Verghese V Joseph –
Joseph Naik Vaz Institute, based in California, US has begun a petition drive on Change.org (click the link to sign the petition) to make an Indian-Sri Lankan St. Joseph (Naik) Vaz (1651-1711) as ‘Patron Saint of First Responders During Covid times’.
In 1697, St. Joseph Vaz immediately responded to take care of the abandoned victims of smallpox in Kandy, Sri Lanka, at the risk of getting infected by smallpox himself. He was an outstanding model of Christian and humanitarian love and service to his fellow men and women, regardless of race, nationality, caste, creed or any other orientation.
St. Joseph Vaz had come from Goa, India to rebuild the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka under Dutch persecution in 1687. He and his companion priest, Fr. Joseph Carvalho were faced with the smallpox epidemic in Kandy in 1697, and went to the rescue of the abandoned victims.
St. Joseph Naik Vaz was an Indian-Sri Lankan, hence Asian, Saint whose cause took 302 years to complete.
In order for someone to be made a Saint in the Catholic Church, popular devotion and interest in the Saint has to be documented and proved.
In the same way, for someone to be made a Patron Saint, the Church requires proof of interest. The institute’s members could not go to Rome in person to show their interest and support for his Cause. The only way they could give evidence was by sending petitions and getting signatures to the Holy See.
They were recorded in the two historical documents called “Positio Historica” and were accepted by Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Francis as evidence of international devotion and support for his beatification and canonization. The institute has been are described as one of the petitioners for the canonization.
It should be noted that many other petitions were sent by the bishops of India and Sri Lanka together with thousands of lay signatures, and that this is not an unusual way of asking the Popes for action.
Historical Background
In the seventeenth century, the Protestant Dutch defeated the Catholic Portuguese and drove them out of Kanara (southwest Karnataka) and Sri Lanka. They destroyed the missions, churches, schools and other Catholic institutions in Kanara. The Dutch banned all European missionaries from entering Kanara.
In 1680, Indian Father Joseph Vaz was sent to work there as Vicar Forane. He stayed there until 1684, rebuilding the missions and other Catholic institutions, and rebuilding the Catholic community and the Catholic Church in and around Mangalore. He had earlier on decided that he wanted to minister to the abandoned victims of Dutch persecution in Sri Lanka.
After he left Kanara, he smuggled himself into the island in 1687. He worked for twenty-three years under persecution to re-found the Church of Sri Lanka. It should be noted that he did so under the protection of the Buddhist Kings of Kandy who recognized him as a great Saint and miracle worker, who also cared for the victims of the smallpox epidemic.(“Indian-Sri Lankan Saint for COVID times.” Bombay Examiner, January 2021. https://josephnaikvaz.org/archives/974).
His humanitarian work
Besides his missionary work, his work for the suffering and the sick are well recorded in the records of his religious congregation, the Oratorians. At his Beatificantion and Canonization ceremonies, both Pope St. John Paul II and Pope Francis explicitly referred to his work for the victims of the highly infectious smallpox epidemic in the Buddhist city of Kandy in 1696-97.
What can we do today to bring attention to his humanitarian work for the abandoned victims of a highly infectious and fatal disease as an inspiration to the billion Catholics and to many others?
As H.H. Pope Francis said at his Canonization, the nursing care for infectious victims of smallpox given by St. Joseph Vaz is an example of the Church’s service to the suffering and the sick.
We believe that the best way we can make St. Joseph (Naik) Vaz an inspiration to us today by his heroic sacrifices for victims of an infectious and fatal disease like Covid, is to send a Petition to H.H. Pope Francis to make him Patron Saint of First Responders. He was truly a First Responder who risked infection to himself by nursing the highly infectious victims of smallpox.
The institute had sent its petition in April 2021 but as it’s a long process and it had glitches on the petition site, they put the collection of signatures on hold. They have now resumed their Signature campaign. The Vatican welcomes petitions from the Bishops and from the L. The institute has asked the bishops of Sri Lanka and of India to send their own Petitions to make St. Joseph (Naik) Vaz a Patron Saint.
The institute has requested support from people of all walks of life to sign its petition to H.H. Pope Francis on change.org (Click the link to sign the petition).
For further information and questions, please email at [email protected] or [email protected]