By Elvis Fernandes

Pilar, Nov 19, 2022: The canonization process of Venerable Agnelo D’Souza has entered a new phase after the Congregation for the Causes of Saints began to study a miracle attributed to the saintly priest from Goa.

“The process of this case has begun,” Father Nazareth Fernandes, superior general of the Society of Pilar, told the 95th death anniversary of Venerable Agnelo D’Souza, a member of the congregation.

The priest said Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, has informed the congregation that they have accepted the miracle and opened it for study on November 3, 2021.

Father Nazareth Fernandes said that the devotees of Venerable Agnelo are eagerly praying for his beatification and often ask when the Church would declare him a saint.

Maintaining that such queries are difficult to answer since the process of canonization is lengthy and rigorous, he explained.

Father Fernandes also quoted Redemptorist Father Antonio Marrazzo, who has been appointed as postulator by the Pilar Society to handle the process of canonisation, has urged the devotees to pray unceasingly during this period.

The death anniversary was celebrated November 19 with great fervour and devotion at the headquarters of the congregation in Pilar. Thousands had flocked to Pilar during the past nine days to seek the saintly priest’s blessings.

The venerable was born in Anjuna, Goa, on the January 21, 1869. He was ordained a priest in 1898 and served in Pilar, Shiroda, Sanvordem and Kumta. He was appointed as a resident spiritual director of the Seminary of Rachol, where he served for nine years, until his death on November 20, 1927.

This year, the death anniversary was celebrated on November 19, a day earlier, as the day coincided with the solemnity of Christ the King, celebrated on November 20.

The solemn feast day Mass was presided over by Bishop Emeritus Alex Dias of Port Blair. In his homily, the prelate described Venerable Agnelo as a saint in a hurry. Like Jesus who went out preaching the Good News of God hurriedly, Venerable Agnelo followed his Lord with a sense of urgency.

“Agnelo was a man of prayer; a lover of the Word of God, a caring and compassionate person,” the bishop added.