Remembering Fr. Chico
Goan Overseas Digest (Jan-Mar 2001 issue Editorial by Dr. Eddie D’Sa The Monteiro
Family
The family house is about 400 years old and located in Candolim, Goa.
In the compound is a family chapel (page 9) dedicated to Our Lady of
Remedios. Both the house and chapel feature in the book,"PALACIOS DE
GOA" The family was presented with a "Brazao" (Coat of Arms)
in 1802 by the Portuguese King, Dom Joao VI, for dedicated service by
members of this family for three generations. This brazao is recorded in the
book, "Tesouro de nobreza" kept in Lisbon's "Tourro de
Tombo". It is fixed at the main entrance of the house and the chapel. Fr. Chico
defies the government In March 1962, the teachers
at the Lyceum (where Fr Chico taught Religion & Morals) had to swear
their loyalty to the Indian State. As Fr. Chico could not do so, he was
forced to resign from the Lyceum and leave the Lar dos Estudantes (Students
Home/Hostel) where he was Director. He returned home to Candolim where went
about his work as a priest, involved himself in social work and in training
the village youths in football and volleyball.
In October 1962, Fr. Chico was summoned to the Police station in Panjim and interrogated. A month later, he received a notice from the Police Inspector asking him to leave Goa. He did not obey the order and a second notice was served by the Governor. Again Fr. Chico did not comply. Instead he issued a statement that "Goa is my birthplace and hence I will not leave Goa."
Jailed The Indian Government now
sought to deport Fr. Chico to Portugal. However, this was not possible
as Fr. Chico’s Portuguese passport had expired. He was ordered to apply
for a new passport which he refused to do. He kept arguing that "I was
born and brought up in Goa and refuse to leave Goa just because the
Portuguese are no longer here. I am born a Goan and will remain in Goa till I
die." In 1965, the case was
transferred to the Judicial Commissioner's Court. The Portugal under Salazar
(which did not recognize India’s takeover of Goa) arranged for one Edward
Gardener (Queen's Counsel from London) to defend Fr Chico. Mr. Gardener was
surprised to find "a small framed person fighting the Government of
India." However, little came of his efforts. The previous decision stood:
Fr. Chico must leave Goa. In October 1968, Fr.
Chico was arrested and whisked away to an unknown destination. Subsequently,
the family learnt that he had been imprisoned in Patiala (Punjab). Fr. Chico
was confined in a solitary cell and not allowed to communicate with the
family. The only way he survived was through prayer. He kept his mind alert
by reciting poetry from memory. It was a terrible time for both Fr. Chico and
his family in the absence of any communication. Release &
Return to Goa Fr Chico was released in
May 1969. He was allowed to return to Goa on condition that he would not
leave Goa. From time to time, Fr. Chico was visited by the police (even
shortly before he died). In Goa, Fr. Chico continued the good work he always
did --teaching catechism, visiting the sick and the old, training the youth
in football and volleyball. In 1975, Fr. Chico was
appointed Director of Clergy Home in Porvorim ---an asylum for aged and
retired priests in Goa. He continued in this post until his death on 29
October 1990. The following year, he was posthumously conferred the
Vincent
Xavier Verodiano Award. It was to be the only civic recognition ascribed
to his name. While Fr. Chico never regretted what happened believing that he fought for a principle, the family in retrospect wondered whether it was worth going through all that he went through.
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