INDIA Cardinal Gracias Credits Prayers For Quick Recovery From Cancer

 

January 5, 2009

 

MUMBAI, India (UCAN) -- Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay says people's prayers have helped his speedy recovery from cancer.

 

"I believed I could make a quick recovery because of the continuing prayers of so many people in my archdiocese, in India and the world," a cheerful Cardinal Gracias told UCA News on Dec. 30.

 

The prelate resumed his duties as head of Bombay archdiocese on Dec. 8, after recuperating from successful stomach-cancer surgery.

 

"I am happy to be home among my people and to continue serving them," said the cardinal, who turned 64 on Dec. 24. He added that his speedy recovery surprised even his doctors.

 

Cardinal Gracias returned to his base in Mumbai, 1,410 kilometers southwest of New Delhi, on Oct. 19 after undergoing surgery at Washington Hospital Center in the U.S. capital a month earlier. Bombay archdiocese, India's largest by number of Catholics, retains the former name of Mumbai, India's commercial capital, 1,410 kilometers southwest of New Delhi.

 

The cardinal said he was fortunate to get early treatment in the United States for the cancer.

 

"This is an occasion for thanksgiving," he wrote in a letter published in the Dec. 7 issue of The Examiner, his archdiocese's 159-year-old weekly. "I invite you to join me in offering prayers of thanksgiving to God for the successful medical intervention in the U.S. and my good post-operative recovery."

 

The cardinal-archbishop thanked Auxiliary Bishop Bosco Penha, who administered the archdiocese during his absence. He also credited his two other auxiliaries and staff at the archbishop's residence for the smooth running.

 

Archdiocesan spokesperson Father Anthony Charanghat told UCA News on Dec. 29 that the entire archdiocese is happy the cardinal has resumed work and all 119 of its parishes and quasi-parishes continue to pray for his "robust health."

 

Dolphy D'Souza, president of Bombay Catholic Sabha (council), likewise said the archdiocese missed the popular cardinal during the last few months. God, he added, has heard the prayers of the more than 600,000 Bombay Catholics.

 

Gordon D'Souza, editor of Spotlight, a Catholic monthly, says Cardinal Gracias' absence was keenly felt around the country. The prelate's views on various social issues carry weight, the lay leader told UCA News.

 

People in Mumbai looked to the cardinal for leadership when terrorists laid siege to the city in the last week of November, he added, saying many rejoiced when they saw Cardinal Gracias among religious leaders praying for peace in Mumbai on Dec. 22.

 

Astrid Lobo Gajiwala, a mother of three, said she was thrilled when the cardinal came to her parish to celebrate Mass on Dec. 7. "He looked thin and tired. We all pray more fervently for his good health," she told UCA News.

 

Gajiwala, a regular speaker at major Church meetings in India, said she felt sad when illness prevented Cardinal Gracias, "a brilliant scholar," from attending the Synod on the Word of God, held in October at the Vatican.

 

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