New Delhi: Indian Vice President Venkaiah Naidu on December 12 commended Christians for their service to those on the periphery and share in building a new India, informed a Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) Press Release issued today.
“The Catholic community is peace-loving and it contributes immensely to nation building,” the vice president told a gathering that the CBCI organized to launch Christmas celebrations in the national capital.
“I have been attending Christmas functions at different parts of India as part of my political and social activities. This is the first occasion as the vice president of India that I am participating in a Christmas celebration,” said Naidu, who assumed the second highest office in the country on August 11, this year.
The Vice President asserted “People all over the world irrespective caste, creed or nationality celebrate Christmas with great joy and gaiety,” the vice president, the chief guest of the program, told the gathering comprising religious, political and social leaders as well as diplomats and media persons. “Jesus is the Son of God. He brings Good news to all seasons, peoples, cultures and nations. His message is the message of peace. If there is tension, we cannot have attention to any activities of peace”, said Mr. Naidu.
Stating that Christmas reminds us all to live up to the ideals and values preached and practiced by Jesus Christ, Mr Naidu said Christmas is the festival of love, joy and sharing. It is a time to renew our commitment to love and serve our families, communities and society; to be just and transparent in our dealings; to promote social and economic inclusion of all; to promote lasting peace between people of different religions and cultures and to promote sustainable development, he added.
The Vice-President said that every individual must revere his/her mother, mother tongue, birth place and motherland. Venkaiah Naidu said, “It is the duty of every Indian to preserve and protect our culture. Christian community, especially Catholics, work for people’s welfare. “They maintain best educational institutions in the country that create awareness about the need of education for the needy,” according to the release.
Christians have opened thousands of dispensaries and hospitals in remote areas and collaborate with the central and state governments. “The Christian community as a whole is assiduously engaged in contributing their share in building a new India which is united and strong,” the vice president said and added that he has personally witnessed how Christian helped in social transformation through formal and non-formal education.
“Education is the most important tool for social transformation. It helps impart values compassion, morality and ethics,” the vice president told the gathering held at the Community Hall of the Sacred Heart Cathedral Church that sits between two top Catholic schools in New Delhi – Columba’s and the Convent of Jesus and Mary.
The 68-year-old national leader urged Christians to continue their service with an added focus on the marginalized sections of society. Christmas, the festival of love and joy caring and sharing, is time to renew commitment to serve family, community and society, work for social and economic inclusion of all, and promote lasting peace, he added.
The Christmas message of peace is relevant in these days when people misuse religion. “If you have tension, there cannot be any progress,” the Vice President said. He also asserted that no religion preaches hatred or violence. “Religion has nothing to do with terror. Terror is the enemy of humanity,” he said.
The Vice President also urged the gathering to distinguish between religion and culture. “Let me once again clarify that religion is personal, while culture is a way of life”, he added. Religion, he explained, is worship and personal, whereas culture is a way of life where people love, share and take care of each other. Explaining further, he said, “Suppose you have a chapatti. If you eat the chapatti, it is prakriti (nature), if you snatch a chapatti from another it is vikriti (deviation) and if you share your share with another it is sanskriti (culture).”
He wants every individual to respect, preserve and protect our culture and use the Christmas season to correct “our deviations if any” and spread the message of love through action. He wants the government, enlightened people, communities and their leaders to help the suppressed and the oppressed come up in life to realize Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of “antiodaya” (rise of the last person).
CBCI president, Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, while felicitating the Vice President, reiterated the Catholic community’s commitment to the welfare of the country and its people. “We offer our best wishes, prayerful support, deep commitment even through martyrdom to take the nation to its height of glory,” said the cardinal who hailed the Vice President as “a close friend” of every community in the country.
The 58-year-old cardinal, who also heads the Syro-Malankara Church, said the Christian community is in India to give its service to the poorest of the poor. “The Church in India is at the service of the nation. People in the periphery need the Lord’s assurance,” he added.
He urged the government to take necessary steps to bring peace and progress to every citizen going beyond man-made boundaries. The head of the Indian Catholics reminds his countrymen that it is up to them to assure the world that diversity is not an obstacle, but the beauty of divine life.”
The cardinal also used the occasion to request the vice president to press the government to declare the recent Ockhi cyclone as a national disaster. The cardinal, who comes from Thiruvananthapuram, one of the worst affected by the November 30 cyclone, noted thousands of fishermen in southern coastal region have lost everything “except their faith in God.”
He stressed the need for satisfying, stable and long-term plan to rehabilitate the affected families. The Cardinal later told journalists that the Vice President promised to take up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The prelate said he has visited the affected areas twice and that the Church plans various ways to help the families.
Bishop Lumen Monteiro, Bishop of Agartala prayed that the Celebration of Christmas may enhance peace, joy and love in the world. Bishop Mar Barnabas of Gurgaon welcomed the guests. Bishop Jacob Barnabas in his welcome speech reminded that Christmas gives us the message of peace and Harmony.
Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, the Secretary General of CBCI, the chief organizer of the event expressed happiness that so many Ambassadors, Members of Parliament and Spiritual leaders from various Faiths had attended. Bishop Mascarenhas spoke of Christmas as the feast that brings all peoples, cultures and faiths together.
The Catholic Church in India runs over a mammoth 25000 schools and Colleges and looks after 85,000 beds in catholic run hospitals across the country, several of them in the remote locations. It also takes pride in more than 5000 registered NGOs catering to the basic needs of over 5 million poor and marginalized people annually.
The Children of Convent of Jesus and Mary School, Delhi created the spirit of Christmas through the singing of beautiful Christmas carols. Representatives from over 25 embassies along with members of the Apostolic Nunciature attended the function, the release added..