Cardinal Oswald Gracias, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, says consistent dialogue with all sections of people is important and necessary to maintain unity and harmony in society.

“Dialogue is the tapestry of different cultures, languages and ethnic diversity and the Church has always stood for service of society,” the cardinal, who is also the Archbishop of Bombay, told a press conference on February 12, the eve of the bishops’ conference’s 34th biennial plenary session.

The February 13-19 meet at the St John’s Academy of Medical Sciences has chosen the theme “Dialogue: The Path to Truth and Charity.”

Cardinal Gracias called for a variety of dialogues, particularly cultural dialogue for the whole country.

As a new decade begins, the Catholic Church in India will move forward to dialogue with all groups in society. This could include civic bodies, government and non-governmental organizations so as to create a peaceful and a harmonious environment for all to live as true citizens of the rich land, India, the cardinal said.

The cardinal, one of the six consultants of Pope Francis, assured all Indian citizens that the Church in India would continue to live the gospel values of peace, joy and harmony and always work for the whole humanity.

“I place into the Lord’s hands this plenary assembly and pray that the fruits of the week-long deliberations may inspire us to continue to build bridges, first by under-standing the other person and then walking along with him/her, irrespective of his caste, creed and colour.”

Asked about the novelty of the theme, the cardinal said the plenary had the same theme 20 years ago and it might come up again. The Church wants to give an impetus and vitality to this theme with more networks to improve the dialogue, he said added that the Church looked forward in dialoguing for anybody having anxiety as the Church is second to none for many services.