Bishop Udumala – Matters India

By Stanislaus Alla

New Delhi, April 21, 2024: The Catholics of the Diocese of Warangal, in the southern state of Telangana, received a pastoral letter from Bishop Bala Udumala during the Sunday liturgy on April 21.

The bishop, who is also chairman of the Committee on Theology and Doctrine of the Telugu Catholic Bishops’ Council, called for an urgent conversation among laity, religious and clergy in the Telugu states on the need to involve themselves in participatory processes to promote democracy and about the need to vote in elections.

Telangana goes to the polls on May 13.

The four-page pastoral letter discusses various challenges facing the nation. The letter also urges the Church’s associates, friends and benefactors, whether teachers in our institutions or the parents of the students or others, to become responsible citizens.

Bishop Udumala, a trained moral theologian, brings ethical principles such as dignity and rights, justice and solidarity to pastoral life. He is a reminder of how millions across the country are left behind and how they continue to be exploited and discriminated against in one way or another.

He encourages fellow Christians to enter the social space, as leaders and legislators, as judges and civil servants, and shape it for the better.

Speaking about the general elections now taking place in the country, Bishop Udumala stated that every person is indispensable and every vote counts. Will the person running for election uphold the Constitution of India and adhere to the values ​​enshrined in the preamble? “We have to ask ourselves when we choose who to vote for,” he warns.

Referring to Christians in Manipur, the bishop said that standing in solidarity with their suffering and seeking justice for them is fundamental to the Christian vocation. The Church supports and guides Dalits and Adivasis and others who are relentlessly seeking justice and making the cause their own, the letter said.

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