Religious asked to change attitude

(July22, 2010) A change of attitude is important to be relevant as Religious in the next decade in India, Young Religious of Tamil Nadu were told during a seminar. The seminar was part of a series of special programs that Conference of Religious India launched to prepare the young Religious to meet the challenges posed by India’s socio-economic development in the next decade. The July 15-18 program meant for young Religious in CRI’s Tamil Nadu and Puducherry chapter gathered 68 people in Tindivanam. Salesian Father Stanislaus Swamikannu, president of CRI Tamil Nadu and Puducherry chapter asked the Religious to look at the challenges of consecrated life. The special programs for young Religious come against the background of the challenges faced by Consecrated Life in the changing social and cultural milieu of today, he noted. The Salesian urged Religious to be “sons and daughters” of their times. He said social and technological changes would always challenge the Religious, whether they like it or not. The priest urged them to go through an attitudinal change in several fields of services in order to become efficient leaders by 2020. While being alive to the radical changes in society, Religious should become counter signs to trends that try to diminish the value of spirituality, he said. He asked them to look at the challenges to consecrated life in the modern world and consider them as an occasion to “grow and glow with freshness.”