Faithful urged to cut expenditure on weddings

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The synod of the Latin Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram has urged the faithful to tone down expenditure on weddings and festivals and say no to dowry.   The synod also decided to decentralise the Church machinery further and set up a fisheries board and a trade union for domestic workers.Archbishop M Soosai Pakiam said that the church would launch active campaigns against liquor and other social evils. The synod came down heavily on the dowry system, calling for a law to ban it.  A major recommendation was to decentralise the governance mechanism in the Archdiocese into Archdiocese-Forane-Parish system.  Through this, the church hoped to strengthen human resources and efficiently channelise spending.  A help desk for NRKs and a trade union for domestic labour was also recommended by the synod.  In a bid to ensure the protection of the fisherfolk, the synod suggested the establishment of a fisheries board. 105 members of the clergy and the laity attended the synod, the first in the history of the Archdiocese, held at the Animation Centre, Vellayambalam. The church elevated Fr George Paul and Fr James Culas as monsignors.