By Lissy Kurian
Panaji, June 14, 2023: Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrao, the archbishop of Goa and Daman, has urged his people to reach out to those keeping away from the Church such as people in live-in relations.
“Jesus was a leader who went in search of (lost) people. Likewise, we need to love and welcome those who have isolated themselves from the Catholic Church and those who work against the Church and her mission,” the cardinal said in the archdiocese’s latest annual pastoral letter that seeks the faithful’s help to renew the Church.
In the latest letter, the 70-year-old cardinal urges his people to integrate Catholic migrants into the parish structures, give a greater role to the physically disabled, and welcome gender and sexual minorities and those in live-in relationships.
He reminds his people that the Church that renews itself is “a dynamic Church and a dynamic church is a missionary Church.”
“A Church that fails to adapt herself to the times becomes atrophied and grows old. The renewal of the Church is inevitable if she remains faithful to her vocation and her mission,” the cardinal asserts.
The cardinal on June 1 released the pastoral letter for 2023-2024 with the theme, “You also should do as I have done to you “(Jn 13,15) that stressed Church renewal through dialogue with the world.
The archdiocese has issued the annual pastoral letters since Cardinal Ferrao became its archbishop in 2004.
The previous year had two themes: ‘Follow Me,’ and ‘For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission,’ the theme of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops October 2023.
The theme for the 2021-2021 was, “You are my witnesses.”
In the latest letter, the cardinal exhorts the people “to establish Good Samaritan Fund in parishes to reach out efficiently to the needs of the orphans, aged the widows and those in the peripheries.”
Speaking on “dialogue with the world around us,” he urges his people to “be constantly in dialogue with the government and other social institutions. By doing so, the Church, like Jesus, collaborates in the betterment of society.”
He also urges the lay faithful “to participate in Gram Sabha (village council) meetings and dedicate themselves to the important task of renewing the world.”
He reminds the Christians involved in political and social realms to follow the path of truth and justice taught by Jesus.
Calling for the care of Creation Cardinal Ferrao urges everyone to be “mindful of the way one uses water and food and to avoid wastage. This is one of the ways by which we can be at the service of the poor and the needy.”