Goa Archbishop Says Corruption Is Rampant, We’ll Guide Voters
With polls to Goa's Legislative Assembly coming up, the Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao has said that the Roman Catholic Church will guide its followers to vote for genuine candidates in the state. The guidance became necessary, said the Archbishop, as Goa has witnessed extensive environmental and social damage, leading to rampant corruption and weakened governance.
Elections to the Legislative assembly of the state are approaching and the Church leadership in Goa will take up once again this duty-bound task. We do issue guidelines to our faithful on how to exercise their franchise and thus fulfil one of their sacred civic duties. These guidelines are read out in our churches, but they never mention the name of any candidate or any political party. The people are sovereign, they decide.Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao, in his annual post-Christmas address at the Bishop’s Palace in Panaji
Top dignitaries and senior politicians from the state, including Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, were present at the event. Ferrao said there was a need to follow the principle of inter-generational equity with respect to mining, adding that rampant mining has resulted in degeneration of the state and its people, thus causing a loss to future generations as well.
Roman Catholics account for around 26 per cent of the 1.5 million population of Goa, a former Portuguese colony. The state is expected to go to polls early next year.
With inputs from IANS