From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, Feb 19: Pealing of Church bells to gather crowds for the purpose different from the religious services has been discouraged by Goa church.

“The pealing of bells to gather people for purposes totally alien, if not contrary, to Church services is unwarranted,” said Fr Manual Dias, Chancellor, Archdiocese of Goa and Daman.

The local church, in a notice circulated on February 7 to its parishes, has asked the priests to urge parishioners not to ring the Church bells without a reason and sans permission of the authorities.

“A serious note has been taken of parishioners ringing church bells without even knowledge of parish priest or his representative,” Dias said.

The Church higher ups thought to put in black and white urging the parishes to restrain from pealing bells after recent incident of violence in South Goa’s Colva village, where the crowd was called after ringing the church bell.

The village was brought to standstill over a controversial music CD issue that had allegedly painted local priest Fr Diago Fernandes in a bad light in December, last year.

House of the producer of the CD was attacked and road was blocked for two days by the protestors forcing the district magistrate to ban the controversial CD.

Dias said that every church has person who is in charge of ringing the bells under the sole authority of the parish priest or chaplains, as per the church praxis.

“The pastoral clergy should explain to their parishioners the purpose of Church or chapel bells, urging them at the same time to refrain from interfering in the matter on their own,” the notice says.

Goa has around 200 Churches and Chapels and state has 30 per cent of the population believing in Catholic faith.