Process of raising Fr Alfred Roche to status of saint of church begins

The process to enable Fr Alfred Roche to be raised to the status of a saint of the Roman Catholic Church at the diocesan level was initiated at the Holy Family Church in Brahmavar with a solemn mass concelebrated by Bishop of Udupi Diocese Rev Fr (Dr) Gerald Isaac Lobo on Monday.

Soon after the holy mass, the committee appointed to formalise the procedures to raise Fr Alfred Roche to sainthood was sworn in.

Bishop Gerald Isaac Lobo addressing the gathering said the Udupi Diocese is blessed because the son of the soil, Fr Alfred Roche through his devout and exemplary life had become a model for all.

“He had within him all the qualities to be considered to be raised to the status of a saint. This is a historic event. The procedure of raising Fr. Alfred Roche to the position of a saint is a long drawn process. It is hoped that procedures will be completed as early as possible and we will have our own saint,” he said.

Vicar General of Udupi Diocese Rev. Msgr. Baptist Menezes as the representative of the Bishop of the Udupi Diocese is the Promoter of Justice of the Committee and Fr Sunil Kumar D’Souza is the member of the Committee. Fr Ravi Rajesh Serrao is the Notary, Fr Steven D’Souza is the member of the Historical Commission, Fr. Baptist Rodrigues, Fr. Joel Lopez and Fr. Santa Lopez will be supervising the entire process.

The process of raising Fr Alfred Roche to the status of a saint is a long one as he has to go through the stages of being referred to as ‘Servant of God’, ‘Venerable’ ‘Blessed’ and ‘Saint’.

On this occasion, in order to facilitate the process of raising Fr Alfred Roche to the status of a saint, the documents related to the process, a website, as well as an office, were inaugurated.