During ‘Holy Hour’ & funeral, Goa churches say vote ‘responsible ones’

Panaji: Probably for the first time in the history of Goa, special prayers were held during the ‘Holy Hour’ by churches and parishes asking Catholics in the state to vote for “responsible candidates” for the Lok Sabha elections. Not just that, a priest even went to the extent of passing on this message during a funeral service in South Goa.
Goa goes to vote on Tuesday.
The directive to hold special prayers came from the archbishop of Goa and Daman, Felipe Neri Cardinal Ferrao, who issued a circular on April 15 to all parishes, priests and Catholics in the state asking them to vote for “secular candidates” who would uphold values “enshrined in the Constitution”.
The prayers were held on Friday and Sunday during the 'Holy Hour', a Catholic tradition of spending an hour in eucharistic adoration in the presence of the blessed sacrament.
“It is the responsibility of every citizen to be fully involved in public and social life. We pray during this Holy Hour so that these elections take place in a disciplined manner, and we are able to elect a responsible candidate. To responsibly cast our votes, we need the prayers, which when made unitedly, hold strength,” states a part of the prayer that was read out prior to the commencement of the Holy Hour.
Like in the past, no party or candidate has been named, but a collective understanding within the clergy about who to support has been drawn.
“The Church asking its faithful to vote for candidates with secular credentials has been interpreted as a message to vote for Congress,” said one political observer. Chief minister Pramod Sawant welcomed the archbishop’s message and said BJP, in the true sense, is a secular party.
The Church hasn’t always shared love for Congress and its candidates.
In 2012, the message from the clergy was to vote against corruption. At that time, it meant vote for BJP, since it was the primary opposition party between 2007-12. BJP was then led by former chief minister Manohar Parrikar, who helped establish a cordial relationship between the Church and the saffron party.
Relations between BJP and the Church now no longer appear cordial, with Sawant telling TOI in an interview that he has held closed-door meetings with several priests.
“My photos with the priests may have not been circulated, but I have met everyone. I held closed-door meetings. Why should there be a fight between religion for politics and votes? I have made a request (for support),” Sawant had said.
Since last month, the archbishop’s message has been aggressively carried forward with priests making a mention at most masses.
At a parish in Tiswadi taluka under which the capital city of Panaji falls, a message was read out at the beginning of the mass on Saturday, exhorting the parishioners to consider their duty of casting their vote as an important one.
“We tend to think that we work hard and earn our livelihood. Politics is dirty and we shouldn’t involve ourselves in it. But if the government that is voted decides the basic issues and necessities that will affect our lives, we will be causing great disservice to ourselves and society by ignoring our duty and also not choosing the right candidates,” said the parish priest.
Catholics constitute nearly 25% of the population as per 2011 census and have a significant population in South Goa with around 2 lakh total voters. South Goa has around 6 lakh voters.
At least two constituencies, Benaulim and Nuvem, have over 80% Christians.
The Church in Goa has been open about its ‘guiding role’ and issues guidelines to its faithful on how to exercise their franchise. But this is perhaps the first time that the archbishop sent a signed letter asking the parishes and Catholics to vote for “secular candidates”.