Bangalore diocese welcomes African migrants, “precious before God”
July 19, 2016 by admin
Filed under newsletter-india
Bangalore, July 18, 2016: The Archdiocese of Bangalore in Karnataka welcomed migrants from Africa with open arms at the St. Josephs Boys School in the state capital, where the Archdiocesan Commission for Migrants organised an event just for them.
Mgr Bernard Moras, archbishop of Bangalore, told AsiaNews that “the Jubilee of Mercy provided the impetus for the meeting. It is important to take care of the pastoral needs of migrants and dedicate ourselves to their well-being. “
The southern state of Karnataka has become a point of destination for many of Africa’s poor and people fleeing the continent’s conflict zones.
In view of the situation, the local Church has promoted various initiatives, the archbishop said, ” for both students and those who leave their homeland in search of job opportunities.”
“They are,” the bishop noted, “precious before God and dear to all of us.” For this reason, “We welcome you wholeheartedly. We want you to feel loved, accepted, as if you were at home. ”
The migrants, more than 100 people, appreciated the diocese’ initiative, whose aims is to favour greater integration with the local community.
Odo Amos Ikechukwu, a young Nigerian, is one of them. “I feel so happy to have found a home away from home,” he said. “I no longer feel lost or alone since I heard that the archdiocese has a commission that takes care of us. We feel that it takes care of us even from the spiritual point of view. “
In order to approach African Christians, who mostly speak French, different parts of the “liturgy are in French, like the songs or readings,” Mgr Moras explained. “Caring for migrants is part of my mission and providing for their spiritual needs in their mother tongue is a major aspect of pastoral care.”
The diocese is also involved in the care of domestic migrants as well. For Mgr Moras, “Pastoral care of all migrants is the special focus of our extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy”.
William Kengne Gatchuessi Guillaume, a native of Cameroon, thanked the Archbishop for having “created a commission that helps people feel a sense of belonging to the Church and God’s love and tender care as we build our careers in India”.
– asianews
congratulations for the compassion shown to the migrants ;we already have so many from odisha niyamgiri hills jashpur in chattisgarh and simdega and khunti and kurdeg in jharkhand are being systematically uprooted and driven out of their place of origin .where is the compassion and the mercy for these people who are of indigenous origin ,the bishops of ambikapur kunkuri and ranchi are not unaware of this but things are being conveniently being swept under the carpet .who will fill the churches for mass on sunday and the weekdays once these people owners of theirlanded property are being thrown out of their natural habitat on the pretext of development and mining projests . diamonds in chattisgarh and coal and the best quality iron ore in niyamgiri hills taken over bythe korean comppany posco to be converted into steel sheets which is imported back to india for extremely high price and rate of duty when the iron of the best quality leaves our shores for a pittance . is the compassion for these migrants not misplaced .well the voice of conscience is the only knock in the door for the church in asia . quodos to the news coverage givenwe pray that all infra structure is avaiable for all for education, health and work with human dignity. .