Launched by the Episcopal Conference of the Latin Rite on the eve of World Migration Day, September 29. It allows those who travel in search of work to register to be welcomed and helped by the community that arrives. A presence that also brings wealth to local parishes, as demonstrated last Sunday in Bombay by the Karam festival, celebrated by more than 800 Catholic migrants in St. Stephen’s Church.
Mumbai () – On the eve of World Migrant Day – which the Church celebrates this Sunday around the world on the theme indicated by Pope Francis “God walks with his people” – The Conference of Catholic Bishops of the Latin Rite of India (CCBI) has inaugurated a new digital portal integrated into the platform CatholicConnect.in. The objective is to help emigrants who move for work from one part of the country to another and around the world.
India, which has one of the largest diasporas, also has more than 450 million internal migrants. These people often face problems related to exploitation and access to basic services. In response, the Catholic Church is stepping up its efforts to help migrants, refugees, internally displaced persons, unaccompanied minors, and victims of human trafficking.
The portal will be a vital resource that will allow migrants to register and access Church services regardless of their location. Dioceses and parishes across India will support the initiative by helping migrants register, while trained volunteers from migrant communities will assist those in need.
Fr. Jaison Vadassery, executive secretary of the Indian Episcopal Commission for Migrants – during the launch ceremony of the initiative held in the presence of Card. Philip Neri Ferrão, archbishop of Goa and president of the CCBI, stressed that the service is open to all, regardless of caste, creed or religion. “The portal will allow the Church to accompany migrants in a more meaningful way, as we did during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he explained. The platform will help migrants enroll in government programs and provide them with help in emergency situations, for example to ensure healthcare or education for their children.
Along with this type of assistance, attention is of course paid to the pastoral life of migrant communities, which is also carried out by improving their traditions. A very beautiful example was the Karam festival celebrated on Sunday, September 22 in Mumbai, in the church of St. Stephen on Cumbala Hill: more than 800 members of the tribal community of Hindi emigrants gathered as they do every year for this profoundly harvest festival. rooted in its tradition. It is a vibrant celebration in which spirituality, culture and community are harmoniously intertwined. The day began with a solemn Eucharistic celebration in Hindi, followed by a cultural program in which each community had the opportunity to show their dances, songs and expressions of their culture.
“It was a great joy,” commented the auxiliary bishop of Bombay, Bishop Dominic Savio Fernandes, “to see their synchronized steps and hear their songs in unison, with smiles that radiated inner joy, which says a lot about the harmony that exists between these simple but very loving and attentive people.” The majority of these emigrants are women who work as domestic workers. They don’t make much, but they are big-hearted people who showed us how to give with a smile. They are simple people but deep in their spirituality, with great faith in Jesus Christ. “It was a really enriching experience for me.”
“We, those of St. Stephen’s Church in Cumballa Hill,” adds the parish priest of this community, Father Pravin D’Souza, “can affirm without a doubt what Pope Francis says about the encounter with the Lord in migrants. Personally, I feel spiritually uplifted by the testimony of deep faith and evangelical values of our parish’s Hindu migrant community from Chotanagpur and other regions, despite all the challenges they face being far from home. His wholehearted participation in the Hindi mass celebrated every Sunday, singing, dancing and answering prayers, sets a great example for us. “Their strong faith helps them unite as a community and maintain their roots and rich tradition.”
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