Mumbai Church plans to adopt nearby railway station

This will be the first time a church, or any religious institution, has adopted a railway station in Mumbai.

India(UCAN): 

The parishioners of St Joseph Church in Vikhroli in Mumbai, along with the members of the Bombay Catholic Sabha, plan to adopt Vikhroli railway station and work towards cleanliness and beautification of the premises.

This will be the first time a church, or any religious institution, has adopted a railway station in Mumbai. The priests have taken a cue from Pope Francis' recent encyclical on climate change which urged the flock to protect the earth, its "common home".

Over the past few weeks, the priests at St Joseph Church in Vikhroli have been living the maxim that every drop of water contributes to make the mighty ocean. They have distributed reusable bags to all families to persuade them to avoid plastic. They have replaced all conventional lights in the church with LED bulbs and installed rainwater harvesting systems in the church and school buildings. As a result, they no longer utilize water supplied by Mumbai Corporation for the garden and toilets.

Taking a big leap forward, the parishioners now plan to adopt the nearby railway station.

"We are awaiting permission from the BMC and railway authorities," says parish priest Fr Rocky Banz. "Ours is the church closest to the station, and our youth members studying in Class XI and XII are enthused by the plan."

St Joseph's has around 8,000 parishioners, mostly young working couples, who participate wholeheartedly in all spiritual programmes and church associations. Interestingly, the church is also correlating the nine days of the ongoing novena to nine themes on the environment. The feast marking the nativity of Mother Mary will be held on September 8. "Every day since August 30, preachers have been using the homilies to create awareness. We have discussed the pollution of land and water resources, its impact on human life and what we can do to stem the decline," Fr Rocky says. Children of St Joseph's School joined in enthusiastically to display a large banner in support of the cause.

Source: The Times of India