News: Adolf Washington
Daijiworld Media Network – Bangalore (SB)

Bangalore, Oct 7: “The kingdom of God will grow when there is a spirit of collaboration between priests and the laity," said archbishop Bernard Moras.

He was presiding over the concluding celebration of 'Vachanotsava' (the year of the word of God) and the inauguration programme of the 'Year of Priests' in the Archdiocese St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral here, recently. He said "Pray for your priests when you feel they do not meet your expectations but also realize that we are all on the journey to perfection and so a priest comes to you with all his strengths and weaknesses.

Moras added, "I wish we could treat our Bible like the cell phone. We carry the cellphone everywhere and without it, we are very uneasy, he added referring to the pocket edition of the New Testament that the Karnataka Region Bishops Council is all set to release.

Deans from all the deaneries of the archdiocese personally presented their reports of activity at the gathering. The activities during the year of the word of God ranged from quizzes and cultural programmes to Bible conferences and symposia. Several institutions are also engaged in publishing booklets and tracts for free distribution.  Over 10,000 Bibles were distributed through out the year.

Over a hundred priests concelebrated mass with the Archbishop later in the evening. An elevating moment in the service was when the archbishop prayed for priests while priests held lighted candles in their hand. The light was symbolically given first to the archdiocesan curia members including vicars general Monsignori T S Amruthraj and Joe Francis, episcopal vicar Fr Paul Puthnangady, chancellor Fr A Michael and finance officer Fr C Francis.