Laity meet to celebrate year of faith: AICU organizes

(October 01, 2012) More than 150 delegates from the dioceses of southern India’s Karnataka state, are holding a two-day laity conference in Mangalore city to celebrate the year of faith announced by Pope Benedict XVI. The event that kicks off on Tuesday at Shanti Kiran, Bajjodi, is being organized by the All India Catholic Union (AICU) and co-sponsored by Catholic Sabha Mangalore Pradesh and Karnataka Regional Laity Commission. On Oct. 11, Pope Benedict will inaugurate the Year of Faith which will last through November 2013. It was done to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and the 20th anniversary of the promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. AICU has decided to celebrate such conferences for the laity in different regions of the country. AICU vice-president, Lancy D'Cunha said they have already conducted one such conference in Delhi for the northern region of the country. The conference is to help the laity to evaluate their active participation in the mission of the Church and also toward the implementation of the teaching of the Second Vatican Council and the Catechism. Priests and laity scholars will present various papers on the mission of the laity in the Church and society. All the discussion and deliberations will take place in light of the teachings of the Vatican II and the pope, D'Cunha said. Bishop Bernard Moras of Bangalore will inaugurate the conference.