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CCBI
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias and Pakistani Cardinal Joseph Coutts left St. Peter's Basilica together yesterday, May 7, after the conclusion of the Mass "pro eligendo Romano Pontifice." Cardinal Gracias (81) leaned on Cardinal Coutts (79), who extended his arm and conversed with his confrere. The image vividly expressed the desire for peace and the existing relationship of the community, while military tensions between the two countries of origin, India and Pakistan, increased and clashes continued, particularly in the disputed region of Kashmir. When asked for a statement and an appeal for peace, the two Cardinals told Fides: "In the General Congregation before the Conclave on May 6, the entire College of Cardinals issued a public appeal for peace, citing scenarios such as Ukraine and the Gaza Strip. The appeal also includes the expression 'in many other parts of the world,' and this certainly includes the current situation between India and Pakistan, in which we implore the Lord for a just and lasting peace."
Meanwhile, Theodore Mascarenhas, Bishop of the diocese of Daltonganj, in the Indian state of Jharkhand, who has just returned from a meeting of the Executive Commission of the Bishops' Conference of India (CCBI) with about thirty other Indian bishops, told Fides: "At this meeting, we mentioned and focused our thoughts on the serious scenario of tensions between India and Pakistan. Our appeal is always a call for peace: we call for de-escalation, because war is always a defeat and serves no one. All problems, even those between states, can be resolved without violence. We bishops are united when we say and exhort our communities: Let us pray for peace." On the ground, observers fear an escalation, as Pakistan has reportedly repelled Indian drone attacks on nine cities, including Lahore, Karachi, and Rawalpindi, far from Kashmir. India, for its part, has evacuated thousands of people from villages near the highly militarized border between the two countries in the disputed Kashmir region. In the preceding days, 31 Pakistani civilians, including women and children, were killed in Indian missile attacks on nine locations in Kashmir and Pakistani Punjab as part of "Operation Sindoor," which India said targeted facilities of "terrorist groups." Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif promised revenge for the attacks by India, which now claims to have shot down Pakistani drones, stoking fears of a wider conflict between the two nuclear-armed states. According to the Indian Foreign Ministry, 13 civilians were killed and 59 wounded in the gun battles on the Kashmir border. The new wave of attacks and retaliatory strikes between India and Pakistan threatens to reignite the open conflict between the two countries, which has its roots in the 1947 partition. Since then, the two nations have fought three wars and there have been numerous firefights along the border in Kashmir, a predominantly Muslim region claimed by both countries since independence from the British Empire. (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 8/5/2025)
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