In the times and in the society that we live in, there are rare moments when a hero emerges from nowhere and does a deed which does humanity proud. The hero is a soldier, a warrior, a messenger, a messiah, a thinker, a healer, a conscience keeper, a protector, a policeman, watchdog and above all a guardian.
On Sunday last (March 5), at the Church in Rachol, Father Eremito Rebello emerged as a hero who is yet unsung, and he managed to protect Goa’s harmonious social fabric and uphold very proudly all that this land stands for and will always stand for. He turned hero not because he did something different but because he did something he would always do in a situation like this.
As has been reported and commented an infinitum in the social media and of course reported quite responsibly by mainstream media, two students at the BITS Pilani, Goa campus entered the Rachol Church during the Eucharistic celebration and joined the Holy Communion procession. The two boys took the Holy Communion and one of them took the Communion out of his mouth and defiled it.
This itself had the making of an extremely serious situation and could have led to emotionally charged parishioners even beating up the boys. But that would have been only the trigger and not the culmination. With social media waiting virtually on the site of the incident with videos getting uploaded instantly and comments and conclusions flying faster than the data speeds of the uploads, Father Eremito’s wise counsel, his sense of calm and his patience, acted as the only balm that prevented a possible religious flare up.
For close to three hours Goa was on its edge and it took Father Eremito’s quiet presence and his message of forgiveness, to ensure that the wardens of the BITS students and other senior administrative staff and principal arrived at the police station and make the boys tender a verbal and as well as written apology, which diffused the situation.
And the priest’s words had a remarkable effect. Fr Eremito said though the youth committed sacrilege, Christian values and teachings call for forgiveness. “We are presently in the Lenten season and we all decided to forgive the two youth for their action,” Fr Eremito said.
But there are important takeaways from this. Father Eremito did the duty of a priest but he also gave a stellar example of being a true Goan. With the benefit of hindsight and the passage of time when we are able to comprehend calmly, it will be fair to assume that nowhere else in the country would a potential flare up have been dealt with such sagacity and control.
The Maina Curtorim police also adopted the right approach of speaking to the boys and questioning them but not taking the issue beyond establishing their identities and background and checking their bags and personal belongings.
At the same time, moving on by merely thanking Father Eremito Rebello, the parish priest of Rachol, for his wise counsel (or for that matter Father Victor Ferrao of the Rachol seminary who echoed his sentiments), and his heroic deeds would be a response only half baked. The underlying take aways in the episode at Our Lady of Snows Church at Rachol, are manifold.
The message from Rachol is that there are institutions like the Church which will not allow any rupture in the social fabric even, as there are attacks on it, either advertently, or in the case of the Sunday episode evidently inadvertently. Therefore it is the responsibility of every government to be totally inclusive and take decisions that cut across all lines for the benefit of all Goans, but especially for those who feel vulnerable and unprotected.
Secondly the need to start the harmony project, to avoid even the slightest feeling of alienation or loss, cannot be underlined enough. The sharp reaction of people on social media as well as in the Church, stems from a deep rooted feeling of uneasiness. It is that uneasiness which manifested itself on Sunday, more than any feeling of anger or hatred towards the two boys. It is this uneasiness which needs to be addressed.
But Fr Eremito’s deed on Sunday, will mark March 5, 2017, as a red letter day for the protection of harmony in Goa.
(This the editorial in the heraldgoa.in on March 08, 2017)