All churches in Goa held special prayers today for peace against the backdrop of escalating tension between India and Pakistan, at a time when heads of Brics grouping here have decided to make combating cross-border terror and its supporters as their priority.
The prayers were held on the call given by the Catholic Bishops' conference.
The prayers were also attended by people from other faiths besides Catholics.
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"Recent escalation of tension along our bordershas been causing serious concern to our respective populationsand has prompted the President of Catholic Bishops' Conferenceof India to issue a circular asking that a day - October 16 -be set aside as a day of prayer for India," Archbishop of Goaand Daman, Filipe Neri Ferrao had stated in a circular issued earlier.
He had also called for "other people of good will" to join in praying for one another and for peace.
At around 27 per cent, the Catholics are an influential community in this erstwhile Portuguese enclave.
"The fragile peace along the Indian borderwith neighbouring Pakistan is regularly disturbed by exchangeof fire and other forms of violence, revealing a simmeringstate of hostility and suspicion between two countries that otherwise share linguistic, cultural, geographical and even economic links," Ferrao stated.
Goa is hosting BRICS summit and BRICS-BIMSTEC outreach meeting.
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