Chennai, Feb 13, 2010 (Daijiworld): Christian leaders and journalists addressing over 900 priests at the Indian Priests Congress in Vailankanni (Thanjavur) on Thursday February 11, called for ‘a radical change in thinking among the Christians and a deeper involvement in the politics and governance of the country as much as being a watchdog to the democracy of this country’.

Vice chairperson of the National Minorities Commission, declaring his cell number to all the priests at the Congress, said “I want to be available to all of you. I have vowed from the very beginning to stand by the minority communities, whether Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or Sikh. I want to fight alongwith you, whenever there is a violation of our rights, as enshrined in the Constitution of India”. He urged the priests, saying “You are leaders of large communities of people, the onus of making people involve in the democratic process of this country and educating people to involve in honest governance for the future of this country is your responsibility”. “We must not allow anyone to violate our freedom and dignity or anyone who indulges in activities that are anti-democracy” he added.

Dr John Dayal, journalist and member of the National Integration Council, told the gathering of priests and Bishops, “There is a multitude of people who have been denied their basic rights, just because they embraced Christianity. As leaders of the Christian community, you must collaborate with the people of all the minority communities to ensure that nobody loses his rights just because of change of religion”. He was referring to the dalits and the marginalized classes of people. He denounced the fascist and fundamentalist forces in the country.

Journalist Anto Akkara, whose book on the Kandhamal communal violence was released by Kuldip Nayar, told the gathering of his eye witness accounts of the sufferings of the people of Kandhamal and recalled how important it was “to wake up as the ashes of Kandhamal are the ashes of secularism”, indicating that the secular fabric of the country is at stake because of the fundamentalist forces. CBCI PRO, Babu Joseph, urged the leaders in the Christian Community, saying "We cannot afford to take the onslaught of fundamentalism lying down. There is a visible trend of fascist and fundamentalist organizations trying to create animosity between the people of different religious communities and deny us the basic rights we are entitled to by the Constitution."

Vatican Prelate, Cardinal Claudio Hommes, Prefect for the Congregation of Priests, represented Pope Benedict XVI during the three-day Congress that ended on February 11. The Congress was organized in view of the Holy Father declaring the year June 2009-2010 as ‘The Year of Priests’.