The (Latin) Christian Church in Post-Colonial Goa: The Portuguese Legacy and the Development Process

This study is a micro level study that is restricted to 
the role of the Church in the development of the post-colonial
state of Goa. The pastoral effectiveness of the Church in Goa
particularly after liberation, has definitely been on the positive
side kudos to the ‘educated’ and self-confident clergy and laity
of Goa. The priests, religious and laity have grown with experi­-
ence at all levels and are well conscientised and equipped to
continue the task of “building the kingdom of God on Earth with-
out leaving all concerns to life beyond”. The socio-religious di­
mension of the Church in Goa can be further studied and evalu­
ated within the broader perspectives that are related to ‘con­
frontation’, ‘governance’, ‘institutionalization’ and ‘policing’ par­
ticularly after the State that was hitherto a ‘standard bearer of
the Portuguese State’ has ceased to remain so in the post-lib­
eration period. It is argued that much of the Church history is
written by the missionaries and from the missionary perspec­-
tive and this is never delinked from the Eurocentic,
Christocentric and Eusocentric perspective. In analyzing the role
of the post colonial Church in Goa, we undertake a dispassion­
ate analysis so that we are able to understand the Church within
a larger historical context.