pallotti home, a retreat hub was erected and blessed in Chicalim. Fr Henry Kieffer SAC who was a prisoner of war in the Second World War spent 20 years of his priestly life in Goa. Fr Kieffer is a well-known priest who came to Pallotti Home in 1985 and contributed immensely to the faith formation of the faithful; hearing confessions for long hours, and visiting and taking communion to the sick, the suffering, and the poor in and around Chicalim.
Fr Nenzl, on the other hand, worked in different capacities in Goa. I had the privilege to be his student in Pallotti Jyothi Niwas, Chandor where he worked last. As a rector, I have noticed in him a special commitment to the priesthood and exceptional devotion to Mother Mary, Queen of the Apostles. The three institutions that continue to flourish in Goa are due to his foresight.
Fr Henry and Fr Nenzl became silent visionaries and leaders who through their humble personalities taught the Pallottines in Goa to stay rooted to the charism i.e. to revive faith and rekindle charity, and execute change. From then on till date, the Pallottines have been working in the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman, and have been faithfully entrusted with three foundations: Casa Pallotti (1962), Pallotti Home (1978), and Pallotti Jyothi Niwas, Chandor (2002) for formation and five parishes for pastoral care in the Archdiocese: St Joseph's Church, Pernem (1996), St Francis Xavier Church, Mormugao (1997), St Sebastian's Church, Tormas (1997), Our Lady of Assumption Church, Sarzora (1999), and Our Lady of Miracles Church, Badem (2012). Pallottines through the pastoral, educational, and social ministry continue to assist the faithful to come closer to God.
On this auspicious occasion of 60 years of Pallottine Mission in Goa, we remember the efforts of our missionary German Pallottine priests, the Goan priests and other priests who have tirelessly worked, and the lay faithful who accompany us all through, and hope and pray that we will zealously continue to revive faith in the current changing world and rekindle charity reaching out to the marginalised in our society.
