Panaji: Residents of a river island in Goa plan to name their main road after a 17th century missionary to Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon.
Fr Jacome Gonsalves was a native of this island village who collaborated with St Joseph Vaz, another Goan priest, to revive Catholicism in Sri Lanka.
After Vaz’s canonization on January 14, 2015, spotlight has now shifted to the cause of Fr Gonsalves.
Our Lady of Piety Church on his native island on July 17 commemorated his 274th death anniversary.
A year ago, the parishioners launched the cause of his canonization. The preliminary action has been initiated with the participation of his villagers.
On that occasion, parish priest Fr Jose Dias regretted that the great missionary was forgotten in his native land whereas he is “very famous” in Sri Lanka for reviving the Catholic faith there.
Fr Eremito Rebello, who in 2015 initiated the cause of canonization of Fr Gonsalves, noted that “St Joseph Vaz planted the seed of Catholic faith in Sri Lanka and Fr Jacome Gonsalves watered and nourished it.”
A book on the priest’s life is under publication, states a press release.
Meanwhile, the main village road of the island that passes through the front of the missionary’s three-and-half century-old ancestral house, will be named ‘Fr Jacome Gonsalves Road,’ reports The Times of India.
The village also plans to install a statue of its illustrious son at the ancestral house, which now houses the Divar High School, managed by the Archdiocese of Goa.
Fr Gonsalves, considered the Father of Sinhala Catholic literature, was born on June 8 1676. He died on July 17, 1742, in Bolawatte, Sri Lanka and was buried there.
He was the eldest son of Thomas Gonsalves and Mariana de Abreu. His family had been Christian for two or three generations, being among the first converts at the beginning of Portuguese rule in Goa.
He studied at the Jesuit College of Goa. He enrolled in the University of Goa and obtained the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In 1696 he began theological studies at the Academy of St Thomas Aquinas in Goa, where he also held the post of organist. This seems to have led him to develop a taste for poetry, prose and music.
He decided to enter the Oratorian congregation of Goa. He was appointed to the chair of philosophy at the University of St Paul’s in Goa. He took up his post in January 1705, but relinquished it the same year to go to Sri Lanka.
He left Goa on May 9, 1705, and reached Sri Lanka on August 30 the same year, arriving at Talaimannar. At the time, he knew Konkani, Portuguese, Latin and Spanish.
During the long journey he mastered Tamil and his first assignment was on the islands of Mannar, Arippu, Musali and other places. He also learnt Dutch.
Fr Joseph Vaz sent him to Kandy to learn Sinhala. He studied the language with the Buddhist monks at the Malwatta Chapter, known for their high and elegant Sinhala. He wrote many of his works at Bolawatta, near Negombo. Since there was no printing press, he employed 12 Sinhala clerks to copy his works.
Fr Jacome Gonsalves has been called: “the most successful missionary that this island [Sri Lanka] ever had, the creator of Catholic literature in Ceylon, whose name is still held in benediction and whose literary works in Sinhalese and Tamil are still in daily use in the church of this island,” according to Wikipedia.com.
The island of Divar (small Island in Konkani) lies in the Mandovi River. It is some 10 km upriver from the Goa capital of Panaji. The Island is connected to Old Goa on the southeast side, Ribandar on the southwest side and Narve on the north side, all by ferry.
A launch also connects Divar to the city of Panaji from further northwest, in the island-village of Vanxim. The Konkan Railway passes through the village and the nearest stop is Carambolim.
The drive to the village is scenic, with paddy fields and wooded hills lacing the roadway, typical of the Goan countryside.
According to legend, the original inhabitants of this island were people who once lived in Old Goa but had to desert during a disastrous pestilence that heavily decimated the population of Old Goa.