THE BEGINNINGS OF THE SALESIAN PRESENCE IN GOA
 

The war had been over from April 1945 in Italy, and a couple of months later in Germany and the rest of Europe. It was over in the Far East after the two atomic bombs on Hiroshima, August 6, 1945 and Nagasaki, three days later....  But the gates of the Camp (C.I.C. for Civilian Internment Camp) at Premnagar (irony of the name) Dehra Dun, were still locked from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. every day. Internees were allowed out for special purposes, like going to hospital, or coming from it under escort. Of the peak number of 136 Salesian prisoners, after some were released at different times, over three years, and a biggish number repatriated in the first half of 1946, about twenty were left. Of these, six knew that their application to go to Goa, Portuguese territory, had been accepted. For them it was the only way to escape repatriation. They were: Fathers Aloysius Ravalico, Odorico Berti, Fiorenzo Zola and Giuseppe Moja, belonging to the Shillong province and John Mora and Serafino Colombo, of the Madras province. There was a seventh, Fr. Francis Zanini, who backed out at the last moment and preferred to repatriate. He eventually, from Italy, came to the Middle East, did a good job wherever he was sent, worked in Teheran for a number of years and went to the Lord in Abadan, 1977.

When God Wants
Goa had not existed on the Salesian map before the war. It came to the attention of Fr. Vincent Scuderi who had been the most prominent salesian, missionary and priestly figure in the camp, a born leader, and because of that, a target of the British. They had tried to disrupt the union and peace of Wing III (Italian) of the camp and never succeeded because this man Scuderi had always preempted every step of theirs. He had been a prisoner from June 1940 and had seen the camps of Fort William (Calcutta), Ahmednagar, Deolali and finally Dehra Dun. 98% of the prisoners were for him. Those who were not kept at a respectful distance. When the big group of missionaries who had been for a time at Deoli (Rajasthan) were transferred to Dehra Dun, the camp authorities had already been informed that the "Salesians" had the right man to substitute Fr. Scuderi. (How much do you give me if I hand him over to you?).

The last batch of missionaries from Deoli arrived at Dehra Dun on March 13, 1943. Among them there were three who had been in hospital and Bro. Moja who was asked to accompany them.
Six days after their arrival, 19 March, feast of St. Joseph, the Wing Quartermaster came with a scrap of paper to notify Fr. Scuderi that he had been ordered to the camp of Purandarh, (Maharashtra). At first he refused to sign, then he signed with the remark: under duress. I know because I was present with all the Josephs of the Shillong Province for a little celebration. Those of the Madras province too had been invited, but were not allowed to attend. That showed the spirit that, for months after, was to reign among us, embittering our lives and disturbing our sleep.

Fr. Scuderi was given three days to prepare. The whole wing was in mourning and he had to use all his influence to prevent many young and not so young fellows among the "civilians", (term to distinguish the lay from the priests and religious who were about 350 at the time) from doing something drastic, like burning down the camp....

The barracks were made of sun-baked bricks, wood and thatch! You can imagine what a bonfire it would have made. But then as Father was telling all: you do that and the British will not rebuild the barracks, and you will have to make do among the ruins with what remains.

When, on the morning of March 22, Fr. Vincent Scuderi left accompanied by a sergeant and two guards, all the civilians and most of the Missionaries were present. Carlo Marconi, had a clandestine camera. He managed to take a few snaps which he gave to us later in Goa.

True Missionary
What Fr. Scuderi did in Purandarh is another story. Arriving there introduced by a heavily biased file, he managed to conquer everybody, from the Commandant down to the sweepers, in a very short time. He organized schools for the children of the internees (it was a family camp) and for the Indian personnel, including the sweepers who were a small army. His zeal and high priestly qualities attracted a Dutch Lutheran pastor and his wife who became his friends and helpers and were received by him into the church.
From Purandarh he contacted Fr. Maschio in Bombay and Fr. Carreno at Madras. After three years, when he knew he would be repatriated, the idea of going to Goa rather than being repatriated dawned on him.

On the "devil’s side" one Mr. Shiv Shankar, Under-Secretary to the Home Ministry, in Delhi, happened to visit the camp and see the work that this man had done, overcoming all barriers of nationalism, and had fallen for him, becoming one of his admirers. When Scuderi asked to be allowed to go to Goa, Shiv Shankar did all that was needed.

This idea of going to Goa, was actually resorted to as a temporary measure, pending permission to be able to come back to India, when the coast would be clear: the rumblings of independence were already loud and clear. At the time we were in Dehra Dun, Jawaharlal Nehru also was there, in a different prison of course, and Gandhiji was a prisoner in the Aga Khan Palace, in Pune, (not made of sun baked bricks and thatch, a prison nevertheless... )

But Fr. Scuderi was a man who knew himself. He reasoned: I go to Goa and am there alone, what can I do? Suppose I have to stay, say two or three years,... why not do some work? Permissions? Turin was far and almost out of reach. Madras?...Not with Bishop Mathias in charge of Salesian life for India (the question had never been very clear). All concerned were only too glad to get rid of him. But here is where all were mistaken. Probably even Fr. Scuderi himself. Providence evidently had a little plan of its own.

Goa wanted the Salesians
In 1906, Heraldo, the leading Goan daily, carried an article by Dr. Wolfango da Silva, Dean of the Medical College of Goa and Director of the Government Hospital. The topic was on youth and the writer said that if anybody wanted to do something serious about saving the youth of Goa, (and it needed saving) the Salesian had to be called in. Remember, 1906, Fr. Michael Rua, first successor of Don Bosco was still in charge! Dr. Wolfango had the joy of seeing the Salesians in Goa in his last years. But of that, later.

