Pope urges Christians of India to work together to share Gospel

Published: 2007-05-29

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Greeting the new head of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI urged the Christians of India to work together to share the Gospel and to reach out to other believers to promote justice and solidarity. Major Archbishop Isaac Cleemis Thottunkal of Trivandrum made his first visit to the Vatican as head of the church May 28, accompanied by a group of priests and nuns. The 47-year-old was elected in February to head the Eastern-rite church, which claims about 400,000 members in India and North America. Pope Benedict told the archbishop it was his duty to help his church live in full communion with the worldwide Catholic Church while also protecting the Syro-Malankara church's particular liturgical and spiritual heritage. "Now is a time of new evangelization, a time of constantly renewed and convinced dialogue with all our brothers and sisters who share our Christian faith, a time of respectful and fruitful encounter between religions and cultures for the good of all, and especially the poorest of the poor," the pope told him.

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