Odisha bishops issue plan of action for Year of Faith

February 04, 2013 - The Catholic Bishops of eastern India’s Odisha state are making use of the current Year of Faith to strengthen the Church in the state and sustain the faithful in their most urgent challenges of persecution, secularism, cultural differences and poverty. In a pastoral letter addressed to all the faithful, the Orissa Bishops’ Regional Council (OBRC) has suggested a plan of action at the regional, diocesan and parish levels, which, among others, includes the reading the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the documents of Vatican Council II and the lives of saints. The bishops are urging catechists and staff of Catholic schools, hospitals and social centres to organize and participate in meetings, seminars and symposia. “Each of us are called to renew their commitment to communicate their experience of faith to others, [also] promoting encounters with non-believers,” the bishops wrote “On our journey of faith we must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who sacrificed his life on the cross and rose again for our salvation. We must imitate Mary, model of our faith. We must follow the example of the faith of the apostles, who left everything to follow Jesus, and then to proclaim the Gospel to the whole world," the bishops of Odisha wrote.