GOA: In a reaction towards a clash among Christian groups on Easter Sunday, the Church in Goa, a small state on the West Coast of India, has in a letter called for reconciliation among the two groups. The groups – a group of protestant Christians and another belonging to the Roman Catholic Church clashed with one group alleging that the other was disturbing their religious services through the bursting of firecrackers in the vicinity. “The Church in Goa is deeply dismayed to learn that the Easter Vigil on April 7-8 became an occasion for Christians to disturb the solemn celebration of the Lord's Resurrection, to vent their anger aggressively and resort to the civil law and order machinery to restore peace,” spokesperson for the archdiocese Fr Francisco Caldeira said in a statement. Easter celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his death. It is celebrated as a feast of triumph of good over evil and one of forgiveness of sins. “The Bible text read out at the Easter Sunday Mass… calls upon the Christian community to set our “minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” And, later, among the things which belong to this life and one must get rid of, St. Paul mentions “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language,” the pained Church authorities have said. Moreover, the Goa Church called upon the two different groups to reconcile immediately. “It is urgent and imperative that, in the true spirit of Easter — which came only after the Son of God surrendered His life in immolation to wash out all evil — reconciliation among the different groups be worked out for the good of the faith and harmony among the villagers, respecting the mutual right to worship according to one's own belief,” the statement reads. It should be mentioned that the state of Goa has a huge population of Roman Catholics, it being a former Portuguese colony. However, there are few groups of protestant Christians belonging to smaller sects also operating in Goa.