So the Salesians were desired in Goa. The desire to see them coming became more evident when Archbishop Jose' da Costa Nunes, Patriarca das Indias Orientalis, became Bishop of Goa. He had known the Salesians in Macao, where he had been bishop before being transferred to the Goan See. Bishop and martyr Aloysius Versiglia was his confessor in Macao.

At different times before the war, Salesians were invited to go to Goa, but those who were sent to scout, never did a serious job. They went with some preconceived ideas and came back with the same, only strengthened.

The reports were summed up in the stale joke about Goa being the land of the poor, pigs and priests: 3 Ps. Pigs, yes (but all liked chourisos, the scouts were no exception).

Priests too, too many perhaps and not all very busy at the time. But poor, no, not then. Poverty entered Goa in 1954, when the Indian Government laid its strangling hold on the Portuguese enclave, by freezing all assets of Goans in India: Goans had money in India, but their families were starving in Goa. But this too is another story of later years.

So when at last, Fr. Carreno, after getting the all clear from Delhi, went to find out whether it would be possible for Fr. Scuderi to enter the Portuguese territory of Goa and eventually reside there for some time at least, he was received like a long awaited messenger from heaven, and the authorities, both ecclesiastic and civil promised a welcome and all cooperation. Fr. Carreno also, tentatively, found a place where Fr. Scuderi could stay, in a building belonging to the Assistencia aos Indigentes e Infancia Desvalida, just across the road on the rear side of the Hospital of Panjim. The Jesuits had been living there for some time, but they had vacated the building and moved to another in town.

A Leap in the Dark
And so it was that on the night between 4 and 5 April, 1946, at about 11 p.m. Fr. Scuderi arrived there, went to find the key of that house, opened it, went inside with his few belongings, spread a bedsheet on the floor and slept. Journeying at that time by train from Bombay through Londa and Castle Rock, to Margao and from there to Panjim by the typical small brass buses that always took double the passengers allowed, crossing the Zuari, at night, with luggage, in a small ferry that sometimes ended either upstream or downstream instead of just across the river at Agasaim, ... all that was by itself an adventure. Whether Fr. Scuderi dreamt or not during that night, no one ever knew, but he certainly did not dream that that was the house where the Salesians would eventually stay and from there spread in Goa.

On waking up, on that 5 April morning, Fr. Scuderi thanked God for his life: he was celebrating his 44th birthday! It was also the feast of St. Vincent Ferrer, his patron saint. He had been Provincial for 6 years and Apostolic Administrator of Krishnagar for 5, and still held the post of Provincial when he was roused from his bed at Lilluah, on the night of 10 June 1940, to be taken together with other Italian Salesians to Fort William, to begin a six year term as a prisoner. Now he was here, in a strange land, alone and without means.... He got up, went to the church of Santa Ines near-by to celebrate Mass, then went up to see the Patriarch on the Altinho. I said went up, because then there were no city transports. Patriarch Costa Nunes and Fr. Vincent Scuderi understood each other perfectly from the first instant they met. At the close of this first encounter the bishop told him: "Father, when you need something... anything, don’t go to anyone else. You come to me." And Fr. Scuderi kneeling for a blessing, countered: "Your Excellency, anything you want done, just say the word."

During the first days Fr. Scuderi was introduced to the Governor and other authorities by the Patriarch himself and with his natural savoir faire endeared himself to all.

A Sense of Mission
He went on a pilgrimage to "Goencho Saib" to celebrate Mass at the tomb of St. Francis, walking the distance from Panjim.  One Msgr. Franklin, who was in charge of the church of Bom Jesus in Old Goa, saw him arriving and went out of his way to help him. He waited for him to finish his Mass and devotions, and took him up for breakfast. When later, we Salesians went in turns to the tomb of St. Francis, once a month, to offer a Mass for our benefactors, at the end of the Mass we invariably found a big glass of coffee and milk served by the sacristan by order of Msgr. Franklin.

On the very first day of his arrival, Fr. Scuderi had pumped a football he had bought in Bombay and began bouncing it in front of the house. Boys came, with the few Portuguese words he knew he began an Oratory. From that day the place would be known for a long time as ORATORIO SALESIANO.

He came to know that many of those boys were not going to school. With the help of Bro. Cajetan Lobo and some local help, he began a Portuguese primary school: "Inicial" for beginners with three classes. At that time, because of the concordat between the Holy See and the Portuguese government, any priest could open a school for the people by presenting a letter from the Bishop to the Education Department. Father easily got the letter.

He needed desks. Someone working in the "Escola Normal" (Teachers Training School of Panjim) helped him to get a loan of 30 desks which for a long time were used for the school and the boarding.

First Helpers
One Italian prisoner of war, Giovanni Bellassai, a Sicilian fugitive into Goa from the camp of Bhopal, came to know that there was a Sicilian Salesian father in Goa. He went to him and offered his services without any pay, just his food. The man had honesty written on his face and he came to stay with Fr. Scuderi.

He was a very good carpenter and joiner so he began to do things for the house and teach some boys. The first pupils were half a dozen or so loafers in their early teens. In spite of his "military touch," Giovanni became an idol for them. When the arrival of six new Salesians was announced, he set the boys to work on some impossibly hard wood to prepare beds for them. He would have done more, but Father had no money for the wood. What he had bought for next to nothing for the beds, was wood that no carpenter in his right mind would think of buying.

Fr. Scuderi had sent a list with 22 names of Salesians of the North Province who were still in the camp who, he knew, would have gladly gone to Goa. But the British Government of India, only allowed seven as we saw previously.

Free at Last
With characteristic British unruffled calm and composure, they were allowed to leave Dehra Dun on 10 October; arrived in Bombay with bag and baggage (most of it arranged by enterprising interest of Fr. Zola and Fr. Moja and the unconscious presumed permission of the Camp Administration) 23 trunks and a couple of bundles.

