New Delhi: Members of the three Catholic ritual Churches in India will spend an hour on October 16 at Rajghat to pray for the country’s protection from terrorism and for peace in the world.
Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), has declared October 16 as a day of prayer for the country.
All Catholic churches and institutions all over the country are conducting special prayers on the day.
In the national capital, the CBCI will join Latin Archdiocese of Delhi, Syro-Malankara diocese of Gurgaon and Syro-Malabar diocese of Faridabad to organize a prayer at Rajghat for an hour from 3:30 pm.
Rajghat is a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi, India’s father of the nation who is considered the modern apostle of peace. It is a black marble platform that marks the spot of Mahatma Gandhi’s cremation, on January 31, 1948, a day after his assassination.
It is left open to the sky while an eternal flame burns perpetually at one end. It is located on the banks of the river Yamuna in Delhi in India on Ring Road officially known as Mahatma Gandhi Road. A stone footpath flanked by lawns leads to the walled enclosure that houses the memorial.
St John Paul II had visited this spot when he visited India in 1986 and 1999.
A press note from Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, CBCI secretary General, has invited all men and women of goodwill to join the Catholics to pray for the country.