The Joseph Naik Vaz Institute of the Bay Area cordially invites the Indian-Sri Lankan community and friends in the San Francisco Bay Area to our Annual Mass for the Feast of St. Joseph Vaz, Apostle of Kanara and Sri Lanka and for the Beatification of Ven. Fr. Agnelo De Souza, SFX of Pilar, Goa..
The Mass will be held at Cathedral of Christ the Light, Oakland (CA) on Sunday January 29, 2023 at 11 a.m. The celebrant of the Mass will be Rev. Fr. Brandon Macadaeg, Rector of the Cathedral.

St. Joseph Vaz is the first canonized Catholic Saint of Goa, formerly Portuguese India where he was born, and of the Mangalore region in India and of the country of Sri Lanka where he worked under Dutch persecution of the Catholic faith.
Because of our present concerns over Covid and its infectious devastation, we would like to especially remember St. Joseph Vaz’ nursing care of the abandoned victims of a smallpox epidemic in the Buddhist kingdom of Kandy in Sri Lanka on 1696. At his Canonization in 2015, H.H. Pope Francis noted that St. Joseph Vaz’ care of all victims regardless of race, creed, caste, or social standing was an example of the Church’s charitable work of mercy toward all.

There will be a short Program on the life of St. Joseph Vaz and a festive Reception after the Mass in the Cathedral Hall. We request that those wishing to attend this Program and Reception please Register by emailing us at [email protected] or Text us a (510) 325-1803
Please visit our website: www.josephnaikvaz.org