They were travelling second class (by kind concession of H.M.G.) and had a right to two Bengal maunds of luggage each (80 Kg) They had much more than that, but the clerk, at the station of Dehra Dun was kind enough to consider that the two hundred-rupee notes that lay on the counter were of more interest than the actual weight of the luggage.

Our freed jail birds spent five days in Bombay waiting for a boat to Goa. They were five days of whirlwind motion (Fr. Maschio then was 37 year old)!! The poor fellows spent those days in a kind of daze.

On the day of their departure for Goa, they were taken to the docks in the school bus. At the last moment, Fr. Maschio decided to go with them to Goa, and invited the boys, who happened to have accompanied them, some of them barefoot and wearing most casual dress, to jump on the boat too.

At the Panjim dock Fr. Scuderi was waiting with about 150 boys waving paper flags and many people waving and cheering and all went together to the Oratorio Salesiano which had managed a few festive buntings....

Like Franciscans
The house was bare. A small office at the entrance with a desk, a chair, one settee and two chairs for visitors. Fr. Ravalico and Fr. Berti had a room each, with the bed as furniture, and the other four were, for quite some time, two to a room with just two beds. No chairs, no furniture. The thing that puzzled us most was the size and smell and weight of the mattresses. We were told that they were stuffed with "pakor" straw, a straw that lasts for many years ...

The chapel was one biggish room, on the first floor, with 10 or twelve benches to seat five or six boys, or four adults. The dining room was in another building in a kind of big open verandah, with a door leading to the Chapel of the Assistencia where, more often than not, some old person’s body was laid out in state... the survivors praying with gusto for the departed, as we were having lunch five to six feet away, this side of the door.

The kitchen was a black corner with a row of stones for the pots on a raised mud bench. But there was no cook. Cooks were coming but did not last long because with what we gave them, they had no chance to shine by showing their specialities. Hunger? I would not say, but just filling the stomach, without much appreciation for what we were chewing, that yes. Neighbours and some well-to-do families were very generous and they would often send their little servant boys or girls with some tray, especially on feast days, or when they held some celebration at home: A card specifying: "Para os Padres," and the name of the sender.

No running water and no toilets. There was an outhouse, somewhere at the back, with six compartments: three for the boys and three for the Salesians, and some neighbours’ pigs saw to the scavenging. There were already a few boarders but they were at home for the Michaelmas holidays. Only two were present because they had nowhere to go.

Getting Organized
Fr. Ravalico was appointed Prefect, that included also substituting the rector on occasions (the Vice Rector was a later creation); Fr. Zola was appointed in charge of the workshops; Fr. Mora had the local daily oratory; Fr. Berti was Catechist; Fr. Moja, Prefect of Studies; Fr. Colombo, Confessor. Bro Cajetan Lobo had his hands full with his "Inicial" in the school and he did hammer Portuguese words, catechism, and the fear of God in those little `angels’ in disguise.

The main aid to discipline and learning was a sturdy long ruler that went bang, bang, bang, on the nearest desk to call for attention. And when attention was not prompt and total, the music ended with an extra "chack" not on the desk of course....! All the appointments were rather elastic and we were called here and there for a number of things. The news was out that the Salesians could do anything.

On November 3, the second term of the Portuguese school began. Fr. Moja was given Class II. He had been in loose contact with the Portuguese language from October 16! The ghars for languages (where people go to study and have a nice time) had not been invented yet, but we learnt the language. Fr. Scuderi was already a hot favorite for sermons all around. He was fast in picking up the language, but never went beyond a certain limit. He was too busy and he did not care really. We used to tell him that, as far as language was concerned, he was a brave man, with little sense of shame, and we all laughed together.

Preparations for the celebration of the episcopal silver jubilee of Patriarch Costa Nunes were on and the Salesians took a prominent part in the main items. Fr. Berti set the official hymn to music. It was a big hit. The Salesians went around to teach it in all the schools and Catholic Action groups.

They sang at the Mass and staged a skit during the academy in the Cine Teatro National, the only hall at the time in Panjim. People were surprised and thrilled to see priests on the stage. Money was collected for a monument to the Patriarch, but he cleverly accepted the money and refused the monument. He made it public that the money was a first instalment to the Salesians for a technical school.

In 1947 Several Things Happened
There was an English school in Panjim called Modern School. It was not running well and the Patriarch would have wanted Fr. Scuderi to take it up. But somebody played a double game in this, and the deal fell through, but the idea of an English School remained. There was no Catholic English school in town and it would have been a good feeder for and help to the Technical School when it would be stated since all boys at the time aimed at leaving Goa to go to Bombay or other big cities, for better prospects.

Fr. Scuderi believed that if we want people to help us we have to make ourselves known. We needed a magazine. So he started the monthly Oratorio Salesiano a kind of Salesian Bulletin. He invited contributors: Dr. Wolfango da Silva whom we have met already, Dr. Freppel Cotta from Loutolim, several priests, the Patriarch, of course, one Da Rosa (I forget the first name) who was about the best writer in Goa at the time, but who could not hold on to any job because of drink. Fr. Scuderi tried to wean him away from the bottle but then he could not write.... So he did help us in a way and he especially helped Fr. Moja to get away from the five score or so words that the community used in conversation. We had made it a rule to speak Portuguese only, even among ourselves. It was a brave move supposed to compel us to learn, but it surely made minced meat of the grammar and cramped the desire to use new words. We had another teacher too, in the person of Dom Manoel da Costa Nunes, nephew of the Patriarch, who later became Rector of the Portuguese seminary in Rome.

