The Catholics of Warangal diocese, in the southern state of Telangana, on April 21 received a pastoral letter from Bishop Bala Udumala during the Sunday liturgy. The bishop, who is also the chairman of the Telugu Catholic Bishops’ Council’s Commission on Theology and Doctrine, called for an urgent conversation among the laity, religious and clergy across the Telugu states on the need to involve themselves in participatory processes to strengthen democracy and on the need to vote in the elections. Telangana goes to polls on May 13.
The four-page pastoral letter discusses various challenges facing the nation. The letter also urges the Church’s associates and friends and well-wishers, be they teachers in our institutions or the parents of the students or the others, to become responsible citizens. A trained moral theologian, Bishop Udumala infuses ethical principles such as dignity and rights, justice and solidarity into the pastoral. He reminds how millions across the country are left behind and how they continue to be exploited and discriminated against in one way or the other.
He exhorts fellow Christians to enter into civic space, as executives and legislators, as judges and public servants, and shape it for the better. On the general elections now underway in the country, Bishop Udumala states that each person is indispensable and each vote counts. Will the person standing for the elections uphold the Constitution of India and abide by the values enshrined in the Preamble. “We need to ask ourselves as we choose whom to vote,” he alerts. Referring to the Chri-stians in Manipur, the bishop states that being in solidarity with their suffering and seeking justice for them is fundamental to Christian vocation.
The Church endorses and accompanies Dalits and Adivasis and others who relentlessly seek justice, making the cause its own, the letter says.