Church resolves to care for nomads in India

(26 Sept. 2006): - A Church conference in the central Indian State of Madhya Pradesh has proposed that Church workers seek out nomads in the country and issue them identity cards to improve their access to pastoral and social services. The recent national conference on nomads had Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, as its chief guest. The conference was organized by Pastoral Care of Nomads in India -PACNI . In India, nomads are mostly tribal people such as Bhanjara blacksmiths and others, who tend buffalo, camels and sheep. They have no permanent abode but move from place to place looking for food and jobs." We should not take pastoral care in the narrow sense but in a broader way," Archbishop Marchetto said at the conference in Bhopal, capital of Madhya Pradesh. “This would include educating nomads' children and building awareness among them,” he added. PACNI chairman, Archbishop Pascal Topno of Bhopal, said the conference showed the Church's love and concern for the most marginalized, neglected and forgotten brothers and sisters, who have been bracketed as nomads. This concern should not be misconstrued as an attempt to proselytize nomads, the Jesuit prelate told UCA News. Rather, he said, the Church upholds human dignity, and therefore, we want to help them to lead a dignified life. Father Joseph Thannipilly, a PACNI official, told UCA News that these nomads do not appear on official records in the places they camp, and local police and administration officials often harass them. Now we are planning to provide them with proper identity cards and to conduct their census to be able to serve them, he said. The card would identify their caste or tribe and village of origin, and carry their name and photograph. It also would have the contact details for Father Thannipilly's office, so nomads, who find themselves in a difficult situation could contact the office for help. He expects the process to be completed by next April.