Venerable Fr. Agnelo de Souza & The Society of Pilar ~ Goa

The teachings of Jesus Christ came to Goa in the the mid-sixteenth century through Catholic missionaries who followed the Portuguese conquests. Through the efforts of Saint Francis Xavier, the Christian message was extended to the hinterland of Goa, and to the Far East including China and Japan. In 1557 Goa became an Archdiocese and the center of the Catholic Church's Ecclesiastical Province in the East.

However, it was only in the nineteenth century that the first Goan missionary order was founded, at Pilar, a former Capuchin monastery in South Goa. Many Catholic Goans at home and abroad consider Pilar the national centre of their faith. It is a center of missionary activity for the Goan Missionary Society of Saint Francis Xavier known as the Society of Pilar, and enshrines the tomb of a saintly priest, Father Agnelo De Souza (1869-1927). It is the fervent wish of Goans all over the world to see the Venerable Fr. De Souza canonized a saint of the Catholic Church during their lifetime.

These web pages describe Goa's Catholic Heritage, the life and times of Fr. Agnelo, and the missionary work of the Society of Pilar

Based on the brochure " Father Agnelo's Call," No 11 Vol XXVII
Celebrating VEN. FR. AGNELO'S DAY
November 20, 1993