Indian Bishops Conclude Plenary Pledging Support for Poor

(February 08, 2012) The Catholic Bishops of India concluded their biennial plenary on Wednesday by pledging to become advocates of the poor and the marginalized. “The Church will strive to be a voice of the voiceless,” the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) said in a statement at the end of the week-long event held at St John’s National Academy of Health Sciences, in Bangalore. Some 161 bishops and 20 CBCI officials attended the gathering with its theme: “the Church’s role for a better India.” The bishops said they sensed in their hearts the country’s unfulfilled yearning for a better India where globalization had failed missions of our countrymen despite bringing tremendous economic and technological progress. They have seen a betrayal of the poor and marginalized and have not been able to make the Church sufficiently sensitive to human rights violations and atrocities against women, tribal people, dalits and other groups who live in dehumanizing and oppressive poverty. They will encourage their people to resist “unbridled consumerism” by adopting a simpler lifestyle. The prelates also resolved to eradicate any vestiges of discrimination and corruption in the Church to make it more transparent and accountable. They resolved to make the Church’s network of educational institutions agents of social transformation and create citizens who will serve the country with honesty and integrity. “To strive for a better India, she herself must become a better India,” the statement read. The Catholic leaders said the Church remains undaunted by recent attacks on its workers and institutions and would continue its work among the poor by enlisting the help of more doctors, lawyers and experts. The bishops said they would also take the lead to resist deforestation, displacement of people and polluting natural resources.