Church to Encourage Hindi

August 12, 2011: India’s Northern Church leaders have decided to promote traditions and culture through Hindi and other local languages in the region. The decision was taken at a two-day meeting of the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of the Hindi belt at Allahabad, held August 8-9. The prelates underscored the need for the Church to ensure their language of communication was Hindi, the national language, in the region.
They felt this would help in better interaction with the people, especially the poor and those living in remote villages. The meeting was attended by 27 bishops and 20 priests who took stock of the issues confronting the Church in the Hindi-speaking north India. “Unless the Church joined the people through their language, culture and tradition, it would not be able to make much difference in their lives,” outgoing convener of the Assembly, Bishop Isidor Fernandez of Allahabad said.
Archbishop Leo Cornelio of Bhopal, the new convenor, said “the Church needs to bridge the communication gap between people and its officials”. He said the Church leaders agreed to promote not only Hindi but also local dialects and improve the Church’s communication through literary works.