Indian film on Blessed Joseph Vaz

(January 09, 2012) A film on the life of Blessed Joseph Vaz, the apostle of Sri Lanka, has been produced in India to popularise the little known priest who is a step away from sainthood. Agnelo Fernandes, a youth from Consua-Verna, Goa, India, has produced the film based on the life and missionary works of the patron of Goa. Fernandes said Archbishop patriarch Filipe Neri Ferrao of Goa has approved screening of the film in parishes and schools. Fr. Vaz’s 300th death anniversary was celebrated last year on January 16. Titled ‘Panvlam’, the film highlights the missionary life of the priest in Sri Lanka and the challenges he encountered there. Fr. Vaz was born on April 21, 1651, in Goa, in what is India today. He arrived in Sri Lanka as a missionary in April 1687 at a time when Dutch colonizers persecuted Catholics and sponsored Calvinism as the official religion. He travelled throughout the island bringing the Eucharist and the sacraments to clandestine groups of Catholics. He died on January 16, 1711 in Kandy. He was declared Blessed by Pope John Paul II in 1995 at a ceremony in Colombo. A miracle through Fr. Vaz’s intercession is needed to clear him for final sainthood. Sri Lanka’s Catholic Church had already released a similar film in 2010 as part of a year-long celebration of the 300^th anniversary of his death last year.