Old Goa: Days before the opening of the 45-day decennial exposition of the sacred relics of St. Francis Xavier, the North Goa Collector, Sneha Gitte, IAS, has barred the entry of tourists and the public from gaining entry into the Basilica of Bom Jesus and the Se Catedral at Old Goa from Monday.
Gitte’s order states the ban will be in force until November 20 (Wednesday), a day prior to when the Exposition is slated to open with a solemn Eucharistic celebration on the forecourt of the Basilica of Bom Jesus on Thursday morning.
Gitte said that these restrictions have been imposed to facilitate the preparations for the Exposition.
The relics (the “incorrupt” body) of the sixteenth-century Jesuit priest, anointed a saint by the Catholic Church, lie in a silver-glass casket on a mausoleum in the Basilica of Bom Jesus.
At the decennial Exposition, the relics are solemnly taken to the Se Catedral, where they are kept for veneration for 45 days.
Meanwhile, with just three days to go before the start of the Exposition, contractors on Sunday began work at a frenzied pace to repair and relay the old Ribandar road, a crucial access route for pilgrims from North Goa.
Road rollers, laborers, and earthmoving machines were milling all over the approximately 3-kilometer stretch of road, which winds through the thickly populated hamlets of Ribandar, Fondvem, and Sao Pedro.
