Pope Francis , returning the funds donated to His Holiness’ Charity Fund by Catholic Bishops Conference of Sri Lanka has requested the Local Church to help the Poor
The Catholic Church Sri Lanka collected funds from the Catholics at the Diocese level and the total amount collected was Rs.760,690.25 and the Colombo Archdiocese alone had collected Rs.6,323,490, Messenger, the Catholic Weekly of Sri Lanka, quoting His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith statement appearing in the Archdiocesan Monthly Koinonia said the donation was a gift of the Local Church to the Charity Fund initiated by His Holiness the Pope.
“Just before emplaning to Manila, His Holiness gave the cheque back to me and requested me to help the poor with it and report back to Him”.
Now the Catholic Bishops Conference of Sri Lanka has decided to divide it among the bishops to distribute the money among the needy and report back to His Eminence who in return submit a comprehensive report to His Holiness the Pope responding positively to his directives.
Pope Francis who has extensively spoken role of the Church in relation to the Poor and most needy in world human family, via His Apostolic Exhortation in Evengelli Gaudium – The Joy of the Gospel, underscored the importance of recognizing and respecting rights of the Poor, the injustices in unemployment, invites to all men of goodwill to cultivate the spirit of generous openness and take care of the weakest members of the society, the homeless, the addicted, refugees, indigenous peoples, the elderly who are increasingly isolated, abandoned and migrants. He admonishes the local churches to keep the doors open for the poor.”
A sign of God’s openness is that our church doors should always be open so that those who seek God will not find a close door, nor should the doors of the Sacraments be closed for simply any reason, stated the Weekly quoting Konania, the monthly bulletin of the Colombo Archdiocese.
Source: Sri Lanka Daily News
No comments:
Post a Comment