New Delhi (Fides Service) - Chair persons and secretaries of the CCBI Conference of Catholic Bishops of India recently identified pastoral priorities for 122 dioceses of Latin Rite, for the coming year.
CCBI president Bishop Oswald Gracias of Agra and vice president Bishop Valerian D’Souza of Poona chaired a meeting of about 70 participants. Emerging priorities included: formation for the laity and the clergy, revitalisation of liturgical celebrations to make them more significant and solemn.
The Bishops confirmed that lay Catholics play a major role in catechesis and encouraged the formation of Basic Church Communities in the spirit of the early Christians to be witnesses to the values of the Gospel.
The assembly agreed that a key element is pastoral care for families who need to be visited regularly by parish priests and become in turn agents of evangelisation. Among the urgencies noted, the need for evangelisation in northern India where many have still to hear the Good News of Jesus.
The Bishops also discussed initiatives and strategies to intensify ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue, sectors in which the Church is committed in the multicultural, multi-religious society of the Indian subcontinent.