Card. Gracias grateful to Pope for including him in reform group

15 April, 2013 - Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias has accepted with humble gratitude his appointment by Pope Francis to a 8-cardinal group on Saturday to advise him in governing the Universal Church and in revamping the central administration of the Church in the Vatican, known as the Roman Curia. “I am humbled by this appointment, and deeply grateful to be at the service of the Universal Church and the Pope through this mission,” Cardinal Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay told AsiaNews. “The Holy Father wanted the universal church to be represented and we are there from all the continents , and to know and understand the sentiments of the people, with direct contact of grassroots from all corners of the globe," said the prelate who is the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) which is the Latin-rite Bishops conference, as well as the president of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conferences (FABC). Cardinal Gracias noted that the nomination of 8 cardinals to the group expresses the ‘universal’ character and concept of collective responsibility in leading the Church. He said he will bring his experience of a varied and complex continent, known to be a rich mosaic of ancient cultures and languages, the world's largest and most populated continent, home to almost 60% of humanity. With some 40% of Asians below 15 years of age, Cardinal Gracias said it is a continent of the young. The continent has 30 mega-cities with populations ranging from 5 to 20 million. It is home to 85% of all the world’s non-Christians, with Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam leading. Its diversity of peoples, cultures, languages and religions, is confronted by challenges such as poverty, injustice, powerlessness, marginalization and ecological degradation. Asia is facing problems resulting from fundamentalism, ethnic and religious rivalries, power and arms race". (Source: AsiaNews)