A warm but impressive felicitation was accorded to the newly nominated Chairman and Member of the Christian Development Council (CDC) Mr. Joylus D’Souza, and Mr. B. Yesudas respectively. The Most Rev. Dr. Peter Machado, Archbishop of Bangalore, and President of the Karnataka Region Catholic Bishops’ Council and President of All Karnataka United Christian Forum for Human Rights, while complimenting the young leaders, called upon them to work zealously in fulfilling the aspirations of the minority community. He assured them of his prayerful support and also conveyed to them our good wishes. In the end, His Grace imparted his blessings for their successful service to the entire Christian Community in Karnataka.
Earlier, the program commenced with a short prayer led by Rev. Fr. Martin Anil, Asst. Financial Administrator. He invoked God’s blessings upon the august gathering, especially upon the office-bearers of the CDC. Rev. Fr. Faustine Lobo, PRO –KRCBC, welcomed the gathering and made a few important and practical suggestions to help the new team to streamline the process of availing and disbursement of the Govt. grants before the end of this fiscal year. If it is not used fully, the remaining amount to be added to the next year’s allotment funds.
The gracious presence of Archbishop Emeritus, The Most Rev. Dr. Bernard Moras, added impetus to the gathering. He passionately recalled the relentless efforts that were put in with the coordination of the Regional Bishops to make the CDC a reality today. His Grace also advised the new office-bearers to make the CDC an effective channel by fairly allotting, without much hassle and hardships, the required funds that the Govt. has set aside for the minority community.
After a brief interaction and queries from among the members present, Mr. Joylus D’Souza and Mr. YesuDass responded saying that the new office is not only gives them honour, but also impels them to do their responsibility with greater commitment. They felt that it is truly challenging and yet greatly rewarding as their office would make them work for the benefit of the Christian community. They also assured that no effort would be spared to ensure that all benefits flow to the community unhindered. They reiterated that they would take the suggestions of all the Bishops of Karnataka and the Church leaders into confidence while formulating the new programmes and policies.
At this felicitation function, besides Msgr. S. Jayanathan and Msgr.C Francis, several leaders representing various communities of the Archdiocese joined the Archbishop in extending their warm greetings of good wishes to these leaders.
A Vote of Thanks was proposed by Mr. J. A. Kanthraj, PRO & Spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Bangalore.
The short felicitation program came to a close with a thanksgiving prayer and the blessing of the Archbishops.
- J. A. Kanthraj