THE BOMBAY SEMINARY: Operation Goregaon
‘Now comes the time to appeal to you to help me finish the work. We cannot stop half-way…This is the first major project with which we have come to you during our episcopate. We call it Major because it embraces the full life of the diocese. It is more than building a school, college, orphanage, or hospital. It is even greater and more inescapable than the building of a Cathedral.’ – Valerian Cardinal Gracias
The success of the Bombay Seminary project was very dear to the Cardinal’s heart and understandably so! For who wouldn’t be excited about the birth of a baby, the baby of one’s dream, the dream that spanned decades? However, you would agree that palpable dreams offer both sleepless nights and threatening nightmares. The construction of the Goregaon Seminary had begun. But would it reach its completion? Undoubtedly the need of the hour was steel and finance.
It is important to note that while substantial funds came from abroad, there was a need to tap local resources as well. The Cardinal was confident that he could count on his people. In 1958 the Cardinal decided to call the laity to a new expression of their generosity. In his all-out appeal for funds, the Cardinal was ably assisted by his then Vicar General, Msgr. Vivian Dyer, who devised a scheme called Operation Goregaon. The scheme embraced two plans of action:
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The circulation of information on the Seminary through a book titled ‘Diocesan Seminary, Bombay – A Dream Coming True’. This was edited by Fr. Tarcy Mascarenhas.
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The extensive and organized collection of funds from all sections of the community.