As India gets ready for the world’s biggest exercise in democracy, the head of the Catholic Church in the country has called upon people to elect leaders who listen to people, understand their needs and respond effectively. The election is scheduled to be held in seven phases from April 11 to May 19 to elect 543 members of the 17th Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian parliament. The counting of votes will be conducted on May 23 and on the same day the results will be declared.
As reported by mattersindia.com, Cardinal Oswald Gracias, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), on the occasion of the general elections, said, “I urge every community to pray and to discern in prayer what is best for our country. We have to vote judiciously.” What Cardinal Gracias has done is to issue a pastoral letter to exhort people to exercise their franchise as a “sacred obligation” they owe to their country.
The CBCI has been issuing guidelines for voters before every general election in the past three decades. The CBCI president has reiterated that the Church’s stand to not identify with or support any political party in the election. The pastoral letter ends with an appeal to Catholics in the country to pray in churches and at home for a good government.
Source: www.mattersindia.com
