This story is from February 17, 2020

Old Goa monuments a dialogue between cultures: Portugal President

As he admired the walls of the Santa Monica Church at Old Goa, Portugal President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa told his hosts in Portuguese that he could not believe how well the Christian art from the Portuguese era in Goa had been preserved.
Old Goa monuments a dialogue between cultures: Portugal President
Portugal President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa admires an old painting of St Francis Xavier on Sunday
PANAJI: As he admired the walls of the Santa Monica Church at Old Goa, Portugal President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa told his hosts in Portuguese that he could not believe how well the Christian art from the Portuguese era in Goa had been preserved.
“It is marvellous!” he exclaimed at one point. Some time after he was told that Santa Monica Church is over 450 years old, having been one of the first churches the Portuguese built in Goa in 1525.
“Such a beautiful monument of art of the Portuguese era here...
It is so important for dialogue between cultures,” said Sousa, interspersing his interaction with a splattering of English.
Fr Avinash Rebello, who heads the committee for the Museum of Christian Art, which is within the Santa Monica Church and has been undergoing a makeover for a long time now, told Sousa that the renovated museum will be opened on March 30.
Rebello invited Sousa to attend the opening of the museum and the Portuguese premier immediately responded, “for a longer visit”.
The Portugal president was on a two-day visit to Goa, his first to the state.
Prez gets Konkani hymns, art from Christian museum as gifts
By paying public tribute to the secular links that unite Portugal and Goa, I welcome the Museum of Christian Art refurbishment project and its meaning in valuing the common history that covers past, present and future,” the president wrote in the museum’s ‘Book of Honour’, later.

Rebello explained to Sousa that Christian art, as seen on the walls of the Santa Monica Church, was not exactly a copy of what one sees in Europe, but had Hindu and Muslim artisans work on it.
Sousa met members of the Bico family from Margao, who were trained, mostly in Portugal, before they would help Miguel Mateus and Jose Pestana in the restoration of the crucifix and altars at the Santa Monica Church. Fr Loiola Pereira conveyed wishes to Sousa from the archbishop of Goa Filipe Neri Ferrao, who is in Bengaluru.
A print of an artwork by Mexican artist Octavio Ocampo, from the collection of the Museum of Christian Art, was presented to Sousa. The painting titled ‘Calvary’ depicts Christ on a crucifix at Mount Calvary.
Sousa seemed especially delighted and curious as he was gifted a collection of music called ‘Argham Diun’ by a Goan origin group based in Portugal, who have sung religious hymns in Konkani. “Konkani! Oh! I will like it,” he said.
He was shown around the museum, where Sousa appreciated how the space inside the heritage structure was being utilised. “We are sorry you could not see the artefacts as the museum is under renovation. So we are presenting you with a catalogue where you can see all the artefacts from the museum’s collection,” Nascimento de Souza, a lay member on the committee of Museum of Christian Art, told the president.
Rebello and museum curator Natasha Fernandes narrated the history of the church. “It was consecrated in 1525, but the convent took longer and became operational between 1540 and 60. It was called the monastery of Santa Monica and young girls were trained as nuns. They were under a strict regimen of discipline and lived away from the public. The church was part of the convent, so nuns could attend mass, viewing it through the grills from a higher gallery,” said Rebello.
Impressed by what he saw, Sousa, who only had Santa Monica church on his schedule before flying out of Goa, also visited the Basilica of Bom Jesus. He prayed before the relics of St Francis Xavier at the Basilica in the presence of rector Fr Patricio Fernandes, and left with a promise to return.
Lusophone society seeks help for Portuguese International School
The Lusophone Society of Goa (LSG) on Sunday handed over a letter to the president of Portugal Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in Panaji requesting institutional support for setting up a Portuguese International School to promote both Portuguese and Indian culture and to facilitate the learning of Portuguese language.
The creation of the Portuguese International School (PIS) in Goa should be a private initiative but in close institutional cooperation with educational authorities in Portugal and with the support of the European Union,” said Aurobindo Xavier, LSG president.
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About the Author
Gauree Malkarnekar

Gauree Malkarnekar, senior correspondent at The Times of India, Goa, maintains a hawk's eye on Goa's expansive education sector. And when she is not chasing schools, headmasters and teachers, she turns her focus to crime. Her entry into journalism was purely accidental: a trained commercial artist, she landed her first job as a graphic designer with a weekly, but less than a fortnight later set aside the brush and picked up the pen. Ever since she has not complained.

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