The All India Catholic Union (AICU), the largest association of India’s Catholic laypeople, joins the universal church in mourning Pope Francis, who died in the Vatican on April 21.
“We will miss a Lodestar who redefined for us the love of Jesus Christ for the world, expressing it in his focus on victims of war and climate change, gender issues, and religious, racial, and ethnic hate. Above all, we have lost a friend of the laity, a friend of the poor,” AICU national president Elias Vaz and the office bearers said in a statement.
“Known well to a select circle in Latin America, he was a stranger to the world when he ascended the seat of Peter as the Pope, but he left today as someone who had won the love of the people of the world who liked the way he talked to them and who liked the way he talked tough to the warmongers and hate mongers of the world, read the press note.
“In his tumultuous years as Pope, Francis reformed and healed the Vatican and the Catholic Church in general, taking brave steps in financial and bureaucracy reforms, outreach to the world of Islam and other major religions, and opposing wars in Gaza and Ukraine.
“Under him, the Vatican spoke on issues of science, including artificial intelligence, and on the environment and climate change.
“But to the common Catholic laity, Pope Francis was a member of the family they could trust. They participated enthusiastically in the synod he called for the family and the last where the people took part across the world in his call for walking together. In a way, it was the first time the faithful felt so integral to the church.
“Women, children, be they of Gaza or India or Africa, and youth had a friend in Francis. In recent times, the pope has appointed women to important positions in the Church, places for centuries reserved for men.
“Till fatal illness wore him down, the Pope had shown no signs of slackening pace. We will forever wonder what further reforms he had in mind to make the church ever more relevant in the lives of the people at this turn of history.
“The Catholic community will hope that his successor will carry on with the reforms initiated and carried out by Pope Francis,” the statement noted.
The Societies Registration Act 1860 registered AICU in 1919, and it serves as the Catholic laity's representative.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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