So the magazine and leaflets, and a little later (have mercy on my chronology) the Aitarachem Vachop, a weekly commentary on the Sunday liturgy and Word of God with pious readings of general interest. In charge of this was Fr. Colombo for the mailing and administration and Bro Cajetan Lobo editor, main contributor and all the rest.

Bro Francis Medaglia had been sent to join the group. He was a qualified tailor and so a tailoring department was started. But he insisted on a five years course.... One tailor from Calcutta, Felix Mascarenhas (of Anjuna) who had a tailoring shop at 21, Free School Street, Calcutta and whose name was well known in London, where he had most of his customers, took two of our boys and kept them for three years, boarding and learning in his own house. But ... when they came back qualified, instead of working to establish themselves, one became a driver of the delivery vans of Crunet Soda Factory, Margao, the other got a place in the meteorology department ... while tailors without a qualification that could compare with theirs, were and are making money.

Don Bosco English High School
The English school was inaugurated in June 1947, with 36 pupils and three teachers, Fr. Moja who was also Headmaster, and one Mr. Poi who continued teaching for many years and was not so well treated in the end by people who (when it is convenient) quote the article and para of the rule and do not consider the person. That consideration is left for the Sunday sermons which, it appears, are for the audience, not for the preacher.

The third teacher was, (we came to know that too late) a mole (cf. international spying stories) planted in our school, who made the recognition of our school difficult when the time for it came. We had some band instruments so we tried some music, with Fr. Zola in charge at first. Later Mr Remedios Menezes took over, when he came to begin his Salesian life with us as an aspirant. But it was difficult. All the boys wanted to play the melody and no one the oom pa oom pa pa pa....(Like in general, all want to be the boss and conduct, instead of playing under somebody else’s baton).

Typical Oratorian Life
The daily Oratory was flourishing. Meanwhile Fr. Scuderi had begun another roving Oratory at the other end of Panjim, Fontainhas. That was a Sunday oratory but it became daily on special occasions like Salesian novenas, and the months of May and of October. On big feasts all the oratories were gathering at the centre and then the place would really fill up, and you could expect anything. The Fontainhas boys had a name for being very enterprising. One of those boys, who was already a seminarian, and therefore an exception, was one very soft spoken rather shy Olivio Miranda. Another boy who really "belonged" to Fontainhas and a little later became a Salesian was Tito Menezes, who in later years left the congregation and priesthood. He had a brilliant mind, but evidently that is not really required in our life. What we need is humility and fidelity to God’s grace. All the rest follows.

Oh yes, in 1947 we were given a time piece with chimes, some furniture, other pieces we bought here and there from people who were moving or went abroad; and one bicycle: Raleigh, all steel, sturdy and reliable. We all used it in turns according to necessity, making sure that Fr. Scuderi had it after tea to go to the Fontainhas oratory, or visiting people, who could help us get a plot of our own.
We needed a plot and a house of our own. Where we were, there was not an inch left free and several rooms were used for more than one purpose. The English School and classes I,II,III and IV of the Portuguese School, were running in a rented building a few minutes away from the Oratorio.

For some time also the daily Oratory was shifted there, all class rooms were free in the evening, and two roads flanking the building on the front and right side, rather broad and with practically no traffic, was just what we needed for outdoor and indoor games. There was a library too and Fr. Moja who was in charge of both Schools and Oratory, could attend to some office work of the two schools and be available to the boys at the same time. The Oratory would close with evening prayers and good night officially at six p.m., so that the boys could go home in time for their lessons. Some of the bigger boys would linger on for some time but never beyond 6:45 p.m.
The Salesians were supposed to be punctually present for spiritual reading and supper and in Goa, then, we did not have the benefit of Indian standard time.

New Mobility
People saw Fr. Scuderi on his bicycle and noticed how difficult it was for him to get on and off. He had never told anyone that he was suffering from hernia. His appearance with thinning hair and grey beard, made him look older than he was, so some friends got together and presented him with one brand new "Topolino" the diminutive FIAT 500 car in vogue at that time, of which two had been imported in Goa. That was of tremendous help to him, relieving him of undue physical fatigue and making it possible for him to reach farther and faster. For quite some time no one dared approach him for driving the car, and in a way it was right that he should be jealous of it. We were younger and stronger and had the bicycle.

To go to Calangute, Mapusa, Marmagoa, or even Margao, cycling was a normal thing for Fr. Zola and Fr. Moja. Even Fr. Ravalico was making good use of it, much to the consternation of the pedestrians in the town.

Come to Stay
The land problem little by little was solved by concentrating on buying the land that was surrounding the Assistencia. The owner, an old Hindu gentleman, was keen on selling to it Fr. Scuderi because he would buy the whole plot, of course, but he also had become an admirer of Fr. Scuderi. Before dying, -he had been ill for a long time- he made his eldest son promise that the land would be sold to Fr. Scuderi and no one else. There were difficulties because the plot had already been included in the town plan for bungalows with connecting roads. Father had to be sure that the roads would be cancelled and for that he had to do a lot of talking and convincing with the members of the Municipal Commission. Several times he came home full of hope, at others, tired and completely down. But in the end he succeeded.

Three times before Fr. Scuderi had told us to keep ready for a celebration because he was going to sign the deed of purchase of the land, and three times it was postponed because of some small technicality. Was it Our Lady who wanted all future generations of Salesians to know that she had wanted the land to be ours on her feast of Our Lady of Snow (The day when she chose the site of her Roman basilica of Saint Mary Major)?

