Dear Brothers, Sisters, Friends and Well wishers in Christ,
Greetings and Prayers for good health and protection!
Hope all of you participated and benefitted from the Plenary Indulgences of Holy Father Pope Francis yesterday. Indeed, all others are also beneficiaries of this. Let us continue to entrust ourselves to the mercy and compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ through the intercession of Mother Mary.
Few days ago, I had sent a circular regarding the celebration of the Holy Week Services. Let us do the best we can spiritually and prayerfully in the given moment. Again three days beck, with my approval, the Director of Diocesan Social Work, Fr. Julian Fernando had contacted you to set a plan for responding to the urgent needs of families who are badly affected by this crisis. By Monday, hopefully, the matter will be addressed..
With this kind letter, I come to you to explore the possibilities of reaching out to the people in the urban area more widely as possible. Certainly, many laudable steps are already being taken by Fathers Julian, Anand, Chetan etc to do the best. Yet, for Universal response on behalf of the Church, the Diocese is trying to get the necessary permission from the district authorities for reaching out with relief to the most affected families. Possibility of permission for one or two ambulances can be worked out for smooth running of the task
The target group we have in mind:
1) Daily wage earners > Rickshaw pullers, construction workers, etc.
2) Women-dependant households or widows managed families
3) Only one wage earner
4) People who used to work outside but have returned with no job.
5) Families having senior citizens and the economic condition of the family is not good.
Keeping the number per family FIVE, we can consider a package if we decide to mobilize resources and procure bulk/wholesale (it becomes cheaper), pack centrally and arrange to deliver to different centers with the help of ambulances.
Those who wish to do it at your level please feel free to do so.
I humbly invite others to join this common effort of the Diocese so that we can cover larger number of the affected people as an act collective solidarity and common witness.
A Possible Package
| S.No. | Needed/Possible Items | Quantity | Price/Availability |
| 1 | Soaps | 5 | |
| 2 | Masks | 5 | |
| 3 | गमछा/thin towels | 5 | |
| 4 | चावल | 5 kg | |
| 5 | आटा | 3 kg | |
| 6 | सरसों तेल | ½ kg | |
| 7 | दाल | ½ kg | |
| 8 | नमक | ½ kg | |
| 9 | गूड़ | 1 kg | |
| 10 | चाय पत्ती | 200 gram | |
| 11 | चीनी | ½ kg | |
| 12 | बीसकूट | 2 packets | |
| 13 | Vegetable/Potatoes | ||
| टोटल | |||
Kindly note the following:
1) Identify families as per the criterion given above and pass on the number to Fr. Julian
2) Those who can mobilise monatory supprt, kindly do bank transfer to the account given below
3) Those who wish to contribute cash, may do so when the supply is delivered to you.
Kindly consider and revert back to Fr. Julian who is coordinating these efforts. I remain grateful to you for your kind understanding. Stay Blessed, Stay Safe, Stay Praying!
Yours in the Lord
+Eugene Joseph
Bishop of Varanasi
___________________________________
Bank details:
Diocese of Varanasi Social Welfare Society
A/C. No.100201000001223
Varanasi Cantt. Branch
IFSC IOBA0001002
