As many as 500 Catholic women in the eastern Indian city of Bhubaneswar celebrated the International Women’s Day by pledging to foster women’s empowerment and gender equality through education. The women came to the March 10 event from various Mass centers of the Saint Vincent Cathedral Parish in the Odisha capital. The program began with Mass celebrated by Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar. The Divine Word prelate, in his homily, commended the wo-men for attending the program in significant numbers and said that if all women could embrace dignity, self-respect, and equa-lity in their daily lives, there would be no need to observe Women’s Day on a specific date.
The archbishop wanted the empowerment of all women within his archdiocese, encou-raging their active participation across all aspects of the Church and society. The event took place at Maa Velankini Mass Center in the Salia Sahi Slum of Bhubaneswar, which was set up as a temporary facility to accommodate the increasing number of Catholics, who came to the city following the 2008 anti-Christian violence in Kan-dhamal district. Sacred Heart’s Sister Sujata Jena, secretary to the Commission for Women of the Archdiocese, in her opening address said that the annual observation of women’s day would not make women equal. Only “conscious and regular” attempts by both men and women would help avoid people falling into the sin of patriarchy, she said and cited several in-stances where laws to prevent discrimination against women are being violated, despite the constitutional guarantee of equality.