On August 5, 1948, the deed was signed, the whole plot plus a patch on the left hand side of the present entrance, belonging to another owner, who was ready to sell the land and a rather ramshackle building at no extra cost but the Rs.10/- per square meter. The whole purchase amounted to 4,44,000 rupees. From the Patriarch as we have seen, we had received about 30,000 and from the Government of Lisbon through the Patriarch, again quite a considerable sum so that we could pay half or a little more while signing. The rest was collected through hard work of propaganda. People could contribute for a square meter, or ten square meters or a hundred or a thousand. All got a receipt and there was a special diploma for the 100 and 1000 meters. This later on, created quite an amount of confusion, especially among the people who had "bought" 1000 meters. They all wanted to know where "their" meters were and what we were going to build on them etc....

Together with the land, we got hundreds of coconut trees, rather neglected but still producing. One benefactor, expert agronomist, came and advised us on how to revive those trees, thus making them more fruitful. But they were, rather too soon indeed, sacrificed to the dreams of some who came from abroad with the idea that only football can make of a house a Salesian house.

There were 53 small houses and huts in the compound and to get rid of them and take possession was neither quick nor easy. Some left by dismantling their house and taking all the material away with some financial help on our part. Two quite solid mud houses came in very handy for our purposes. The municipality would not give permission for new buildings without a long and painful process. But they easily granted permission to repair and renew old structures. So we asked permission for one which was just outside the house we were living in, and we wanted to use for the Oratory. Later we added six biggish rooms to it and that became the Portuguese School building. Finally the original house was demolished and one class room built to make the school building uniform. The other house was on the site where the Oratory hall is at present. Again in the process of repair and renewal the house disappeared and a hall was built which, from 1950 till almost modern times was used as a chapel.

Fabulous Premises
The house that was already existing, in the plot belonging to a different owner, consisting of ground floor and first floor, was made into offices for Fr. Ravalico and a printing press, because we had bought some old treadle printing machines and a lot of old types and Fr. Zola had already become a printer with the help of two or three old timers who had retired from the Imprensa National.... humble unassuming people who knew their job and could work with any material under any condition. With a daring that bordered on temerity we started printing our publications and took work from outside too.

To vacate the family who lived on the first floor, who always asked for just one week more, we had to go there one morning and remove some props that were holding up the sagging plank floor, among screams and wishes that our lives be short and miserable and our after life uncomfortable for ever, they went. Fr Moja, generous and forgiving as ever, helped them to load their furniture onto two bullock carts and, before parting, gave the matron a picture of Mary Help of Christian and Don Bosco for their new house and a small bouquet of flowers (paper!).

That house later became a kind of boarding run by a diocesan priest who shared his life with us. Two held that job, one after the other: Fr. Carminho Rodrigues, and Fr. De Mello, who is at present parish priest at Mapusa. Both remained very much attached to the Salesians.

Impossible co-existence
But the main problem of the buildings and land of the Assistencia, that were enclaved in the land we had bought, still remained unsolved. Right from the beginning Fr. Scuderi had offered to take charge of the Institution on condition that we could use the spare area, both built and open, for our Salesian work. The commission in charge was divided, the majority being against us. They were terribly interested in the fund that was financing the institution and was handled by them by giving out loans at high interest. We did not want the fund, but we wanted a subsidy, equal to what they were spending (on paper) for the old people and abandoned children.
After long discussions and much arguing and wrangling, once we owned the surrounding land, we offered them a building capable of housing the Institution and an equal area of land.

We tried to make them accept a new plot and building a little further away in the locality called Tonca, where the Patriarch was ready to give us a plot of land fitting the requirements. But they would not accept. So we had to build where it exists now, sacrificing a piece of land.

The Calangute Adventure
During this time, a short lived experiment was made at opening a new small house at Calangute. We were misled by a very good friend and enterprising lawyer who gave us the use of a house to which he had no claim, and assured us contributions that others never dreamt of giving. A solemn opening ceremony was held on December 8, 1946 Fr. Berti and Fr. Mora took charge, but soon were left alone and without means and the House of Panjim was more or less in the same condition.... so by April it was decided to close the former down. The smaller boys of the Panjim boarding who had been sent there came back to Panjim. But Fr. Scuderi was not a man to admit defeat. He managed to buy a strip of land near the place of the failed attempt. The strip was long and narrow, reaching down to the famous Calangute beach.

A house with four or five rooms was eventually built on it and Fr. Ravalico used to spend his week-ends there, gathering youngsters and doing good Salesian work and celebrating Mass on Sunday morning for the boys and all who cared to come. Later (years later) the house was occupied by "friends" who meant to help us, ... but then found it very difficult to leave for several years, till the land was sold. The new owners, knew of ways and means to get rid of the stubborn settlers.

Valpoi
Meanwhile Mr. Giovanni was progressing with his carpentry but began to ask for some machines because the poor boys had done enough sawing and planing by hand but... again we had no money. Then lo and behold, out of the blue came a proposal from the Government, who had machines (carpentry and rudimentary mechanic) in a small school in Valpoi, but could not make headway. Some friends, who were members of the Educational Department, at a meeting presided by the Governor, dropped the magic word: "Call in the Salesians".

Fr. Scuderi jumped for joy (in spite of his hernia) and accepted on one condition: that the Patriarch gave us the running of the parish and permission for missionary work. The Patriarch was only too glad to give us the parish etc. Not so the incumbent parish priest and with him the personnel that was employed in the Technical School, (Artes e Oficios de Satari). The Government had to find jobs for them but they wanted jobs in Valpoi, i.e. stay in the school as before, being paid by the Government and working with us.

We could never accept that. Eventually we managed to begin. Fr. Berti was In-Charge, Fr Mora was given the parish and Fr. Colombo went along too. A Brother Gambin came from Madras for the workshops. After some time Fr. Berti was transferred to Madras. Life with Fr. Mora was not easy. For the same reason Fr. Colombo came back to Panjim. Fr. Umberto Coral was sent from Madras to replace Fr. Berti. Fr. Mora had both jobs now: Rector and Parish priest and, for a time, all was well.

