Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai re-elected President of CCBI for a third time

February 20 2009 Panjim Goa: In a press note, Indian Catholic News Service (ICNS) informs that Latin rite bishops have suggested a new ceremony of presenting bible ritually to children as way of promoting Bible among people. They suggested this at their general body meeting in Mysore, southern India, that ended Feb.18 in the Final Statement they issued after having reflected on “The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church”. 116 bishops and six lay leaders attended week-long meeting from February 12 -18.

They suggested several concrete ways of popularizing the Bible among the Christians, such as providing cheap editions, Bible enthronement in families. They also proposed a new initiation ceremony for children presenting a Bible. While only Baptism and First Communion are so far celebrated for children, perhaps at the age of reason, the Bishops proposed also what they called “Ceremonial Handing over of the Bible to Children,” they said.

At the colourful inaugural Mass, Archbishop Pedro Lopez Quintana, Apostolic Nuncio in India, called for inter-religious collaboration so that harmony and justice may prosper.“Concentrate on what unites us,” he appealed to members of all religions, “and think of what we can do together to alleviate the suffering of humanity.”At the felicitation ceremony attended by 10.000 people, priests and nuns among them, he underlined the urgency ofthe need of inter-religious dialogue.

The CCBI conducted fresh elections to its Office Bearers, as per statutory requirements. Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai was reelected President of CCBI for a third time. Delhi Archbishop Most Rev. Vincent Concessao was reelected Vice-president for the second time, Most Rev. Prakash Mallavarapu, the Bishop of Vijayawada as Secretary General for the third time.

The same agency also informs that The Conference of Catholic Bishops of India discussed the centrality of Sacred Scriptures in the life and mission of the Church. Fr. Lucien Legrand, a retired Scripture professor who taught Bible in St. Peter’s Seminary, Bangalore, said that the knowledge of the Bible is not just one of the “optional and beautiful” devotions in a Christian’s life but the “very identity” of that life itself and warned the bishops that Church structures would be "dead skeletons" if a deep biblical spirituality does not animate them.

There was also open sharing among the bishops coming from different parts of the country.The Bishops noted with concern the many challenges the country is facing today: the effects of the worldwide economic meltdown; the scourge of terrorism; the injustice of discrimination based on gender, caste and creed, etc.The Bishops in their final statement said they were especially concerned, “about the phenomenon of religious bigotry and intolerance which has led to repeated attacks and violence.”Referring to extensive religious literature, sacred writings, spirituality and traditions of India, the bishops call them “patrimony of the human family.” “We appreciate, among other things, the respect our people have for sacred texts and their thirst for contemplation,” they said.