The Archbishop of Goa invited Catholics not to take the weekly train to the Marian shrine of Velankanni on May 6 so as not to fail to comply with the electoral obligation, which has been set for the following day in this area of India. Regarding the election of candidates, the cardinal noted the importance of voting for “people with secular credentials, who are truly committed to working for the good of all the people.”
Delhi () – Card. Filipe Neri Ferrao, archbishop of Goa and Daman, spoke of a “sacred duty” and a “civic responsibility” when recently addressing the faithful, and invited them – as other Christian leaders did last week – not to stop attending the ballot boxes for elections. An electoral marathon that, in just under two months, will lead the country to elect future representatives in Parliament and the next government, in anticipation of which the cardinal added another unusual recommendation: not to take the train for the pilgrimage to the sanctuary. Mariano from Velankanni – who makes a single weekly trip every Monday – because there is a risk of not being able to return in time to vote.
In a note published in view of the May 7 elections in the coastal State, which will appoint two representatives to the Lok Sabha, the archbishop of Goa and Daman addresses citizens, particularly Catholics, inviting them to comply with his duty. The cardinal also asked priests, religious, chaplains and superiors of religious institutes – male and female – to promote special prayer initiatives on May 3 and 5 for the good result of the vote.
To the Catholic electorate, Card. Filipe Neri Ferrao asks you to vote for “people with secular credentials, who are truly committed to working for the good of all the people and defending the values enshrined in our Constitution.” Along with the invitation to the polls and indications about the “values” of the candidates, the cardinal urged the faithful to fulfill their civil duties and not travel by train to Velankanni – an important center of Christian pilgrimage in Tamil Nadu – the day before the elections.
The question of pilgrimage is a sensitive issue for the archbishop of Goa, a major center in India where Catholics make up about 25% of the population. Hundreds of people, Christians but also believers of other religions, use the weekly train that connects Vasco da Gama and Velankanni (in Tamil Nadu) to visit the basilica of “Our Lady of Good Health”, the heart of local Marian devotion.
The Card. Ferrao recalls that “every Monday there is a train from Goa to Velankanni, which leaves Margao station at 9.35 in the morning.” “I make a strong appeal to Catholics – he continues – to refrain from taking that train on Monday, May 6, and to organize their trip for another Monday.” And to those who have already booked the trip, the cardinal reflects that “it is worth losing a little money” in the cancellation costs, “for the common good and the sacred duty of exercising the right to vote on election day.” .
Before the archbishop's call, the media had spread news about a “conspiracy” organized by some political parties to prevent, or at least hinder, the vote of Catholics, who constitute a significant percentage in South Goa. And many even considered that the pilgrimage was used as a “pretext” for Christians not to vote. That is why the words of Card. Ferrao seem to end the issue: “It is clear that Catholics who travel with family and friends to rest or make a pilgrimage on election day […] “Not only would they fail to do a service to the nation, but they would also be seriously failing in their important civic responsibility.”
