Catholics outsource prayers for faithful

The drastic decrease of clergymen in western countries have not only led to the appointment of Indian priests, but also to the outsourcing of prayers to Indian counterparts.

Known as holy mass intentions, these benedictions are recited mostly in the southern state of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, where the majority of India’s Catholic population lives.

“This is a long–standing arrangement that has been arrived at between local and overseas bishops,” said Babu Joseph, the spokesman of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India in New Delhi.

It is based on the Catholic tradition of sharing resources, Fr Joseph said.

Church officials said they received requests for devotions, including special remembrances for deceased relatives, prayers for newborns, newlyweds, and travelers.

These requests are delivered in the local languages – Malayalam in Kerala and Tamil in Tamil Nadu.

Church leaders said the requests made every month came directly from Vatican, local bishops or other religious bodies.

Also the development of information technology has led the increased usage of e–mail in the Christian circle, where prayer requests have started arriving via e–mail.

An offering of US$5 each is paid for the prayers.

According to reports, the shortage of Priests in Britain has been filled by the Indian priests hailing from states like Mizoram, Kerala and Goa.

Apart from being employed–the migrated priests are also helping the churches in Britain revive.

The 2001 census showed that fewer than one in 10 people in Wales regularly attended church or chapel.

In Staffordshire, sources say, Indians and others from various countries like Poland and Fiji are helping boost congregations.