New Growing Pains
The English School, struggling to come up, suffered a set back when at the first Bombay University Inspection, our request for recognition was turned down. The "mole" whom we mentioned above, had done his work well. He had a list of things that fell short of the expected standard, ready on a platter for the inspectors. Fr. Mallon who had come from Madras qualified to be Headmaster, had made a couple of faux pas and was the first victim of the inspectors. In their negative report, the first condition for further consideration, was the removal of the Headmaster.

The "heroic" Capuchin Fathers of Guirim, accepted to send our (seven?) candidates up for matriculation, as it was still called. I called them heroic because they knew our pupils were not of the best. As a matter of fact, if I well remember, only four were promoted out of seven.

A True Friend
Yet, in spite of that, something extraordinary happened. Dr. Pacheco Figueiredo, Director of the Medical School and of the Panjim Hospital, and member of the Council of Education of the Government of Goa, took his son out of another recognized school and put him in our poor struggling school. I remember trying to dissuade him because the boy was a good student, and his coming over to us in the seventh which was the last year, presented a risk for him. But the Doctor insisted and God blessed him, making his son very successful then and in later life. That courageous move was the beginning of a new life for our school.

That same year other boys, through some really deft manoeuvering, (leave it to the boys!) got their leaving certificates from People’s High School and fighting against their parents, came to us. I remember seven, just now, all from good influential families. They were all rewarded with success then and after. This movement was the work of the Oratory. Many of these boys had to be ‘sent’ home every day, from the Oratory lest they neglected their studies. What they got there was just Salesian friendliness, and hardly anything more, yet it seemed they could not live without the Oratory.

Irreparable Loss
Dr. Wolfango da Silva was down with cancer. Fr. Moja was detailed to visit him practically every day. He wanted to hear a page or two of some good book. He would listen and ask questions and often say: "Father, what a pity I did not care for these things before. What loss!" He had always been far from the Church, but never disrespectful or antagonistic. He died a Christian death assisted by Fr. Berti who was the only priest at home when someone came to call. Fr. Scuderi was in Guirim preaching to the Capuchin Fathers. He came for the funeral which, from the house of the deceased, was made to pass through our grounds and stop in front of our house where Fr. Scuderi managed to say a few words among the many tears.

For days after our good friend’s death, his articles in the Heraldo continued to appear. He had been the prophet and promoter of the coming of the Salesians into Goa, as we have seen. His picture (a pastel by an Italian artist) was kept in the study hall of the boys for years, till liberation. Then it was made to disappear. It seems that dwarfs cannot bear being reminded that giants do exist. January 30, 1948. Gandhiji was killed, shot dead by one of those who do not believe in ahimsa. The brood is still spawning.

We had prepared a solemn feast of Don Bosco for the following day. On the night of the 30th there was to be an operetta in the Cine Teatro Nacional, sponsored by the Salesians and staged by the boys of the English School of Arpora run by Msgr. Mendonca, a great friend of ours and one of the most valuable helpers in the struggle for our Don Bosco English School, Panjim.

We could not stop the show and we could not push it the way we had planned. The show was good though contained and marred by the sadness caused by the tragic event. Commemorations were held but we did not take part. We were still walking on thin ice. The Portuguese Government was very prudent and restrained. Subsequent events showed that wisdom was on their side.

Hope Tested
August 16, 1949, Don Bosco’s birthday. We were at the Emissora de Goa (radio station) for one Salesian Hour. Music, speeches, poems and what not. Fr. Scuderi’s face had turned green. We could not speak because of the microphones. Fr. Moja was questioning him with his eyes and he was answering with a frown. The hour was over, and we came to know that his hernia had broken through and threatened strangulation. We approached a Portuguese surgeon urgently. He was out but his wife contacted him and sent him urgently to us. He came at two in the morning, reduced the hernia and bandaged it. Father was hospitalized on that day and was operated upon almost immediately.

Fr. Ravalico was too busy with his work and was of no use in emergencies. The weight of a hundred things fell on Fr. Moja. On the day of the operation, when Fr. Moja went to see him, driving the car, Fr Scuderi was just awakening from general anaesthesia and trauma of a three and half hour operation. He smiled at Fr. Moja and feebly pressing his hand said with an almost inaudible whisper: "Be careful, drive slowly!".... And they say that kindness, tact, and understanding has come with the new generation of office holders... But then those "Superiors" even when not holding posts, were superior.

One more thing: How did he know that Fr. Moja had been driving? The parking lot was below the window of the first floor room in which Fr. Scuderi was. He had heard the peculiar little whining noise of that car. After leaving hospital, Father went for a month to Kotagiri, where his old devoted friend Fr. Cogliandro was Rector and novice master.

The Pilgrim Virgin
When Fr. Scuderi returned from his holiday, Goa was all upside down preparing for the visit of the Pilgrim Virgin of Fatima. At a glance Fr. Scuderi knew that there were hundreds of illusioned people dreaming that something would happen with no one there to make it happen. He casually went to pay his respects to the Patriarch who got up from his chair and came to him saying: (I know it first hand) "Fr. Scuderi, Our Lady has sent you back in time. Please help me."

