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June 29, 2019By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press
The ordination of men from three countries brought family and friends from even more countries to the Worcester Diocese last weekend – for several Masses.
First there was the Mass Saturday morning at St. Paul Cathedral, at which Thiago Moises Da Silva from Brazil, Vijaya Sagar Gundiga from India and Alfredo Raúl Porras Suarez from Venezuela (and Worcester) were ordained priests for the Worcester Diocese.
Bishop McManus welcomed people in English, Spanish and Portuguese at the tri-lingual Mass.
Among those concelebrating with him were two prelates from Venezuela. Cardinal Baltazar Porras Cardozo came for the ordination of his nephew, Father Porras. The cardinal is archbishop of Mérida, Venezuela, and apostolic administrator of Caracas, Santiago de Venezuela. Also there for the Porras family and to assist the cardinal was Bishop Raúl Biord Castillo, bishop of La Guaira in Venezuela.
Sunday the cardinal and bishop celebrated the 8:45 a.m. Spanish Mass at St. Paul’s, drawing family members and other Venezuelans from within and beyond the Worcester Diocese.
The cardinal means a lot to them, said Guillermo Ivegui, a St. Paul’s parishioner and a member of the Venezuelan Association of the Virgin of Coromoto, which brought a pilgrim statue and banner of their patroness to Sunday’s Mass.
“He’s done a lot for the rights of the people in Venezuela,” Mr. Ivegui said.
“He’s an activist for freedom and peace,” respected by the people, attacked by the government.
Speaking with The Catholic Free Press through a translator, the cardinal expressed gratitude for the welcome he received here and the vibrancy he saw in the diocese and the Venezuelan community. He said his newly ordained nephew can help the Church here through the faith he received from his family.
Raul Porras, Father Porras’ father, said about 56 family members came to the ordination – from Saudi Arabia, Spain, Chile, Venezuela, Canada and the United States.
Father Da Silva said his parents and two priest friends came from Brazil for his ordination. They were to return this week to their country, where he had Masses of Thanksgiving scheduled.
Over the weekend he celebrated Masses of Thanksgiving for the English-speaking, Brazilian and Portuguese communities at St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in Milford, where he served as a seminarian and becomes associate pastor Aug. 1. He also had a Mass in Portuguese at St. Anna Parish in Leominster.
Father Gundiga celebrated a house Mass Saturday. Sunday he had a Mass of Thanksgiving at St. Gabriel, the Archangel Parish in Upton, where he served as a seminarian and becomes associate pastor Aug. 1.
“I feel very sad his family couldn’t get here,” Joyce Purcell, of St. George Parish in Worcester, said after the ordination. “So he had me represent his family. You can’t replace his family, but that was an honor for me.” She said she became friends with him when he served at St. George’s as a seminarian. (He has a Mass there Sunday before returning to India to celebrate.)
“We did Communion calls together; he had no car,” Mrs. Purcell said. “I think he’s a holy priest, because he’s kind, compassionate. He has a great heart.”
Father Mathias Kamar said he came here early from New Jersey, where he works, to prepare Father Gundiga for his ordination.
“Even his mother (said), ‘You are representing us,’” he said. He said he met Father Gundiga when Father Gundiga was discerning a vocation in India with his congregation, the Oblates of St. Francis de Sales.
“We’re so far from home it’s very comforting to have an Indian priest,” Grace Dantas said of Father Gundiga, the first man from her country ordained for the Worcester Diocese. She said 15-20 Indians from their parish, St. Gabriel’s, attended the ordination.
Father Gundiga wanted to celebrate Mass for the Indian community, and she invited him to do it at their house, she said. Saturday night she and her husband, Alfred, and their daughters, Laila and Sonia, welcomed people there. Father Gundiga said he’d expected about 25 people, and more than double that number came. Concelebrants included Indian priests from elsewhere and Father Laurence V. Brault, St. Gabriel’s pastor.
“Sagar is a man of commitment,” said Franciscan Father Meena Gude, mentioning his struggle to become a priest. “Finally he is called to the altar to give Christ to people.” Years ago priests from different countries went to India to evangelize and now the tables are turned, he said.
Father Dennis Gallagher, provincial superior of the North American Province of the Augustinians of the Assumption, said he is happy that Father Gundiga found his vocation. The Assumptionists appreciated the opportunity to introduce him to elements of their life, he said. They brought him to the Philippines, then Worcester, when he was discerning a vocation with them.
Father Da Silva’s vocation blessed Susana DaSilva, of the Portuguese community at St. Mary’s in Milford. She said she wasn’t really a faithful Catholic until she met him.
“During a dark time in my life he gave me spiritual guidance and his kind words lifted me up and made me feel like I meant something,” she said. “It was truly an honor to see Father Thiago being ordained and I know he will make an amazing priest.”
“It was very beautiful, the ceremony of his ordination,” said Renata DeOliveira, secretary of St. Mary’s Brazilian community. “When he entered the cathedral, he was almost crying. … We know he is going to do a very good job with the Brazilian community.”
“I’m very proud of Alfredo,” said his uncle Javier Suarez. “I hope he’s going to be a holy priest, a saint.”
“From the moment he was born, we knew he was special,” said Jairo Suarez, an uncle from Worcester. As a child he always tried to see who he could help, “and always everything ethically, by the book,” living justly, waiting his turn.
“I was almost 41 when he was born,” said Father Porras’ mother, Maria Cristina Suarez de Porras. “He was a gift God gave us. … When I came here I was so sad because I left my parents in Venezuela.” She said she prayed the rosary while waiting to pick her son up from school and he asked her to “save the last mystery” to pray with him.
“I thought that was normal,” she said. “We are a Catholic family.”
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