Raul Nicolau Gonçalves

Archbishop Raul Nicolau Gonçalves[1] is an Indian prelate, the first Catholic Goan to be Archbishop of Goa and Patriarch of the East Indies.[2]

The Most Reverend

Raul Nicolau Gonçalves
Archbishop Emeritus of Goa and Daman
Patriarch of the East Indies
Archbishop Gonçalves in 2010
SeeGoa and Daman
AppointedJanuary 30, 1978 as bishop. December 12, 2003 as archbishop.
Term endedRetired of January 16, 2004, after completing 75 years
PredecessorJosé Vieira Alvernaz
SuccessorFilipe Neri António Sebastião do Rosário Ferrão
Other postsPatriarch of the East Indies
Orders
Ordination21 December 1950
Consecrationby Cardinal James Robert Knox
Personal details
Birth nameRaul Nicolau Gonsalves (or Goncalves)
Born (1927-06-15) 15 June 1927
Goa, Portuguese India
DenominationRoman Catholic
ResidenceIndia
Previous post
  • Auxiliary Bishop of Goa e Damão, India (1967-1978)
  • Titular Bishop of Rapidum (1967-1978)
  • Archbishop of Goa e Damão, India (1978-2004)
  • Patriarch of East Indies, India (1978-2004)

He is currently the archbishop emeritus of Goa.[3] The current archbishop served the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman as auxiliary bishop to Raul Nicolau Gonsalves, for about ten years (1994 to 2004).[4]

Biography

Raul Nicolau Gonçalves (or Gonsalves) was born in Bambolim, Tiswadi, and studied at Rachol.[2] and later at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome. He was ordained in the diocese of Goa and Daman on 21 December 1950. On 5 January 1967 he was appointed titular bishop of Rapidum, Apostolic Administrator of the archdiocese, and auxiliary bishop of Goa and Daman.[3]

Named Archbishop

On January 30, 1978, Pope Paul VI through the papal bull Quoniam Archidioecesi named him Archbishop of Goa and Patriarch of the East Indies (and therefore Primate of the Indies and Archbishop of Cranganore). He retired January 16, 2004, after reaching 75 years of age[3] the compulsory retirement age, in conformity with the 1983 Code of Canon Law canon 401 § 1.[5]

He was consecrated by Cardinal James Robert Knox.[3] He also was the principal consecrant of Dom Filipe Neri António Sebastião do Rosário Ferrão and the co-consecrating bishop was Aleixo das Neves Dias, SFX[3]

Other achievements

He was one of the members of the Commission constituted by then-Archbishop-Patriarch, Dom José Vieira Alvernaz for the establishment of Caritas Goa on 3 January 1962 through Portaria No. 2-62.[6]

He is credited with being the moving spirit, as the then-Apostolic Administrator, for the setting up of the Diocesan Family Service Centre of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman in 1975. Gonçalves "felt the need to establish it, during a very critical time where family life was threatenend by the then powers-to-be especially when Emergency was declared and forced sterilization were in vogue as part of controlling the population."[7]

The Archdiocese of Goa and Daman's website credits him with being the "first Goan to be appointed Archbishop of Goa and Daman, and Patriarch of the East Indies."[8]

Gonçalves has been a member of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People.[9]

Gonçalves assumed the helm of the Goan Church amidst a changing political situation. After Portuguese rule in Goa was ended by Indian military action, the Portuguese Archbishop-Patriarch Alvernaz left for Portugal and retired to his home in the Azores but remained the formal Patriarch of Goa till his resignation in 1975. From December 1963 the Archdiocese of Goa was governed by its first Indian Bishop, Msgr Francisco da Piedade Rebello, as Apostolic Administrator. Beginning in 1967 he was assisted by Gonçalves as Auxiliary Bishop. Gonçalves succeeded him as an Apostolic Administrator in 1972. After 1975, when Portugal recognised the end of their rule in Goa following a change of leadership in Lisbon, Bishop Gonçalves became the first Goan to actually become the Archbishop-Patriarch of Goa, in 1978.[10]

With his appointment, it was argued that "for the first time... Goa's Roman Catholic patriarch is a Goan".[11] Prior to this "the appointee for centuries was Portuguese."[11]

See also

Sources

References
  1. As spelt in the documents of the Vatican Archived 5 August 2012 at Archive.today and in the official archived site Patriarches of the Archdiocese archivedate = September 15, 2013.
  2. Vaz, J. Clement. Profiles of Eminent Goans, past and Present. New Delhi: Concept Pub., 1997. Print. p. 53
  3. Cheney, David M. "Archbishop Raul Nicolau Gonsalves [Catholic-Hierarchy]". www.catholic-hierarchy.org.
  4. "Diocesan Family Service Centre". Archived from the original on 14 August 2015. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  5. Fides, Agenzia. "ASIA/INDIA – GOA and DAMAO, ARCHBISHOP RAUL GONSALVES RESIGNS, MGR FILIPE NERI ANTÓNIO SEBASTIÃO DO ROSARIO FERRÃO APPOINTED ARCHBISHOP - Agenzia Fides". www.fides.org.
  6. http://www.caritasgoa.org/about_us.html
  7. "Diocesan Family Service Centre". www.familyservicecentregoa.org.
  8. "Historical Firsts - Archdiocese of Goa and Daman". Archdiocese of Goa and Daman. 2017. Archived from the original on June 14, 2018. Retrieved April 27, 2017.
  9. "People on the Move, No 96 (Suppl.)". www.vatican.va.
  10. "Reminiscences Of Goa's Liberation".
  11. "Toledo Blade - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
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