The Auxiliary Bishop of Goa and Daman Most Reverend Simiao Fernandes inaugurated the new pastoral year 2025-26 and released the Pastoral Letter, during a solemn Jubilee celebration of the pastoral Secretariat, presided over by his excellency, in the parish Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, Valpoi, on 1st June 2025, at 8.30am. The Letter by His Eminence Filipe Neri Cardinal Ferrao is addressed to the Priests, Religious, Lay Faithful and the people of Goodwill in the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman. The Letter elaborates the Pastoral theme of the Year “Hope Does Not disappoint us (Rom.5:5)”.
After the warm welcome to the Bishop by Parish priest Fr. Winston Barbosa and Assisting Priest Fr. Jaime Robert Fernandes, the Logo and theme of the Pastoral year was unveiled and the Pastoral year was declared open. Fr. Leo Fernandes,the executive secretary of the Pastoral secretariat, gave a brief understanding of the logo. He explained saying the Jubilee Cross on the Logo is made of 198 pieces of wood representing the churches and chapels of our Archdiocese and signifying the unwavering hope given to humankind by Jesus through His salvific death on the Cross. The rays emanating from the Cross reach out to different sections of the people including to the sick, poor, migrants, people with disabilities, youth caught up in abuses, the elderly, families and to God’s creation. The waves below the cross stand for various trials that we encounter in our mission and remind us to make the Cross the anchor of our Life.
In His Homily Fr. Leo Fernandes, while emphasising on the theme, highlighted that we have to be agents of Hope in our parish, and society, especially by reaching out to the needy, outcasts and those on the peripheries. He also urged the faithful to be active participants in their Parishes, while giving a clarion call to the youth to be true instruments of hope and transformation, reminding them that they are not just the future but the present of the church and the society.
At the end of the mass the Pastoral letter and Bull of Indiction was released at the hands of Auxiliary Bishop Simiao. After which his excellency gave a brief summary of the pastoral letter saying that it ” focussed on the Ordinary Jubilee 2025 and based on the theme ‘Hope Does not disappoint us’, the Pastoral Letter 2025-2026 introduces us to ‘Hope’ in general, in the Bible and in the Magisterium. In the main part of the Letter, in the light of Sacred Scriptures and the Bull of Indiction given by late Pope Francis, our Archbishop gives us practical suggestions to be a lighthouse of hope to the prisoners, people with disabilities, sick and elderly, migrants, poor, youth, family and creation at the diocesan, deanery and parish level. Summarizing the whole letter, in the conclusion, the Archbishop presents to us two models of hope, namely, Mother Mary and St. Joseph Vaz.”
Fr. Leo Fernandes, the executive secretary of Pastoral Secretariat of the Archdiocese, coordinated the event along with the previous parish priest Fr. Santana Gama, present Parish Priest Fr. Winston Barbosa and Co-coordinator Fr. Jaime Robert Fernandes. The Diocesan Centre for Social Communications media, Goa, helped in the media and communication arrangements. While people from different walks of life , including the migrants, people with disabilities and representatives from different parishes of Bicholim Deanery participated in the celebration.
