El Cerrito, California: In a poignant fusion of Asian heritage and American diversity, the Joseph Naik Vaz
Institute on Tuesday celebrated the 375th birth anniversary of St. Joseph Vaz—born April 21, 1651, in Goa, India, and revered as the Apostle of Sri Lanka and Mangalore-Kanara —with a memorable Mass on April 26. The event doubled as a tribute to the first death anniversary of Pope Francis, who passed on April 21, 2025, and canonized the Indian-Sri Lankan saint in 2015.
Held at the historic 100-year-old St. John the Baptist Church in California, the Good Shepherd Sunday liturgy bridged continents, ethnically and spiritually uniting Indian diaspora devotees with Californian Americans. Shepherding the congregation was Fr. Chrisanttus Nakanda, an African priest from Cameroon, who led concelebrants including Vietnamese pastor Fr. Thuong of St. John’s Church and Tamil Indian Fr. Sebastian Titus from St. Mary Magdalen Church—longtime supporters of the
institute’s inclusive celebrations.

Deacon Loch Sekona, a Tongan member of the Diocese of Oakland’s Pacific Asian Pastoral Center, delivered a stirring homily on the Good Shepherd Gospel. He wove in St. Vaz’s heroic 17th-century legacy: a young Indian priest who risked his life ministering to persecuted Catholics in Sri Lanka, converting many amid abandonment and hardship. “St. Joseph Vaz embodied the Good Shepherd, laying down his life for his flock,” Sekona proclaimed, linking the saint’s April 21 death to Pope Francis’ memory.

The Mass dazzled with an East-West musical tapestry. It opened with the Hindustani hymn “Vidya Jyoti ki Barata Ayi hai”—”We Celebrate the Divine Light of God”—a garland of five Indian ragas composed by Rita Sahai and sung by her students. Sahai, the 2026 international Hind Rattan Award winner for overseas Indians preserving India’s spirit, was joined by Vivel Anand (a Sufi sacred music specialist) and singers Joh and Filomena Giese. The church choir then seamlessly transitioned to Western hymns, enhancing the multicultural reverence. Participants from diverse ethnic stripes received a special blessing via a message from Bishop Earl Fernandes, the first U.S. bishop of Asian Indian origin and president of the
U.S. Bishops’ Committee for Asian and Pacific Asian Catholics. The event spiritually cemented ties between St. John the Baptist Church in Goa—where Vaz was baptized 375 years ago—and its California namesake, where diaspora faithful offered Masses for his 21st-century canonization.
Institute organizers hailed the gathering as a triumph of unity, echoing Vaz’s missionary zeal in today’s global church. As Fr. Nakanda noted post-Mass, “This celebration honours a saint who crossed borders for faith—much like our diverse flock today.” Pope Francis died on April 21, 2025. April 21 is the birthday
of St. Joseph Vaz, the Saint he canonized in 2015.

Courtesy: Indian Catholic Matters published on 02 May 2026