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South Asian Film Festival in Goa from Fri (June 27) to Mon (June 30)
At Kala Academy, and ESG, Panaji, Goa
http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2008-June/076384.html
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Indian Catholic missionaries bound for Germany
DPA
Hildesheim (Germany), June 28 (DPA) A German Catholic diocese unveiled
plans Friday to "borrow" about 12 priests from India's Kerala state
because it cannot recruit enough German men to lead prayers and run
parishes.
The diocese of Hildesheim in northern Germany will pay for the 12 to
fly to Germany and for them to learn German.
The missionaries are to spend 10 to 15 years ministering to German
Catholics before returning to their home diocese of Palai.
The German Catholic Church, which is funded by taxes on parishioners'
income, has hired Dutch, Belgian and Polish priests to fill shortfalls
for decades, but priest recruitment in those nations has been slipping
too.
Hildesheim, one of 27 Catholic dioceses in Germany, has 265 priests
currently, but it has only ordained 33 men in the past decade and has
only one ordination set this year. Its guest priest roll includes 38
Poles, three Indians and a Congolese priest.
Catholic priests take a vow not to marry and generally work very long
hours on modest salaries. Germany has made very little use of deacons,
a grade of clergy who are allowed to marry.
Officials said the newcomers would work as curates for three years and
would then be given parishes of their own.
