Fr.Nelson Siqueiradefended his doctoral thesis entitledTowards Participation in the Administration of Temporal Goods of the Parish,  Study based on the Code of Canon Law and the Particular norms of the Archdiocese of Goa and Damão, India, at the Pontifical UrbanianaUniversity,Rome, on the 6th December 2012.Fr.Nelson, in his work, speaks about the variousprinciples, processes and pragmatics that encourage the Church to proclaim, practice and promote the participation of  the Laity in the life of the Church and more specifically in the administration of the temporal affairs of the Parish. Inthe introduction, Fr.Siqueira speaks about the phenomenal changes that has occurred in the life and the ministry of the Church  during the past fifty years, so called the Golden Era of the Vatican Council II.The indispensable role of the laity in the life of the Church is clear in the teachings of this Ecumenical Council.

 The call to be a Christian is a grace

     “The call to be a Christian is a grace bestowed on us by God the Father through his Son and our Saviour Jesus Christ in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit”, said the Archbishop Designate of Delhi, M. Rev. Anil Couto to more than 10.000 faithful at Old Goa. He was addressing his homily at the high concelebrated Mass on the occasion of the feast of St. Francis Xavier on December 3, this year.

     Speaking about the journey of faith the faithful were called to make during the nine days of preparation the Archbishop added: “The nine days of spiritual preparation for this feast (the Novena) afforded us opportunities to reflect on the challenge of the Kingdom of God of which we are called to be witnesses. It was a Spirit-filled journey in the power of the Word through the various aspects of our Christian vocation in the midst of the world. We have focused our attention on the conflict between the pragmatism of the secular culture and the values of the Kingdom of God to which we adhere as Christians.”