Panaji, Dec 25 (IANS): Goa Governor Mridula Sinha and Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar Wednesday wished people on the eve of Christmas, with the former saying Indians should rededicate themselves to live together as members of one family.

Sinha said India was a secular country with many faiths and that all Indians should, on Christmas eve, rededicate themselves "to live together as members of one family and work for the greater peace, glory and progress of the nation, in keeping with the eternal message of Lord Jesus Christ".

Parsekar in his message hoped that Christmas "would serve as a source of eternal inspiration taking India and Goa in the direction of further progress and prosperity".

Twenty-six percent of Goa's 1.5 lakh population are Catholics, making the Roman Catholic church a major socio-religious force in the state.

Meanwhile, amid the controversies over religious conversion and asking government officials to work on Christmas Day, Archbishop Fr. Filipe Neri Ferrao in his Christmas message sought the inspiration of Baby Jesus to tide over "these difficult times".

The message called on Baby Jesus to make the world a place of justice, understanding and reconciliation, especially "in these difficult times, when either god is denied or his concept is distorted or even when someone's idea of god is sought to be imposed on others".