Islamabad (AsiaNews) Self-reliance in terms of funding and personnel is the next challenge faced by the Catholic Church in Pakistan. In a statement made at the end of a meeting that involved intensive workshop sessions and discussions, the Major Superiors and Bishops of the country said that "after 150 years as a local Church, we should depend less on foreign resources and rely more on our own". Titled 'Towards a Self Supporting Church', the two-day meeting was held in Lahore last week.
Like many Churches in the developing world, the Catholic Church in Pakistan is also very dependent on foreign funding and personnel for its work. No doubt there have been many areas of growth and development at the local level, but the Bishops felt that much more needed to be done to accelerate the pace.
One of the key points that came out of the discussions was the need to simply the lifestyle of the clergy and religious so that it is more in line with the needs of the people.
Mgr Joseph Coutts, Vice President of the Pakistan Catholic Bishops' Conference and Sister Helen McAlister, Provincial Superior of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, were present.
The Apostolic Nuncio to Pakistan, Most Rev. Alessandro D'Errico, presided at the concluding Eucharist. In his homily, the Nuncio lauded the efforts of the local Church in taking this important step towards selfreliance. (QF)
