India parish says sorry to priest after 100 years

PEOPLE in a southern Indian parish have apologized for “sins” their ancestors committed against a Catholic priest, whose canonization process is now underway.

Catholic parishioners of Kumta village in Karnataka state say their forefathers “sinfully” doubted the integrity of Father Agnelo D’Souza, who was declared “Venerable” in 1986.

The priest, who died in 1927 at the age 58, belonged to the indigenous Society of the Missionaries of St. Francis Xavier. The congregation is based in the Pilar hills in Goa and is popularly known as the Pilar society.

Wilfred Noronha, a council member of the St. John the Baptist Parish in Kumta, read out the apology April 27. It came at the end of the centenary celebrations of the appointment of Father D’Souza to the parish.

In the name of all the parishioners, he apologized “for sins committed consciously and unconsciously by our ancestors” against Father D’Souza and sought his “forgiveness.”

According to records, some drunken parishioners had approached the priest late one night and demanded to inspect the parish accounts.

The priest welcomed them and presented the books to them. However, these parishioners were illiterate men and were unable to read what was put before them. They left quietly after the priest blessed them.

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