The first tribal cardinal of India, on his return from the fifth World Meeting of Families, urged the faithful to spend more time together as families and expressed hope of a richer Asian contribution at the next meeting.
Ranchi (AsiaNews/CBCI) The family apostolate "together with faith formation and Christian initiation should be the top priority in the pastoral agenda of the Church," declared Cardinal Toppo, the Archbishop of Ranchi, yesterday. He was speaking on returning from the fifth World Meeting of Families that was held in Valencia in Spain. "The Indian Church must play an important role in assisting our families to relish the God-given gift of the family to humanity," he said.
The Cardinal said: "It was prophetic of John Paul II to launch World Youth Day and the Meeting of Families, events of great importance" because "it is these times that unite hundreds of thousands of families from different corners of the world to share joys and sorrows, and to bear witness to Catholic faith."
"This latest meeting," said the first tribal Cardinal of India, "was huge, with more than one and half million Catholics gathered around their universal pastor, Pope Benedict XVI: it was a privileged expression of Catholic faith and family spirit."
"We have often heard it said, 'time is money', but there we understood that time is life. Unfortunately, many parents have no time either for each other or for their children, and the latter often do not participate in family life. This syndrome has weakened our families."
The cardinal continued: "Christianity is love and the heart of family life is love. If love is missing, the future of society and the Church could be at stake. The family is the school of faith and in our families, the younger generation should be initiated in the faith and inspired to share it with others."
The cardinal wrapped up his message by saying he "appreciated very much the rich and different inputs of the meeting", including the "family spirit and the celebration of faith". However, he felt that a "greater Asian contribution would have been more constructive and could enrich the next meeting".