Bengaluru: Most Rev. Raul Nicolau Gonsalves (95) Archbishop Emeritus of Goa e Damão (Daman) passed away on Friday, 1 July 2022 at 8.45am. Funeral details are awaited.
He was born at Bambolim, Goa on 15 June 1927 and ordained priest on 21 December 1950.
Born on 15 June 1927, he was the fifth of eight children born to Marcos Vicente Gonsalves and Ermelinda Leonor Propércia de Souza, in the village of Bambolim, Goa.
He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Goa and Damão on 5 January 1967 and ordained Bishop on 5 March 1967.
He was appointed Archbishop of Goa and Damão and Patriarch of East Indies on 30 January 1978.
He was retired from Active Episcopal ministry on 12 December 2003. He is a priest for 71 years and a Bishop for 55 years.
Harbouring the seed of a priestly vocation from a very young age, he joined the Patriarchal Seminary of Rachol for his philosophical studies. In 1947, he was sent to Rome for his theological studies. Ordained a priest in Rome on 21 December 1950, he continued with his studies and obtained a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Athenaeum of the Propaganda Fide and a Licentiate in Canon Law from the Pontifical Gregorian University.
Returning to Goa in 1954, he was appointed Professor of Theology at the Patriarchal Seminary. In June 1956, he was appointed Rector of the Diocesan Minor Seminary of Our Lady, Saligão-Pilerne. From 1962 to 1964, he was a Secretary at the Apostolic Nunciature in New Delhi.
On his return to Goa he was appointed Director of the Pastoral Institute St. Pius X, Old Goa. On 5 January 1967, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop to the then Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese, Most Rev. Francisco da Piedade Rebello. He was ordained Bishop in the Cathedral Church, Old Goa on 5 March 1967 by Archbishop James Robert Knox, the Apostolic Internuncio in India, choosing as his episcopal motto NON MINISTRARI, SED MINISTRARE (Not to be served, but to serve). On 30 June 1972, he took charge of the office of Apostolic Administrator sede plena of the Archdiocese of Goa, being appointed Apostolic Administrator sede vacante on 19 February 1975.
On 30 January 1978, he became the first son of the soil to be appointed Archbishop of Goa and Daman and Patriarch of the East Indies by Pope Paul VI, through the Papal Bull Quoniam Archidioecesi, taking charge of his new office on 5 March 1978. He remained as the Diocesan Bishop of Goa and Daman for 26 years and 15 days, till his resignation was accepted by the Holy See in 2004.
With the help of the right kind of collaborators, Archbishop Raul laid down a strong diocesan infra-structure, consisting of Episcopal Vicariates and various consultative Bodies and, on the executive front, more than twenty Diocesan Centres, Commissions and other Bodies, set up mostly according to the norms and recommendations of the Second Vatican Council and giving impetus to the various apostolates in the Archdiocese, e.g. family, laity, youth, ecumenism, inter-religious dialogue, etc.
Some of the milestones the Church in Goa and Daman achieved during his tenure:
1. A sound Financial Reorganisation of the Archdiocese, giving it the economic stability it
enjoys today, after the uncertain waters the Church in Goa sailed on for a few years after the Liberation of Goa in 1961.
2. The constitution of the first Diocesan Pastoral Council
3. An historic Pastoral Plan for the Archdiocese, with focus on the establishment of Parish Pastoral Councils and Small Christian Communities
4. The convocation of the Diocesan Synod 2002
5. The promulgation of the revised Constitutions of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman