Be active in politics, Catholic Laity told

KOCHI:  The Catholiclaity has to be more involved in  politics, Bishop Varghese Chakkalakal, chairman of the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) Laity Commission has said.Bishop Chakkalakkal was delivering the inaugural address at the two-day Catholic laity leadership conference which began at the Pastoral Orientation Centre (POC) at Palarivattom here on Friday.The conference, ‘Catholic Laity in Social and Political Fields of Kerala’, is being organised by the KCBC Laity Commission in association with the Kerala Catholic Federation and the Kerala Social Forum.“Keeping politics off our lives is not a good trend. The laity should intervene in politics to uphold democratic values.“The laity has to play a crucial role in the development of the country. The Church has always stood for good. We should follow politics that gives importance to unity and integrity of the country,” the bishop said.Kerala Catholic Federation president Jacob Abraham presided over the function. KCBC deputy secretary Stephen Alathara, KCBC Laity Commission secretary Jose Vithayathil, SyroMalabar Church Laity Commission secretary  V C Sebastian, Laity leaders Thomas M Mathunny, V V Augustine, Reji Mathew,Saiby Akkara, D Raju, Joly Pavelil and Smitha Bijoy spoke on the occasion.