That was enough. He forgot he had just recovered from what had been caused by overwork. He started moving and whoever stood in his way, in that blessed old land of leisure and calm and "amanha" that was Goa, came to understand what a bulldozer was. They wanted 153 masses to be celebrated contemporaneously. But nothing had been done to prepare for the event. Please, not concelebration, where a little table for an altar and 153 chairs and equal number of more or less reputable stoles at hand would do, but 153 altars! Fr. Scuderi got the PWD out of its slumber and had a raised semicircular stage erected in the big field of Old Goa, (where the monument of Camoes rose later). There was a central altar for three Bishops and the other altars, 75 on each side stretching out like two arms embracing the whole open space. Fr. Scuderi went around to all religious communities and secular clergy deaneries to make sure that the number of priests would be right, and, yes sir, on the appointed day, the solemn and, I think, unique ceremony took place without a hitch. Well that perhaps is too much.... We came to know of a few corns he had trod upon and some hurt feelings of those who would not have done anything anyway, but felt bypassed. Fr. Scuderi stood at the microphone synchronizing the ceremony. Even Fr. Ravalico, who represented the Salesian community, was on time and dutifully following all details with the rest.

Triumphal Procession
Then the final procession of the Pilgrim Virgin, leaving the Matriz of Panjim, going to Campal, and back to the Church, following the road along the river.... all in the hands of the Salesians. There was Fr. Scuderi on the radio (no TV) van and Fr. Moja on the old reliable bicycle, cassock tucked up (much to the dismay of a few ecclesiastics and the stately devout ladies of the Goan elite) cycling up and down to see that the procession held together with no gaps, that all joined in prayer and renewed their candles in time - he had a good supply of them on the carrier of the bicycle. It turned out to be a 2.5 km affair! The head of the procession almost catching up with the tail.

As it started moving, Fr. Scuderi began calling out the names of all authorities civil and military asking them to join. He had prepared the list before. Those whose name he did not know, he called by the name of the office they held. He got them all in, otherwise they would have gladly seen the procession off and waited more or less patiently, till it came back to the Church.

After some days Fr. Moja met a major with whom he was on very friendly terms who told him: "You tell your Fr. Scuderi that quite a number of officers would gladly challenge him at dawn, for having made them walk and say the Rosary for two and half hours..." But Fr. Scuderi could do that and more and get away with it.

He even got away with making the Pilgrim Virgin stop, when it reached the corner of our compound, where the Assistencia stands now. There would be a salesian brother with twenty or so altar boys, scrubbed and starched to make them look ethereal, and a bigger boy asking Our Lady to give the Oratorio her special blessing.

The Don Bosco Way
An annual feature in the life of the Oratories was a picnic to which all those who had a good average of attendance marks for the months of May and October were invited. We could count on the militaries to give us the trucks, according to the number of boys: 50 per truck. The last time the picnic was made we needed six trucks. We provided the food: a rich and abundant pulau, bread, meat, tea and fruit.

Another event was the "shops" rigged during the Christmas season. There were shops with religious articles, stationery and books, clothing, toys, games and sweetmeats. The boys could use only coupons of different denominations given in accordance with their attendance cards.

Many people used to come and enjoy the fun and in the end finish off, whatever was left, with ordinary currency. We were poor, really poor, in the way of not having enough of several things, but for these occasions somehow, money was available and always a little more than strictly needed... We often commented among ourselves how it was so much like in the times of Don Bosco. The boys themselves noticed it.

Our chapel, right from the beginning, when it was a room on the first floor of the rented building, with no fans and hardly any accommodation, was frequented daily by our Catholic neighbours, and was packed on Sundays when we had to have two masses: one for the people and one for the boys. After we built the chapel, the crowd increased. The accommodation was better and ventilation too was not bad. But in general, people liked to attend the Oratory Mass at 8 o’clock. One Mass was celebrated at Fontainhas also, where we were allowed to use the chapel called Portais, which was at the extreme boundary of Panaji along the Santacruz road. And there was a third Mass in the chapel of St. Peter, Caranzalem. In the afternoon the boys had games and then some short prayers, catechism and benediction. Before long we managed a Bell & Howell 16 mm projector for fortnightly shows (free) but entrance was given to only those who had a minimum number of attendance coupons. The pictures were from 20th Century Fox, Bombay. They had a large repertoire of pictures specially selected for schools and institutions. Every picture was previewed, to avoid surprises.

In 1949 Fr. Ravalico went home: the first to do so of our group. Then Fr. Carreno sent Fr. Zola for a course in printing at Becchi. Fr. Moja was next, in July 1950. When he came back, after one month journey and three of so called holidays, Fr. Zola also returned to give new life to the printing department. They brought quite a few things for the house: some supplies to begin a religious article shop and a sound-system of sorts. When we switched it on with some lively music we did bring life into the sleepy town of Panjim but also solicited rather mixed comments. There was also the marble statue of Our Lady that was hoisted on the facade of the chapel, and now is at the entrance of Don Bosco, Panaji.

Meanwhile, Fr. Ravalico, a restless soul by nature, had left for Madras. After a short time he managed to return to Assam to spend the rest of his life there working himself to exhaustion.

The Catholic Hour
Fr. McGlinchey was daily on the Radio Goa, with a religious programme, named "Hora Catolica" sponsored by the Hour of St. Francis. He went on for years, much appreciated. After him, as it often happens, the thing was used more or less as a sinecure by his successor and eventually fizzled out. A valuable collection of first class records and tapes with music and features, sermons by Fulton Sheen and other famous speakers, were lost, pilfered or damaged.

Among the valuable donations we received in lands and buildings was the Institution of Cortalim, of which nothing was done because at the last moment the proper sanction never came. The land of Sulcorna was given to us in 1948. And there it remained till 1962. During those years the only one who would go there at least once a year was Fr. Moja. All admired his "picnic" but no one would join. Once he took a number of boys and teachers by truck to see the place, but that was much later. Remember that at the time there was no road to speak of after Rivona, and for the last few kilometers, it was cross country driving.

Historical Visit
One event of vital importance for the history of Salesian Goa, was the visit of Fr. Fedrigotti, Prefect General, in 1949, sent by the Rector Major, to see what was happening in Goa. We had been working all the time with the tacit approval of the Provincial Fr. Carreno who had a joyous way of keeping the superiors busy looking the other side.

