Indian Church: Special day of thanksgiving for Pope Benedict

(Vatican Radio) In India the Catholic Church is organising a special Day of Thanksgiving for Pope Benedict and his Pontificate on February 22nd, feast of the Chair of St. Peter. On that day, every Catholic institution, convent and monastery in the nation will dedicate an hour of adoration to the Pope.

Listen to this report by Susy Hodges telling us more about this initiative:

"The initiative is being launched by Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay, in order to express the Indian Church’s deep gratitude to the Pope.

In his statement announcing the move, Cardinal Gracias said the Holy Father has repeatedly identified key issues and challenges facing India and Asia during his papacy such as inter-religious dialogue, secularisation, the gap between rich and poor, ecology, fundamentalism and the economy. The Pope, he continued, has also stressed the need to implement the Church’s social doctrine when it comes to dealing with issues like these, especially in his three encyclicals.

Cardinal Gracias went on to point out how Pope Benedict’s attention to the Asian world was not only shown through his writings and documents. Noting that Asia is home to the largest Muslim population in the world, he referred to the repeated attempts by Benedict to communicate with Muslims, saying he has created the basis to understand the differences between Christians and Muslims and to call for a united front against secularisation."