The Cardinal and the people of Jharkhand

From the Times of India comes the story of a papal envoy to tribal peoples in India. His message was one of solidarity, hope and concern for ecology.

Once again, the Church’s efforts to help the lives of the poor factors in the condition of the environment in which they live, eat, drink and breath.

A few snippets are below:

Ranchi—Archbishop of Westminster Cormac Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, a representative of Pope Benedict XVI, took home the details of the plight of the tribals of Jharkhand.

Two papers were presented during the symposium both of which highlighted the sorry state of affairs of the tribals. While director of Xavier's Institute of Social Service (XISS) Alex Ekka spoke about the social concerns of Jharkhand highlighting the rich resources of the state and deprivation of the tribals, former principal accountant general of West Bengal Benjamin Lakra threw light on tribal being deprived of their identity by corrupt politicians who snatched away jal jangal and jamin (water, forest and land) from them.

Responding to the issues highlighted during the symposium, the papal envoy said he was moved to hear the plight of the tribal people. "I have come here not to preach but to listen and learn and I have learnt about the task remaining in Jharkhand so that socio-economic justice could be brought to the tribal population," he said. Connor stressed that as a Catholic he believed in serving as a steward to earth and its people so that the resources were not plundered at the cost of climate and ecology. "Care for people and care for earth is most important for sustainable development," he said.

Of course we keep Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor and the people of Jharkhand in our prayers. And we can get to know them a little better with this video Mud House from Maarten van der Glas on Vimeo.