The vociferous protests over a Hindu activist calling St. Francis Xavier — patron of the tiny Indian state of Goa, a former Portuguese colony on Indiaʼs west coast — a “terrorist” at a Hindu groupʼs convention subsided after state police traced the absconding insulter to the state of Himachal Pradesh in the foothills of the Himalayas and brought him to Goa on April 26.
“Things are peaceful now and the Church has made its stand clear with our earlier (April 20) statement,” Father Barry Cardozo, Goa archdiocesan social communications director, told EWTN News on April 28.
Gautam Khattar, a viral Hindu YouTuber and founder of the Hindu group Sanatan Mahasangh, made the controversial remarks about St. Francis Xavier on April 18 at an event organized by a Hindu group, Sanatan Dharma Raksha Samiti (Eternal Religion Protection Committee), at Vasco in south Goa in the presence of a state minister and legislator.
“We unequivocally reject and condemn these pernicious statements,” the Catholic Church of Goa articulated its concern in a powerful statement on April 20 as news of the controversial comments spread.
The statement expressed “deep pain and anguish over the hateful and malicious remarks made recently at a public function in Vasco city against St. Francis Xavier, … affectionately known as the Gõycho Saib, a saint loved and revered not only in Goa but by millions of people across the globe.”
In Konkani, the language of Goa, Gõycho Saib — commonly rendered “Goencho Saib” in English-language press — means “Protector of Goa.”
Born in Spain in 1506, the Jesuit co-founder Francis Xavier reached Goa in 1542 while the region was a Portuguese colony. Baptizing thousands in Goa and along the southern coast of India, missionary Xavier left for east Asia in 1549 and returned to India in 1551.
During his trip to China in 1552, he fell sick and died at the age of 46. After his buried body was found incorrupt a year later, it was brought to Goa and has been preserved in a glass casket on top of the side altar of the Basilica of Bom Jesus.
The incorrupt body is taken out for solemn exposition every 10 years and kept for public viewing for weeks at the nearby Se Cathedral during the decennial exposition, with millions thronging Goa.
“Such divisive rhetoric, laced with falsehoods and venom, deeply hurts the sentiments of lakhs [hundreds of thousands] of Goans — irrespective of the religion they profess — who hold St. Francis Xavier in the highest esteem. These statements have caused serious hurt to the religious sentiments of Catholics and risk disturbing the communal harmony we have long cherished,” the Catholic Church pointed out.
It called upon “authorities to take immediate, strong, and exemplary action against those responsible for this hate speech, in accordance with the laws of the land.”
At the same time, the Church appealed to “all to remain calm and exercise restraint. Let us uphold the peace and unity that have defined us for so long,” it said, calling for the saintʼs “spirit of love and fraternity [to] continue to guide us all towards ever greater unity and peace in these troubled times.”
Apology to Christian community
Amid infuriated protesters marching to police stations and holding huge protest rallies in all major centers in Goa, Khattar went underground while the Hindu group that organized the meeting held a news conference the next day to apologize to the Christian community.
“We are tendering an apology to all our Christian brothers with whom we have been living like brothers. We never expected Khattar to make such a statement, and we had tried to stop him,” the organizers said in a statement.
The self-described “spiritual beat journalist” Khattar has been booked by the Goa Police under criminal sections for allegedly making “derogatory remarks” against St. Francis Xavier and “hurting religious sentiments.”
“This was an attempt by the Hindu fringe elements to polarize the Goans on religious lines,” Cyril Fernandes, president of the Catholic Association of Goa, which filed the criminal complaint against Khattar, told EWTN News on April 29.
“The people of Goa stand united and it was manifest in the protests with people all faiths joining the protests. Hindus were never persecuted under the Portuguese as these fringe groups claim,” Fernandes reiterated.
Christians, most of them Catholic, account for a quarter of Goaʼs 1.5 million people, with the overwhelming majority being Hindus.
Joan Rebello, a retired Catholic professor who joined the protest in Murgao, told EWTN News: “The protest was spontaneous and widespread. Even many Hindus joined the protests as they were also hurt by the remarks against the saint revered as Goaʼs patron.”
Meanwhile, news reports quoting the police said Khattar was hospitalized on April 28 after he complained of “uneasiness and hypertension.”
