After long wait, 3 of 170 Pakistani pilgrims finally arrive for Exposition

Old Goa: No sooner did they set foot in Old Goa on Thursday afternoon than three pilgrims from Pakistan forgot all their worries.
Leaving behind a large group of devotees, mostly of Goan origin, in Karachi who are still awaiting their visas to India, Peter Mendes, Ken Marshall, and Fr Arthur Charles arrived in Goa for the Exposition of the relics of St Francis Xavier with heavy hearts.
Only 40 of the approximately 170 pilgrims who sought visas to travel to Goa for the Exposition received them. These are mostly senior citizens and children. The rest are waiting in anticipation and are likely to arrive later in the month.
“We were upset and didn’t feel comfortable travelling without our companions, so we cancelled our tickets, but we felt St Francis Xavier drawing us here, so we rebooked a day later,” Mendes, a Pakistani businessman with Goan roots, told TOI.
Meetings were held in Karachi months in advance to prepare for the visit to Goa and to get all documentation in place. The pilgrims requested for a letter of invitation for the decennial Exposition from the archbishop of Goa and Daman, Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrao, and attached this along with their visa application to the Indian high commission in Islamabad.
Mendes has been organising visits of groups of Pakistani pilgrims to Goa for the feast of St Francis Xavier for several years now. As many as 400 pilgrims visited during the 2014 Exposition. “Then it was a direct two-hour flight to India with no hassles,” Mendes said.
With direct flights to India cancelled, the group had to change three flights and fly via Sri Lanka, which bumped travel cost to more than Rs 2 lakh. In the past, devotees from Pakistan always reached in time for the feast of St Francis Xavier and made it a point to participate in the high Mass. But with all the delays, the three of them reached Goa on Dec 4 after a long 24-hour journey.
“We felt peace no sooner we reached here and prayed fervently to the saint to help process visas for our other friends,” Mendes said.
Fr Arthur Charles, the parish priest of St Anthony’s Church in Karachi that has 2,500 families as parishioners, told TOI he was deeply touched by the simplicity of the devotees and their devotion and faith.
After venerating the relics, people gathered to seek blessings from him. “They were from different cultures and races, and spoke different languages. I felt God chose me to bless them,” he said.
Although he has no Goan roots, Charles says he has seen Goan-origin families in Karachi passing on the tradition of devotion to St Francis Xavier down generations. Pakistani Christians held a grand celebration in Karachi on Dec 3, the feast day.
There were at least 30,000 Goans in Karachi prior to the Partition. The number has now dwindled to approximately 5,000, said Mendes, who was born in Karachi and traces his roots to Arpora, Calangute and Nerul. “I have great respect for the Goan people in Pakistan. Apart from the missionaries that came, the priests were originally from Goa, and we have been closely linked,” Charles said.
He further said that he has noticed many changes in Goa since his visits in the past. “I would hear a lot of Konkani. Today, Hindi is commonly spoken,” he said.
Mendes, on the other hand, said he found Goa to be overpopulated. “There are too many constructions, and it’s going to be difficult for Goa to preserve its culture. I don’t know whether the next generation will be able to continue that,” he said.
He, for one, has received requests to bring back ‘maadache godd’ (coconut jaggery). A family member has also asked him to bring back ‘chuddo’ (bridal glass bangles) for her wedding.