Kochi: The Family Commision of Kerala Catholic Bishop’s Council (KCBC) is all set to create a matrimony portal with an opening for young widows. The website is intended to spread a positive message against discrimination and also to boost the confidence of young women who lost their spouses.
“We want to bring in a change in the overall outlook to widows in our community. Even today society prescribes dress code for them and forces them to behave in a certain manner in social gatherings. They are humans and in no way they should be discriminated in society,” explained Father Paul Madassery, KCBC Family Commission Secretary.
Through this initiative, the Church wants to establish a space for the yet ostracised section of humanity. “We will help the young widows to register in the online matrimonial site and set up a new life for them. People today prefer to marry women widowed rather than divorced. The new matrimonial site will be fully operational in the coming days,” the priest added.
“We believe that there will be over lakh (100,000) widows in the Catholic Church. As we are collecting the data on a state level basis for the first time, it will take over a year for us to get the whole details. We will coordinate each diocese to collect the list of widows from the parishes,” Father Madassery said.
In addition, the KCBC has also set up a forum for all young widows in the Kerala region and is strategizing on various activities that could be used for widow empowerment. Selected women would be given special training which is then expected to be propagated in due course of time.
