Religious fundamentalism and environmental degradation were some of the issues discussed during the first-ever West Zone Jesuits conclave at Mumbai.

The May 3-6 conclave, which was organized by Gujarat Jesuit activist Father Cedric Prakash, finalized the agenda termed as march “Towards New Frontiers Together.”

The West Zone included provinces of Bombay, Goa, Gujarat and Pune.

The meeting expressed concern over the growing religious fundamentalism, which it said has legitimized the use of physical violence and torture. The meeting wanted the Jesuits to expose the falsehoods of the religious extremists.

It focused on forming local communities, engage in advocacy on human, religious and minority rights, organize seminars, conferences, multi-religious prayer services and retreats.

It also wanted Jesuits to be more proactive and train youth to face the problem of fundamentalism.

The conclave stressed on the need to evolve a community structure and have regular community meetings to facilitate participatory decision making, improve communication and collaborate with other Jesuit communities.

The meeting also deliberated on the large scale displacement and migration caused by government’s lopsided developmental projects, environmental degradation, lack of irrigation facilities or even conflicts leading to miseries to poor classes like dalits and indigenous people.

The conclave also took note of environmental and ecological degradation, particularly in Western Ghats and the Arabian coastline in Maharashtra, Alang ship-breaking yard in Gujarat and mining in Goa. It directed to assign a suitable Jesuit to promote ecological concerns.

The conclave recommended the Jesuits to engage in advocacy to influence policy making by networking with NGOs and like-minded groups.

Report by Fathima Tanveer

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