Andhra Pradesh Church to exploit government programmes for poor

(May 11, 2012) The Catholic Church in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh has decided to make use of all the government welfare programmes to uplift the poor. The resolution came on Thursday at the end of a 3-day Mission Congress in Vijaywda, organized by the Andhra Pradesh Bishops' Council (APBC). Over 4000 delegates from the 13 dioceses of Andhra Pradesh had gathered from May 8-10 to celebrate the Prabhu Yesu Mahotsavam (Grand Festival of Lord Jesus) and to relive the 300 year old history of the Catholic Church in the southern state. In a final statement called the 'Vijayawada declaration ', the Andhra Pradesh Mission Congress decided that the Church will train priests, nuns and laity to collaborate with the government departments to take the welfare programmes to the doorsteps of the needy. The decision of the congress is significant in the wake of senior bishops' remarks on the drastic cut in the foreign funds for charity. Bishop Gali Bali of Guntur, president of Andhra Pradesh Bishops' Council, said that every diocese would hold a similar congress at the district level with greater participation and take the outcome of the Vijayawada declaration to 9,000 villages and 1,000 parish churches in the state. He said the church would continue extending educational and health services to the needy. According to the declaration, the church would train 2,000 priests and 6,000 nuns and brothers apart from laity on welfare programmes and governmental schemes.