News

Lithuanian Ambassador to India Laimonas Talat-Kelpša called on the Archbishop of Goa and Daman and Patriarch of the East Indies Filipe Neri Ferrão this Saturday (August 16).

The meeting was held in the historic nineteenth-century Bishops Palace in the capital of Goa Panaji.

Various aspects of Lithuania and India relations, the current state of the Catholic Church in India, as well as other pertinent issues were discussed during the meeting.

The Ambassador asked the Archbishop for help in finding in the local ecclesiastical archives the possible surviving records on the first Lithuanian to land on the Indian soil, Andrius Rudamina.

According to the historical data available today, the Lithuania-born Jesuit missionary Andrius Rudamina (1596-1631) arrived in Goa, then under the Portuguese rule, in 1625 and spent there about a year. Having got ill of malaria he soon was relocated to China, where he continued spreading the word of faith till the end of his days.

Rudamina’s activities in China are well researched and widely acknowledged: there have been several attempts during the 20th century for his beatification. However, his short stay in India still remains in the shadow of his other lifetime accomplishments.

Archbishop Ferrão assured the Ambassador of his support in this quest and also conveyed that the archdiocesan chancery has been instructed to check through the ancient books still remaining in the chancery’s disposal, as well as to contact the Goa state archives.

The Archbishop in turn has extended his invitation to attend the public exposition of the sacred relics of St. Francis Xavier, a most prominent Jesuit missionary to India, which will be held this November from 22nd of November 2014 till 4th of January 2015.

There are roughly 20 million Catholics in India, which make the second largest Catholic population in Asia, after the Philippines.

According to the National Census 2011, 77.2% of Lithuania’s three-million population is Roman Catholic.