The Patriarchal Seminary of Rachol, under the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman, southwest India, held Diploma Day on January 18, 2026, concluding its Theological and Pastoral Formation Course for the lay faithful, with a total of 142 participants receiving their diplomas.
The Conference of Religious of India (CRI), Goa Unit, organised the XIX Major Superiors’ Annual Meeting with Diocesan Heads on January 17, 2026, at the Pilar Pilgrim Centre, Pilar. The gathering brought together Major Superiors of religious congregations serving in the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman, southwest India.
Archbishop Filipe Neri Cardinal Ferrão, Archbishop of Goa and Daman, expressed joy and gratitude as the Church celebrated the Solemn Feast of St Joseph Vaz, Patron of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman and Apostle of Sri Lanka, at the Old Church of Our Lady of Health, Rua Escravo de Maria, Sancoale.
The solemn feast of St Joseph Vaz, Patron of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman, was celebrated on 16 January 2026 at the site of the Old Church of Our Lady of Health, Rua Escravo de Maria, Sancoale, Goa, in southwest India.
The solemn feast of St Joseph Vaz, Patron of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman, was celebrated on January 16, 2025, at the site of the Old Church of Our Lady of Health, Rua Escravo de Maria, Sancoale, Goa, southwest India.
For Nevil Alphonso, a Catholic and retired Director of the Department of Agriculture, Government of Goa, southwest India, tending soil and sowing seeds is not merely good agriculture—it is a quiet act of faith, gratitude, and service to God’s creation.
“I believe killing time is the murder of creativity,” he says with a quiet smile. “COVID-19 poured time upon us like water off a duck’s back, plenty of it, yet easily wasted.”
Filipe Neri Cardinal Ferrão, Archbishop of Goa and Daman and President of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI), has extended New Year greetings to the people of Goa and the nation, while expressing serious concern over the growing insecurity faced by minority communities in India.
As the Year of the Ordinary Jubilee 2025 drew to a close in the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman, southwest India, Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão, Archbishop of Goa and Daman and President of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC) and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CCBI), speaking to Radio Veritas Asia, described the Holy Year as “a gift of grace” that has deeply touched the lives of the faithful.
Cardinal Ferrão stressed that holiness is nurtured through daily work done with dedication and faith, stating that “through our work, our families, our communities, and the Church become holy.”
