ASIA/INDIA - In Goa Masses also in Spanish for St. Francis Xavier

Goa (Agenzia Fides) - To meet the needs of foreign pilgrims, Catholic religious authorities of Goa, in western India, have planned the celebration of Mass in Spanish, on the occasion of the feast of St. Francis Xavier, Patron of the Missions, which falls on December 3. The mortal remains of the Holy Spanish Jesuit, great evangelizer of Asia, are in Goa and during the holidays it becomes a place of pilgrimage of the faithful from Asia, Europe, the Americas. The church of Goa, a former Portuguese colony with a strong presence of Catholics, celebrates every year from November 24 to December 3 a special novena and a festival dedicated to St. Francis Xavier. Masses are celebrated in the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus in Goa, where the mortal remains of the saint are kept, in Malayalam, Tamil, Marathi, Hindi or Portuguese, and this year also in Spanish, as reported by the local Church to Fides . The festivities connected to the saint mobilize about one million people every year. The last exposition of the body was in 2004, which takes place every ten years. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 01/12/2012)