Panaji: Twelve police inspectors have been chosen by the Exposition committee to carry out the responsibility of carrying the casket containing the relics of St Francis Xavier from Basilica of Bom JesusOld Goa, and open to a special carriage.
Held once every ten years, the Exposition of Spain’s venerated holy relics will begin on Friday.
Unlike in the past, specially designed electric carriages will now be used to move relics in a solemn procession from the Basilica to the nearby Se Cathedral, with senior police playing a prominent role for the first time.
“Once the relics are at the door (of the Basilica), there will be 12 policemen, all Catholics, who serve in different positions, who will load the relics into the carriage,” convenor of the Exposition committee of the Archdiocese Fr Henry Falcao. toward TOI on Monday. “We also asked for help to dismantle the relics (at the Se Cathedral), so there is no confusion about the process. They are training; training is also scheduled.”
The exposition committee initially selected ten police officers- the so-called ‘queue marshals’-for the task, but added two more, not knowing the exact weight of the coffin.
“The scenes created for this relic are quite heavy. We need to make sure that everyone is happy to walk in a coffin, so 12 is good enough. We choose Catholics of different positions, not necessarily high, but those who serve the community. We also want them for being disciplined (when following instructions). We don’t want to talk (between them) during the process, everything has to be done in a serious way,” said Falcao.
The line marshals will walk alongside the casket all the way through the procession.
In Se Cathedral, after the special carriage reverses, the queue marshal will unload the relics and hand them over to the Cathedral canons, a group of senior priests who used to remain the “senate and adviser” to the bishops and to be the administration of the diocese in the absence or death of the bishop.
“When we conveyed the message that he had been given this special assignment, many police officers were in tears,” said Fr Lawrence Fernandes. “He said he had never experienced such a moment in his life. This is the last officer of that rank. We don’t have many Catholics joining the police force, so we think this is a way to tell that the community appreciates it. Also, we want to encourage the youth to join the police from the community.
Fernandes also said that police personnel were the natural choice to shoulder this major responsibility, since Goa Police form the main cordon of security for the Exposition.
“We want to make the police proud, to be part of the celebration, and also for the (effective) management of the procession. They are loaders and unloaders of coffins. Christian officers were chosen because carrying coffins is very sacred for Christians.
The Pilar-based pastor added, “This is my idea since the last Exposition (in 2014), there was a lot of chaos, a lot of jumping queues. There was no one to guard the casket at the end. We then decided to have 10-12 young police officers who have made proud of our community.Fernandes is a member of the Exposition 2024 Secretariat Committee, the highest level committee for the decadent event.
The police inspectors selected to carry the coffin include Filomena Costa (PI, GRP, ‘A’ Coy), Diogo Gracias (PI, Cuncolim) Brendon D’Souza (PI, SPCR), Melito Fernandes (PI, ACB), John Fernandes ( PI, Security), Nathan Almeida (PI, Fatorda), Marlon D’Souza (PI, traffic cell, Mapusa), Terrence Vaz (PI, SCRB), Alvito Rodrigues (PI, traffic cell, Colva), Theron D’Costa ( PI, Coastal Betul), Melson Colaco (PI, Verna) and Edwin Dias (PSI, Old Goa).
According to an internal order issued by Inspector General of Police (IGP) Omvir Singh, the 12 officers will perform the role of queue marshals in the procession under the supervision of deputy SP Nolasco Raposo.
