Poverty main issue highlighted in Archbishop's letter: Goa Church

Days after Archbishop of Goa and Daman Father Filipe Neri Ferrao had stated that Constitution is in danger and many people are living in an atmosphere of insecurity, the Archbishop's secretary said his main focus was on various kinds of poverty.

"This year the issue which is focused is poverty. Poverty in different forms, it's not only economic poverty, persons who are dying of hunger and poverty which is emotional," Loiola Pereira told ANI.

"People who are abandoned by their own family, people who are abused in their own family, maybe children are being abused by their elders, all these ostracisms, these are all different forms of poverty which the bishop wants the church in Goa to address during this year," he added.

A pastoral letter is issued at the start of each pastoral year (1 June to 31 May) and highlights issues that are important to the diocese, a district under the pastoral care of a bishop in the Christian Church.

In his letter, the Archbishop mentioned that various minorities fear for their safety and people are being uprooted from their land and homes in the name of development

"The first victim of development is the poor person. It is easier to trample upon the rights of the poor because those who will raise their voice for them are very few," the letter read.

He also underscored the dangers the constitution of the country faced. He said that most people lived in insecurity as recent trends in the country saw a demand for uniformity eating, dressing, living and worship habits and the emergence of mono-culturalism.

"Human rights are under attack and democracy appears to be in peril," he added in his letter.

Earlier, the Archbishop of Delhi, Anil Couto, had asked the Christian community to observe a fast on Fridays and hold prayers for the nation's sake.