NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTION 99
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Catholics seeks subsidy to visit Holy Land

Church leaders of India have appealed to the government to grant poor Christian subsidies for a pilgrimage to the Holy Land this year, where celebrations are on to mark 2000 years of the Christian faith.

Today, Father Immanuel Dominic and Lourdu Swamy, both members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India, met Union Law Minister Ram Jethmalani to put forward their plea. Last week, CBCI officials had met Human Resources Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi.

Both the ministers have promised to look into the matter and, at a personal level, have agreed to the request.

CBCI officials also said they had met Home Minister L Kadvani informally and that he had asked them to make a representation to him. They further added that last year, in December, they had raised this request during a meeting with Prime Minister A B Vajpayee.

"So far, everyone whom we have met has in principle agreed to our request and are very sympathetic but, at an official level, nothing seems to be moving," complained Dominic.

This year, all across the Holy Land -- Jerusalem, Bethelem, Nazareth -- celebrations are on to commemorate 2000 years of the Christian faith. Pilgrims from all over the world are congregating throughout the year.

"The celebrations are already on and we are keen to provide some sort of subsidy to the poor Christians who are keen to make this pilgrimage," said Dominic.

The CBCI is requesting free air travel for about 4,000 such poor pilgrims.

"We have calculated and it does not work out to too much," said Dominic,

"Moreover, this is a one in a millennium request. It does not come up every year as is the case with the Haj pilgrimage, which is also subsidised by the government."

CBCI are only keen that with only nine months for the year 2000 left, the government must act fast so that poor Christians can start making the pilgrimage soon. "So far only the rich Christians are making the journey and we hope the government will grant this subsidy so that the poor too can make it," added Dominic.

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report