ASIA/INDIA - Holy Year under the sign of ecumenism: Catholic Church wants to include other Christian denominations

Thursday, 19 September 2024 ecumenicalism local churches jubilee

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New Delhi (Agenzia Fides) - It will be a Holy Year that will be lived in India under the sign of ecumenism: this is what the President of the Latin Rite Bishops' Conference (CCBI) in India and Archbishop of Goa and Daman, Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão, stresses in a letter to the 132 dioceses of the Latin Rite with over 16 million Indian Catholics. The letter calls for participation in the celebrations in an "ecumenical and interreligious spirit" because "the Holy Year coincides with the important ecumenical milestone of the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea," and accepting the Pope's invitation to "intensify our efforts for Christian unity and cooperation with other religions, reflecting the inclusive nature of our hope in God."
This goal was also reiterated at an ecumenical meeting held a few days ago in Bangalore, attended by 40 Christian representatives, including bishops, moderators and pastors from about 20 churches and ecclesial communities of the Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant and Evangelical denominations. The aim of the meeting was to strengthen the ecumenical movement in India, based on Jesus' prayer "that they may all be one" (John 17:21). The meeting, which was also attended by Archbishop Andrews Thazhath, Chairman of the Inter-Ritual Catholic Bishops' Conference (CBCI) (which comprises bishops of the Latin, Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara rites), decided to meet more frequently to promote communion and brotherhood among church leaders and to initiate the formation of an ecumenical federation of churches in India. It was also decided to hold a special national ecumenical assembly in 2025 to celebrate the Holy Year 2025 and the 1700th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea and the Nicene Creed.
The Christian churches in India intend to engage in dialogue and work closely together to address the pressing national issues of the present day. The assembly recalled the significant contribution of the Churches to nation-building and agreed to work to "dispel the false notion that Christianity is a foreign religion, since it has been present in India for about 2,000 years". The assembly called for the protection of minority rights and the safety of minority communities, and reiterated the will to work for the common good of India. (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 19/9/2024)