Bengaluru archdiocese holds meet on ’African nationals feel at home’

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, July 19, 2016: Bengaluru Catholic archdiocese,  is trying to reach out to migrants from various African nations in the backdrop of increasing attacks on people from the world’s second-largest continent.

“You are precious before God and are dear to all of us. We welcome you without any reservation,” Archbishop Bernard Moras of Bangalore told more than 100 African nationals on July 17, Sunday.

He was addressing a special program organized by the archdiocese for African nationals at St. Josephs Boys School in the capital city of Karnataka state.

The archbishop had created the Bangalore Archdiocesan Commission for Migrants in October 2015 to make people hailing from different countries and other Indian states “feel accepted and at home” in Bengaluru, the Silicon Valley of India.  The archdiocesan initiative comes in the backdrop of a few incidents of attacks on African nationals in some Indian cities such as New Delhi. Local people in these cities tend to look at these immigrants with suspicion after a few incidents of crime involving them.

With increasing job prospects, Bengaluru is witnessing a steady influx of people from various countries and Indian states. 

Viewed as the cementing of long standing friendships between the two continents, an attempt to take this forward crystallized in the form of the May 2016 Africa Day Celebrations in New Delhi with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

However, 42 countries threatened to boycott the event in the wake of attacks against African nationals in the country and the murder of Masonga Kitanda Olivier, a 23-year-old Congolese French teacher.

Several participants of the archdiocesan program applauded the initiative.    The archdiocesan commission regularly organizes spiritual and cultural programs in various parts of the city to make the migrants feel accepted and cared for by the Church.

The Sunday program was exclusively organized for Africans working and studying in and around Bengaluru


Jesuit Father Martin Puthussery, general secretary for the commission, steered the gathering into discussions on pertinent subjects related to the life of migrants the world over.

The participants included Fr. Joseph Antony, rector of Jesuit Nivas, and priests and religious associated with the commission’s activities.