by Nirmala Carvalho

The archbishop of Mumbai celebrated a Thanksgiving Mass to mark the first anniversary of the beginning of the Petrine ministry, which he calls "a year of grace for the whole Church, for India and for the world." The prelate also remembers Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and "his immense love for the Church."

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - "In the first year of his pontificate, Pope Francis touched the lives of people with ease. He brought the joy of the Gospel and showed mercy, tenderness and hope," said Card Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Mumbai, as he celebrated the Holy Father on the first anniversary of the beginning of the Petrine ministry, which today is also his name day, Saint Joseph (Jorge in Spanish). On this occasion, the cardinal led and co-celebrated a Thanksgiving Mass in Mumbai's Holy Name Cathedral.

"This has been a Year of Grace for the Universal Church, for India and for the World," Card Gracias said. "The continuity in the teachings and in the tradition remains unbroken and unchanged and the joy and humble simplicity of Pope Francis is capturing the world's attention

As the anniversary of Pope Francis falls right in the pre-Easter period, the archbishop of Mumbai noted that in a passage from the Holy Father's message for Lent, the latter noted that "we Christians are called to confront the poverty of our brothers and sisters, touch it, make it our own and take practical steps to alleviate it."

This exhortation touches the local Church in particular, the prelate said, because in India, "a country marked by a dehumanising level of poverty," the Church has "socio-pastoral obligations towards the marginalised".

The prelate also fondly remembered Benedict XVI, whose name day is also today. Speaking about the pope emeritus, he noted his "immense love for the Church, and that the people of India remember him with love and hold him in their prayers."

• india
• gracias
• pope
• anniversary
• saint
• joseph