Sanctity assures every soul the right of citizenship in God’s Celestial Kingdom, and no earthly being has the moral authority to overturn this intrinsic right.

     Fr. Chico’s ungainly conflict with the Indian Government -- over the status quo of his nationality following Goa’s liberation from Portugal in 1961 -- was an act of uncommon valor, not that of arrogance against God or Caesar.  His was the voice of righteousness crying out conscientiously in the wilderness of every one else's naiveté, because his solitary stand resonated that which was lawfully every person’s existential right under the Geneva Convention:

     One's place of birth conclusively determines one's nationality, and it is against all statutory and constitutional law and principles to denationalize one's nationality.  

     The trauma and repercussions of this political ordeal subjected Fr. Chico's faith and psyche to no less a harrowing test of credence than that of the Biblical Job.  But unlike the Biblical Job who was rewarded fourfolds for his unfaltering faith and perseverance, Fr. Chico settled for a life of spiritual solace and solitude.  From that point on, he had resolved to commit the remainder of his life to understanding God and glorifying His Name by being of unconditional service to his fellowbeings.  In the process, however, he had overlooked the infallible fact that he was merely a mortal like any other, fatally susceptive to the punitive consequences of a humanitarian schedule which he had laden with relentless toil and unheeding fatigue.

     He died on October 29, 1990, in the conscious presence of God and the sick he had just attended to.

-Dom Martin