Fr. Fedrigotti came, shared our life for three of four days. Spoke with everybody, looked around, heard the authorities and went to St. Francis Xavier for inspiration. On the last day of his visit, he gathered the whole community and told us quite plainly, that he had been sent to close down the show. But on the way, at Karachi airport, he had met two young chaps who came running to him, helped him with his baggage and told him that they knew Fr. Scuderi and Co. and that they had the happiest souvenir of the Oratory. They could not have been with us more than a few months but it was enough. Later, when he saw all that had been done in such short time and the much more that could have been done if our position had been legalized earlier, he had changed his mind. He gave us his blessing, asked us to keep up our good work with the same Salesian spirit and not to worry: he would settle everything with the Rector Major.

How Far Can One Go?
Towards the end of 1951 Fr. Scuderi had to undergo another hernia operation. The old stitching was holding well but his congenitally weak abdominal tissues had given in on the other side. The surgeon this time was a Goan, Dr. Renato Fernandes. He did a good job and Father was up and out of hospital quickly. We sent him, at his request, to Dona Paula for convalescence. There a family had offered their summer house for as long as he needed it. The house was near a chapel so he would go for Mass there. Mass meant people. People meant: "Father come to see us." He started seeing them, and before a week was over he was engrossed in visiting all the houses, mostly fisher folks, and taking a census of the whole area, making plans for a school, and learning Konkani and getting tired and sick. A couple of days of "I feel tired, I don’t think I am really well," and then high fever. Taken to Panjim and hospitalized, he was found with typhoid. He was one of the first patients in Goa to be administered the new wonder drug: chloramphenicol costing Rs. 48 for a bottle of four doses (equal to more than 480 rupees now). But as a missionary he was entitled to free treatment and a first class room. For Fr. Scuderi they would have done anything. All the doctors and personnel were his friends.

One more Blow
On February 11, 1952, Fr. Zola took the pupils of the Portuguese School to Valpoi for a picnic. It was almost evening and they were not back yet, although we had agreed they would return by 6 o’clock. Fr. Moja went to the ferry wharf to see. When they approached the wharf in the ferry boat, there was dead silence, and Fr. Zola in two words informed Fr. Moja that they had lost a boy in the river where they had gone for a swim... against all warnings.

Fr. Moja, who was in charge during the sickness of the rector, knew that he had to go to Valpoi, but first, he had to see the rector at the hospital. As he entered on tiptoe, Fr. Scuderi who was still under the effect of fever and drugs, half opened his eyes and said: "Something has happened. What is it? Are the boys back? Why this silence" and he had to be told, as kindly as possible... "Don’t you know that I live the life of the Oratory by the community and school bells, and I see everything before my eyes?"Fr. Scuderi said. Then he told Fr. Moja: "I feel you want to go to Valpoi, and I think you should go, but be careful how you drive. A few minutes more will not change things."

Fr. Moja informed the family, presenting the event as doubtful. He would go and would come back to inform. He went and came during the night and on the following morning went again taking the mother, an elder brother and one sister with him, insisting that the funeral would be in Valpoi itself and then there would be Mass and exequies in our Panjim chapel. The brother, who was an Oratory boy of the senior group, gave some trouble but all the other members of the family behaved quite bravely, especially the mother.

And That’s That!
In the meantime, the Provincial had informed the Superiors about Fr. Scuderi’s health conditions, and they answered by calling him to Italy.

As soon as he was informed he said to Fr. Moja: "And that’s that! The only superior who knew me well and on whom I could rely was Fr. Ricaldone, and he is dead to all the others I am practically just one of the many. They won’t allow me back." Fr. Ricaldone had died in December.

Before leaving, Fr. Scuderi prepared his farewell by celebrating a solemn Mass and asking for the crowning of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima that was on the main altar. The Patriarch was invited for that. Both knew that it was a farewell, and could hardly disguise their feelings.

Among other things, Fr. Scuderi (he was a very good speaker) said "Wherever I go, She will be with me to show me the way; but She will be here with you too; love her and imitate her virtues especially her purity. She will continue to work wonders as She has done during these six years."

That was on March 13. On the following day he left for Bombay and Italy. He had guessed right. He was not allowed back.
When he visited Goa in 1970, among the rejoicing of most there was the resentment of a few. He would have liked to come back and work here even then, but all the time he knew what was in man.

Fr. Scuderi worked in his home land of Sicily in Catania for a short time, then in Caltanissetta, Gela, Riesi as rector and founder giving to those institutions an impulse that his successors found hard to continue. The last years he spent in the house of his youth, San Gregorio, Catania, as incharge of the Salesian Missionary Animation in Sicily.

The End of a Faithful Servant
Fr. Vincent Scuderi died on November 22, 1982 in Catania at the Oratorio Salesiano, San Gregorio, where he had learnt to know and love Don Bosco as a boy. He had lived his 81st birthday on earth in April.

"I hope God will give me the grace to work till my last hour," he had often said. Our Lord granted him his wish. He worked till past 11 o’clock of the previous night, November 21, which the old calendar kept as the feast of the Presentation of Mary at the Temple. He died while trying to get up and resume his work at 6.30 in the morning, of his last day.

Fr. Aloysius di Fiore, ex-provincial of Madras, and Fr. Moja, who had been close to Fr. Scuderi from his first Salesian profession, were present at the funeral. A rather implausible pair: one representing officialdom, the other representing all who knew, admired and loved Fr. Scuderi, for the person he was, for his priestly and Salesian virtues, for his untiring example of zeal for souls, loving fidelity to Don Bosco and tender love for Mary.
- Gaspar Almeida     www.goa-world.com