Indian Cardinal launches Day for justice and gender equality

January 26, 2013: Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay, has organised a Day of Solidarity for Justice, Awareness and Gender Equality on Sunday January 27^th. The decision was taken in the wake of the recent brutal gang rape case in New Delhi that sparked widespread protests and a heated debate on violence and discrimination against women in India.
While speaking to Vatican Radio, Cardinal Gracias said the gang rape and murder of the young women in Delhi "aroused the conscience of the whole country" and it was for this reason that he decided that the Church needed to take "pro-active measures" by holding this special Day of Solidarity and Awareness to try and encourage the growth of "greater respect" for women and all human beings. "This is an important issue," he says, "which concerns all of us."

Asked if he worries whether it will be back to business as normal once the memories of these gang rapes fade, Cardinal Gracias admits that this is a real worry for him. "Exactly, I'm afraid that will happen and that's why I thought we should use this occasion ... to try to change the mindsets of people." The Cardinal says in order to achieve this goal there is a key role to be played by institutions and schools, especially Catholic ones: "I've asked our schools to educate our children, to teach families to respect the girl child ... and I do hope it will have a ripple effect."

Although the father of the gang rape victim and many others in India have called for the death penalty for those accused of the woman's murder, Cardinal Gracias reiterated that the Church is opposed to the death penalty for all crimes, no matter how brutal.