Salutations – POPE FRANCIS

Born on 17th December, 1936,
In Buenos Aires of Italian decent,
Was ordained in 1969,
Rose from priest, bishop, cardinal,
And finally a Pope.

Years of studies , training and experience
Didn’t give up, his learning
All this didn’t happen,
By the touch of a magic wand.

You over came all hurdles
White smoke emerged from the funnel
For God got you ready for the call
From the assembled Cardinals at the hall
Chose you first as,
The Bishop of Rome,
Head of the worldwide Catholic Church,

And Sovereign of the Vatican City, State.
You chose the papal name “Francis”,
In honour of Saint Francis of Assisi
Your humility knows no bound
Cannot be measured in pounds,

No luxury house,
No luxury vehicle,
You housed yourself, in the guest house.
If you think you will get a ride,
In the Papal vehicle,

Get ready, Pope Francis
Has better and brighter ideas,
Traveling in public vehicles
For that kind of simple, humble man is he.

When he was Archbishop in Buenos Aires,
Under his leadership – the priests assigned
To work in the slums, doubled.
As Cardinal Bergoglio, in the suburb of Olivos
Cooked his own meals.
He had relations, with other religious communities,

The Eastern Orthodox, The Oriental Orthodox,
The Protestants, The Jewish and Islamic
In one of his writings, he wrote,
“Dialogue is born from attitude
Of respect for the other person,
From a conviction, that the other person’s
Point of view, opinion, and proposal.
To dialogue entails a cordial reception,
Not a prior condemnation,
In order to dialogue, it is necessary,

To know how to lower the defenses,
Open the doors of the house,
And offer human warmth”.
Your interesting dialogues,
Has a way to build bridges,
Between people of all background,
Beliefs and faiths,
Combined with love for the forsaken
And some hatred from all around.
You roughed it all out,

Didn’t bother about the clouth,
You made a plea for humanity to become,
A better guardian of creation,
By protecting the environment,
You said that:
“We ask the risen Jesus,
Who turns death into life,
To change hatred into love,
Vengennce into forgiveness,
War into peace”.

On your first Holy Thursday, as Pope,
You entered a jail in Rome,
Washed the feet of twelve inmates,
In the age group of 14 to 21,
Amongst them two were women.
One a Serbian muslim,
The second an Italian catholic.
You changed the routine history,

Moved with time in the 21st century
Your whole life is one big history,
No fairy tales, no mysteries,
Because you are created of a better mould,
Since God has given you, a heart of gold.

Mary D’cunha
21/4/2013
Mahim Mumbai
Aunty of Tony Colaco

Goans born abroad before 1961 deemed Indians
TNN | Apr 9, 2013, 04.50 AM IST

READ MORE Union Ministry Of Home Affairs|Born Abroad|Manohar Parrikar|Goa Legislative Assembly

PANAJI: The Union ministry of home affairs recently confirmed to the Goa government that persons of Goan origin who were born abroad before liberation shall be deemed to have become citizens of India. This is provided their parents or their grandparents were born before December 20, 1961 in Goa, Daman and Diu and they had not made a written declaration to retain the citizenship they had immediately before December 20, 1961.

This was stated in the Goa legislative assembly by chief minister Manohar Parrikar in reply to a calling attention motion by Tivim BJP MLA Kiran Kandolkar. The MLA said there was fear in the minds of people that Goans born outside India are being denied Indian passports on the grounds of citizenship. He wanted to know what steps the government is taking to address the problem.

In his written reply, Parrikar said that the commissioner for NRI affairs had taken up the issue with the Union ministry of home affairs in July 2012.

Parrikar also said that persons of Goan origin who were born abroad to Goan parents holding Indian citizenship after liberation, provided their births have been registered in Indian missions abroad.

The ministry clarified that Section 4 of the Citizenship Act, 1955, provides Indian citizenship by descent to persons born outside India between January 1, 1950 to December 9, 1992, if their father was an Indian citizen at the time of their birth, and those born outside India on or after December 10, 1992, if either of their parents is a citizen of India at the time of their birth and their birth has been registered with the Indian mission abroad within a period of one year of their birth or with the permission of the central government after the expiry of one year and they had not held the passport of another country.

Accordingly, persons who were born abroad to Goan parents holding Indian citizenship as per Goa, Daman and Diu (citizenship) Order 1962, shall be citizens of India provided their births have been registered in Indian missions abroad.

Parrikar’s reply also gave the following details. The ministry of home affairs vide notification dated March 28, 1962, had notified the Goa, Daman and Diu (Citizenship) order, 1962 under powers vested in the central government by Section 7 of the Citizenship Act 1955. The order envisaged that every person who or either of whose parents or any of whose grandparents was born before December 20, 1961, in the then union territories of Goa, Daman and Diu, shall be deemed to have become citizens of India on that day, except where any such person had made a declaration in writing within one month that he had chosen to retain the citizenship which he had immediately before December 20, 1961.