GOA, Archdiocese of. - It is located on the western coast of the Indian Peninsula. The diocese of G. and Damão, besides the Portuguese territory of the State of India (G., Damão and Diu), comprises the district of Ratnagiri, the States of Sawantwadi and Sangly, and the Collectorates of Belgaum and of northern Canara, belonging to the Indian Union, with a total area of over 3400 sq km (Portuguese territory), with a population of 1,594,220 inhabitants, of whom 355,880 are Catholics according to the census of 1939.
The languages spoken are Konkani, Marathi, Hindustani, Kannada, Gujarati, besides Portuguese and English, generally spoken by the educated classes.
Although vestiges of Christianity were not lacking in G. before the arrival of the Portuguese, its true Catholic history begins with their arrival in 1498. The viceroy Albuquerque chose, in 1510, G. as the base of the new Empire of the East, and the rich and cosmopolitan G. became its political and religious capital. Evangelization began immediately through the work of the Franciscans, the Dominicans and the Augustinians. In the Consistory of 31 Jan. 1533, Clement VII severed the Church of G. from the diocese of Funchal and erected the diocese of G. with jurisdiction over the whole East, from the Cape of Good Hope as far as China and Japan. But the bull of erection Aequum reputamus was promulgated in the following year by Paul III. By this bull the Holy See granted the Portuguese sovereigns the right of patronage over the bishopric of G. and over all the benefices of the diocese, which in the course of history gave rise to not a few conflicts between the Holy See and Portugal and also to the so-called Goan schism, that is, the opposition to the pontifical decrees on the part of certain priests who, together with their Ordinary, thought that the limitation of the right of patronage, without the consent of the king of Portugal, was not valid.
In 1542 St. Francis Xavier arrived at G. with the Jesuits. The incorrupt body of the Saint is still preserved today in the basilica of Bom Jesus, in the ancient capital, the Old City (Velha Cidade). G. became a metropolitan see in 1557 (bull Eisi sancta). Its archbishop received from Leo XIII, in 1886 (bull Humanae salutis auctor), the title of patriarch of the East Indies. After the agreement between the Holy See and Portugal, concluded in 1928, the diocese of Damão was united to that of G. Since 1 May 1928 it also holds the title of archbishop of Cranganor.
Bibliography10 works
Carmo da Silva