By Matters India Reporter
New Delhi: Indian Church supports the Day of Prayer and Fasting for Peace proclaimed by Pope Francis on February 23.
Reacting to the Pope’s call, John Dayal, a senior journalist and former president of the All India Catholic Union, said, “While a fast on that day may be of great spiritual benefit as a way of self-actualization and internalizing the issue, there can be no minimizing the importance of peace, particularly in the political environment in which India finds itself.”
Pope Francis called Catholics to pray for peace, particularly for people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and South Sudan and Africa.
He also invited the members of other religions to join in the initiative, in the forms they consider most suitable: moments of prayer, fasting, and reflection. He pointed out that religions can contribute greatly to obtaining and consolidating peace.
India, Dayal says, has “an acrimonious and aggressive regional situation where warmongering seems to be the order of the day. Internally, the country is beset by a religiously polarized polity made the worse by repeated aggravation by powerful groups. In this context, the yearning for peace and the common endeavour of the people for peace assumed a very personal important. I support the Holy Father’s call to prayer and fast in the Lenten season.”
Father Francis Arackal, professor of Media and Philosophy in New Delhi, finds fasting as an efficacious means of establishing peace and equanimity within oneself. “Fasting is. Once this is done, this can be passed on to the larger society. I believe it is in this spirit that the Pope is requesting people to fast. Without peace, there cannot be development,” the Dominican priest told Matters India.