Goa: The Archdiocese of Goa and Daman looked forlorn with the passing away Archbishop Emeritus Raul Nicolau Gonsalves. Archbishop Gonsalves passed away on Friday at 08.54 hrs., at JMJ Hospital, Alto Porvorim, where he was ailing for the last 10 days. The Archdiocese of Goa and Daman thanked the Lord for the gift of an admirable Pastor to the Church in Goa and Daman, in the person of Most Rev. Raul Nicolau Gonsalves.
In a statement, Goan Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao expressed his grief, “I am indeed saddened with the death of my revered predecessor, Most Rev. Raul Nicolau Gonsalves, who was called by the Lord to his heavenly abode this morning. Archbishop Raul had been for long years a zealous and a courageous Pastor to the Church in Goa and Daman. He had also made a very significant contribution to the life and the mission of the Church in India. The entire Church in Goa and Daman joins me in thanking the Heavenly Father for gifting Archbishop Raul to us and in praying for his eternal repose in the arms of our Risen Lord, Whom he served so faithfully and generously.”
The mortal remains of Archbishop Emeritus Raul Gonsalves will be kept in the Chapel of the Clergy Home, Alto-Provorim, till the funeral day. Anyone desiring to visit and pray for him may do so between 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. The funeral date will be announced later.
Archbishop Gonsalves was called to serve the Church in Goa as a Bishop at a time when it was still facing the effects of Goa’s integration into the Indian Union. He was a man of tremendous endurance, fortitude, humility, loyalty to the Church, devotion to duty and ability to absorb, calmly and serenely, various types of shocks and difficult situations; he had the willingness to do what he could and leave in the hands of the Lord what he knew he could not do, qualities which kept him going where a less gifted leader would have perhaps succumbed to serious breakdown, physical drainage of energies or even despair.
He faced and handled controversial problems taking his own time to decide, spending hours in prayer, discussion, evaluation of pros and cons, before deciding and remaining faithful to his decisions even amidst misunderstandings and menaces.