Panaji, May 11, 2020: Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrão of Goa has urged his faithful to help migrant laborers going home after being rendered jobless because of the nationwide lockdown.
“We are all going through troubled times, caused by the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic and we need to recognize among those who have been most affected by this phenomenon,” says a circular from the archbishop appealing for solidarity with the migrant laborers.
Goa, a tourist state in western India, has hundreds of thousands of migrant workers.
The prelate’s May 10 circular points out the “intense involvement” of the Indian Church to alleviate the plight of the dispossessed people “whose desperation and fear are on the rise with every passing day.”
In his own archdiocese, parish groups have teamed up members of religious congregations, government organizations, NGOs, self-help groups across religious confines to bring various kinds of relief to the affected people.
Archbishop Ferro attached a copy of an earlier circular issued Cardinal Oswald Gracias, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, calling for solidarity and funds for Caritas India.
The cardinal noted that Caritas India, the social action wing of the Indian Church, has reached out to millions of migrant laborers scattered throughout India.
The Goa archbishop pleaded his people, institutions and “people of good will” to contribute generously to this humanitarian call.
“We call upon our pastors, heads of Church institutions and superiors of religious communities to bring the contents of these circulars to the knowledge of those under their care and thus enable everyone to take part in this drive of the Church in India to bring relief to
Source: navhindtimes.in