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» 06/30/2012 10:04
INDIA
Cardinal Gracias: in midst of economic and social crisis, we remember St. Josemaria Escriva
by Nirmala Carvalho
On the memorial of the founder of Opus Dei, the Archbishop of Mumbai reaffirms the importance of the universal call to holiness, preached by the Spanish priest. The Church and Christians in India must witness this holiness in their life and work.

Mumbai (AsiaNews)
- The teachings of St. Josemaria
Escriva de Balaguer, a true “saint of our times”, are “more
urgent” than ever in these times of economic and social crisis, said card.
Oswald
Gracias, archbishop of Mumbai and president of the Bishops’ Conference of India
(CBCI), commemorating the founder of Opus Dei on June 26, his liturgical
memorial. For
the occasion, the cardinal celebrated Mass in the church of S. Andrea in Bandra (Mumbai).

Canonized
by Pope John Paul II October 6, 2002, the Spanish priest founded the Personal
Prelature of Opus Dei in 1928. St. Josemaria
Escriva preached the universal call to holiness, affirming the importance of
work as a means of personal holiness and apostolate, when lived in union with
Christ.

According to Card. Gracias,
the priest’s teaching on the sanctification of the work is now
“urgent” to “bring honesty into public life” so that ”
ethics, morality and values ​​return to center stage.” In
fact, “the proper functioning of the global economy requires fundamental
values ​​and a common code of ethics, founded on faith and reason. And the call
to holiness and apostolate to the testimony of the Gospel, is the call of every
Christian.”

In
India, where Christians are a minority of just 2.3% (and Catholics are only 1,
8%), the teachings of the saint are even more fundamental. “Living
in a non-Christian society – said the cardinal – requires us to witness this
holiness every day with our lives. We are called to have a structured and
mature faith: this is the priority of the Church in India”.

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