Goan Catholics
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
 India (1954) |
1,000,000 |
| →Goa (2001) | more than 300,000 |
| →Mumbai (1960s) | ~100,000 |
 Portugal
|
80,000~100,000 |
| →Nairobi (prior to the 1960s) | ~5000 |
 Uganda (1931) |
~1124 |
| →Kampala (1931) | ~500 |
→ Tanganyika (1931) |
~1,722 |
| →Dar es Salaam (1993) | 700 |
 Pakistan (1954) |
~30,000 |
| →Karachi (1954) | ~10,000 |
 Persian Gulf Arab states
|
~20,000 |
 Canada (1999) |
~23,000 |
| →Ontario (1999) | ~16,000 |
| →London | >6,000 |
| →Swindon (2001) | ~9,000 |
| Languages | |
| Konkani | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (Roman Catholicism) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Konkani people, Karwari Catholics, Mangalorean Catholics, Goud Saraswat Brahmins, Rajapur Saraswat Brahmins, Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmins, Daivadnya Brahmins, Indo-Aryans | |
The Goan Catholics (Konkani: Goenche Katholik) are an ethno-religious community of Roman Catholics and their descendants from the state of Goa, located on the west coast of India. They are people of the Konkan Coast and speak the Konkani language. Portuguese seafarers arrived in Goa in 1510, and Catholic missionary activities soon followed, as Pope Nicholas V had enacted the Papal bull Romanus Pontifex in 1455, which granted the patronage of the propagation of the Christian faith in Asia to the Portuguese.
The Edict of the Goa Inquisition and the Portuguese–Maratha wars are notable events in their history which led to the migration of many Goan Catholics to neighbouring regions, especially Mangalore. After Goans converted to Christianity, their new religion came to be superimposed to varying extants on their ancestral Hindu customs, beliefs, and caste system. Their Feni, a native liquor, distinct cuisine, various contributions to music, and literature are well-known.
The culture of the Goan Catholics is a blend of Indian-Hindu and Iberian-Christian cultures. The notion of Goan identity as a distint culture amomg other Luso-Indian cultures in India and other Luso-Asians was forged after the integration of Goa into the Indian Union in 1961. Contemporary Goan Catholic culture can be best described as an increasingly Anglicised Indo-Latin culture. The Goan Catholic diaspora is concentrated in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, the Lusophone world, especially Portugal, and the Anglophone world, especially Great Britain, Canada, Australia and the USA. Many Goan Catholics speak English as their first language. Music is an integral part of their lifestyles.
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