Catholic Congress reasserts relevance of Church leadership
The Catholic Congress' international conference held here on Saturday and Sunday served a warning to political parties in the country and reminded them of the unity of the Christian community as well as the relevance of the Church leadership.
Thalassery Archbishop Mar Joseph Pamplany, who inaugurated the conference on Sunday evening, said that Christians in Kerala would present a united front on key issues. He pointed to the large gathering as evidence of the community's backing for the Church leadership.
Politics of survival
Catholic Congress's global president Rajiv Kochuparambil, who presided over the conference, said that the politics of the Church was the politics of survival. Issues of a diocese will be considered as issues of the entire Christian community, he said.
In his keynote address, Palakkad Bishop Mar Peter Kochupurackal pointed out the Christian community's inherent wisdom and discernment. He said the community had always remained free from subjugation by refusing to be bound by anyone's authority.
Mar Jacob Manathodath said that the Catholic Congress still had a long way to go. Catholic Congress's global secretary Josekutty J. Ozhukayil, global director Fr. Philip Kaviyil, diocesan president Bobby Bastin, diocesan director Fr. Cherian Anjilimootil, Fr. Saji Vattukattil, Theresa Liz Sebastian, Fr. Michael Vettikkatt, Biju Parayannilam, V.V. Augustine, Fr. Arun Kalamattathil, Sunny Mathew Nedumpuram, Beena Thakkarapalli, and Abhilash Punnamthadathil addressed the gathering.
Thalassery Archdiocese
Diocesan general secretary Gijo Arakkal proposed a vote of thanks. Delegates from across the country and representatives from from France, Australia, the U.K., Ireland, the U.S.A. and Italy attended the conference. Thalassery Archdiocese will host the next conference.
A massive rally was taken out to the venue from Fort Maidan here. Thousands of people took part in the rally. Fr. Kaviyil and Fr. Anjilimootil flagged off the rally. The rally raised slogans focussing on issues such as the J.B. Koshi Commission report, farmer problems, wild animal attacks and drug abuse.
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