The sixth bishop of Goan origin was D. Joaquim de Santa Rita Botelho, first born son of Manuel Marques Botelho and Rita Francisca de Faria, of European descent. D. Joaquim de Santa Rita Botelho was born in Panjim on October 30, 1781, enrolled at the age of 9 in the seminary of Chorão, in the Latin and philosophy classes and promptly with these studies entered on July 7, 1797 in the extinct convent of Madre de Deus where a year later he made his solemn profession and here he studied theology “under the direction of the padre master friar José de St Anna.
On June 12, 1807, he was appointed by unanimous vote to the department of Philosophy and on April 18, 1809, Professor of Philosophy in the respective convent.
During the exercise of the teaching of these two classes he publicly defended several cases with applause from all until he was retired by the provision of April 37, 1813. In January 1817 he was elected provincial or general of all the convents of his order located in the Cabos, being then 33 years and 8 months old, and served the entire triennium, at the end of which in January 1820 he was chosen by the archbishop of Goa D. Frei Manuel de S. Galdino as episcopal governor of the diocese of Malacca and the islands of Solor and Timor.
From here, even before following his destiny, he was transferred to the archbishopric of Crangaqor on February 19 of the same year and having left there on April 20, he arrived at his headquarters on April 24 and took possession of the diocese in the church of Patencharra, after having obtained the consent of the country’s ruler; — he confirmed more than 50 thousand Christians and at the beginning of the following year (1821) he was entrusted with the ecclesiastical government of the diocese of Cochin during the absence of the elected bishop of that diocese, D. Frei Thomas de Noronha, who had left for Portugal.
Due to the poor state of his health, the illustrious prelate handed over the government of the diocese of Cochin to the archbishop of Cranganor D. Frei Paulo de S. Tobamaz arrived here and returned to Goa on January 23, 1823. In 1826 he was appointed provincial of his convent for the 2nd time and for the 3rd time in the year 1832*.
After the death of the priest, master Frei Constantino de S. Rita, a priest of the same order, was appointed father of the Christians on 14 December 1837, a position he left vacant shortly after completing one year, in order to go to Portugal, having embarked on the charrua S. João Magnânimo, which left Goa on 28 January 1839 and arrived in Lisbon in August of the same year.
By decree of 28 February 1840, he was elected bishop of Cochim and in this capacity he returned to Goa in March 1842, and remained here. With the withdrawal of the archbishop of Goa, D. José Maria da Silva Torres, this prelate was entrusted with the government of the diocese by the order of 2 March 1849, as a result of the recommendation that had come to him from the government of the metropolis, and on the 29th of the same month he took up the post. On 7 May 1851 he was appointed vicar capitular by the chapter of the primatial see of Goa, when the said archbishop Torres had been appointed archbishop of Palmira and future successor of the archbishop of Braga and primate of Spain*. He had the commendation of Christo and in the absence of the governor general of this state, viscount of Villa Nova de Ourem, when he retired to Portugal, he presided over the governing council from 6 May to 2 November 1855. He finally died while governing this archbishopric in his residence in Betim on 8 February 1859, being 78 years* 3 months and 9 days old» and having served for years, 10 months and 9 days as governor of the archdiocese of Goa.