Wealthy Catholics share Easter joy with poor Christians in Bangladesh

(April 5, 2010) Wealthy Catholics in Bangladesh’s largest parish have been helping poor people celebrate Easter with cash and donations of daily necessities. Members of St. Vincent de Paul Society (SVP) at Holy Rosary Church in Tejgaon, Dhaka collected about 25,000 taka from parishioners and bought rice, oil and pulses which were distributed among 30 poor families on March 30. Paschal Pamer, 60-yea old president of the parish SVP unit told UCANews every Christmas and Easter they try to help poorer Catholics share the joy of the religious festivals. He thanked the well-to-do Catholics for their generosity. The local branch of SVP was established in 1972. Since then it has been helping poor Catholics build houses, buy sewing machines, carpentry tools, rickshaws, tea stalls and provides education scholarships for poor students. At the distribution ceremony at the church, 30 families received 5 kilograms of rice, 1 kilogram of oil, 1 kilogram of pulses and 100 taka in cash. According to Church sources, about 1,000 poor Christians live in the slums in Dhaka.