Cardinal Gracias to represent Asia during meeting with pope

The Cardinal commission will meet from tomorrow in the Vatican.

(Photo Courtesy: timesofindia)

Vatican City:  Cardinal Oswald Gracias will represent Asia during the first meeting of the Cardinal commission with Pope Francis.

The eight cardinals, which were selected by the pope to advise him on reforming the governance of the Church, will meet the pontiff between Oct 1-3 inside the Vatican and then travel with him for his first visit to Assisi.

Cardinal Gracias is the only Asian representative in the commission which has been nicknamed the 'G8.' The other seven Cardinals come from different parts of the world.

In the past few months leading to this meeting, each Cardinal has been gathering information from the bishops in their region.

The Cardinals will bring up topics including the role of women in the Church, the issue of marriage annulments with the pope during the meeting.

Cardinal Gracias, who is also the Archbishop of Bombay, describes the commission as a new approach for the Church.

He says any reform must meet the current needs of the entire Church, not just the Church in Europe.

“I do feel that Catholics should expect lots of changes, in the sense of direction. But I don't think we could say that after the meeting there will be dramatic changes. No I don't expect that,” he said.

The Cardinal is well known as an outspoken critic of violence against women in India, and of promoting inter-religious dialogue.

During their first meeting, he hopes Pope Francis will take in account the needs from each corner of the world.

“He will be the one deciding everything, but we can bring the aspirations of the local people and the expectations of the world, the mentality of different cultures. I come from Asia: Asia is so very different from the rest of the world... India and China have together 30 per cent of the population of the world... Again, that's a very big segment,” he added.

He said he feels the Church is living through historic times after Pope Francis' election.

“But it's exciting, I think we are living in exciting times. The Holy Father is opening a door to the world, like John XXIII, and allowing the outside and expectations to come in and to respond, make the Church really relevant to the times,” the cardinal said.

Source: Rome Reports