Oratorians of Saint Philip Neri in Goa: a paradigm of Goan-ness

Abstract

The Oratorian congregation of Goa is a sui generis case: it was the first far-Asian native Catholic congregation that missionised other Asian (and African) regions. The missionary success of the Goan Brahmin priests, especially in Ceylon, brought them recognition within the society of Portuguese India, but the prominence of the Goan Oratorians was also physically marked on Goa’s skyline, through its imposing headquarters rising over the city. The Church of the Holy Cross of Miracles, built by an Augustinian priest, would have been impressive – a three-storey white church standing at the top of one of Goa’s hills, with, as we have seen, a façade belonging to the typology existing only in Goa. The significance of the church would have resulted from the symbolism of the place: the site of a prodigious miracle of Goa, and it would, therefore, have to be an impressive monument. The symbolism was extended to the Oratorians after the church was given to them: the Goan Oratorian congregation was created under the shadow of the Holy Cross of Miracles, from where Christ had appeared, thus blessing the Oratorians in their mission.