7 June 2023
Malligemane, Bishop's House, Shimoga: The meeting of the Directors/Secretaries of various Pastoral Commissions of the Diocese was held at the Bishop's House, Shimoga on 7 June 2023 from 9.30am under the Chairmanship of Most Rev Dr Francis Serrao SJ, the Bishop of Shimoga. Several Directors and the Deans were present and actively took part in the meeting.
The meeting was convened as part of review and presentation of the report and action plan and to take stock of how the Commissions are functioning in the diocese. The Coordinator of the Pastoral Commissions, Fr Duming Dias, briefed the members about the agenda and requested the directors to present the report objective-wise. The Directors of Bible, Catechetics and Liturgy, Ecumenism, Education, Family, Inter-Religious Dialogue, Justice and Peace, Laity, Health, Pastoral Care of Differently Abled, Proclamation and Evangelization, SC/ST/BC, Social Communication, Social Concerns and Development, Vocation and Formation, Youth, Women and Prison Ministry were present while the other directors were absent for the meeting. The Directors presented their commission's report and answered the queries asked by other directors.
In his exhortation, the Bishop thanked the directors for their yeoman service to the diocese in spite of their busy schedule/responsibilities. He admonished them to present the report as per the objectives of their commission enshrined in Mission-2025 of the diocese; to attend the Regional and National Meetings of the Commissions and send a copy of the report presented in such fora to the Diocesan Coordinator of the Pastoral Commissions of the Diocese; to network with other commissions; to make their Commissions vibrant; to send report of an activity that conduct with some photos to him for the website and send at least two circulars in a year to parish priests, mission directors and religious houses.
The Coordinator spoke of the activities conducted by the Pastoral Centre, Sannidhi , namely, Diocesan Level Training for the Preparation of Parish Pastoral Plan for the PPC, PFC Secretaries Office bearers of the associations, Parish Level Training for the PPC and PFC members and office bearers of the associations of the Parish, Meeting if the Deanery Commission Committee members.
Earlier, the meeting began with an invocation by Sr Helen Moras. Fr Roman Pinto welcomed the gathering while Fr Veeresh Moras proposed vote of thanks. The meeting concluded with the Angelus by Fr Pius Dsouza.
