By Stephen Alathara

Bengaluru, Nov 12, 2022: The 33rd plenary assembly of India’s Latin Church began with a call from Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli to promote relations with other religions with the Gandhian spirit.

“All Christians must be committed to dialogue with others so that moral values are protected and God is praised in all creation,” the nuncio said November 11 while inaugurating the assembly of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) in Bengaluru, southern India.

The Vatican ambassador also encouraged the bishops to take steps to promote inter-religious dialogue and promote relations among people to foster the culture of peace.

CCBI president Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão chaired the inaugural function.

Recalling the pandemic, Cardinal Ferrao said that “It was an opportunity to prepare our collective future.” He stressed the need for Christians to reconnect with their real surroundings, contemplate the natural world, rethink our priorities and eliminate inequalities.

At the inaugural meeting, the dignitaries lighted the traditional Indian lamp as a symbolic sign of the beginning of the sssembly, while the choir chanted the mantra of peace.

CCBI vice president Archbishop George Antonysamy of Madras-Mylapore welcomed the gathering.

The CCBI triennial report was presented by CCBI secretary general Archbishop Anil Couto of Delhi.

The session concluded with the prayer led by Cardinal Anthony Cardinal Poola, Archbishop of Hyderabad.

The meeting felicitated the nuncio, who was attending the plenary first time. Cardinal Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Bombay, honored him with an Indian shawl, Cardinal Filipe garlanded him with the traditional sandal wood garland and Archbishop Antonysamy gifted him the Book of Gospels.

The two new cardinals – Ferrao and Poola — were also felicitated by the assembly. While Cardinal Ferrao was presented with a wooden statue of St. Philp Neri, Cardinal Poola was gifted St. Antony by the nuncio. Both new cardinals were offered sandalwood garlands by Cardinal Gracias.

A message from Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Pro-Prefect, Dicastery for Evangelization, was read by Archbishop Antonysamy.

The Indian edition of the “Document for the Continental Stage of the Synod” was released by the Nuncio. The document is the syntheses of documents resulting from the consultation of the People of God in the first phase of the synodal process. It will be the focus of the synodal journey of listening, dialogue and discernment in preparation for the Continental Synodal Assemblies.

The nuncio was also the main celebrant of the opening Mass.

The meeting discussed various matters affecting the Latin Catholic Church in India, which comprises 132 dioceses and 190 Bishops. The CCBI animates the Church in India through its 16 commissions, 6 departments and 4 apostolates. The CCBI is the largest bishops’ conference in Asia and the fourth largest in the world