Team Goemkarponn
OLD GOA: Convenor of the Goa Archdiocese’s Exposition Committee Fr Henry Falcao said that no prior app registration would be required for attending the St Francis Xavier Exposition.
“An app that lets users make reservations online for reverence was suggested. However, we decided not to pursue it. Individuals gather to show their reverence. to show respect to honor. For this reason, we believed that making reservations online might compromise the pilgrimage’s essence,” stated Fr. Henry Falcao, convenor of the Goa Archdiocese’s Exposition Committee.
“The eight million figure is an approximate estimate. It can be higher or lower. However, we must be ready,” Falcao remarked.
Falcao elaborated on the rationale for the decision to abandon the pre-booking app, stating that consideration needed to be given to those who might not use the app to make reservations and would instead have to wait in line for their turn to venerate the saint’s relics in a spirit of penance.
“The entire spirit of the Exposition will be ruined by having two parallel lines for those who book online and for those who don’t.” Falcao explained, “That’s why there isn’t an app.”
However, Falcao noted that anyone wishing to access any material about the Exposition online can do so by using the “Catholic Connect” app, which is part of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI).
For the length of the Exposition, the Church has organized an art show with a St. Francis Xavier theme.
According to Falcao, the exhibition will be put together by about 70 Goan painters, the majority of whom are budding younger artists.
