Cardinal to work for uplift of the downtrodden

Hyderabad: The newly elevated Cardinal from the city, Poola Anthony, held his first thanksgiving mass here on Sunday and thanked Pope Francis for choosing two Cardinals from India.

He said, “the Telugu region is celebrating as one of its sons has been elevated by the Pope. In his interaction with me, the Pope advised me to work hard in India. We should work as a team and attend to the work we have on hand. We have to uplift the downtrodden, orphans and underprivileged.”

The thanksgiving mass at St Joseph Cathedral in Gunfoundry was held in the presence of parishioners and all the clergy of the Archdiocese of Hyderabad.

The mass was preceded by a grand procession with Cardinal Anthony in a 1947 white coloured golden striped Humber Hawk.

The thanksgiving mass was followed by a colourful felicitation function on the same premises. Various Catholic educational heads felicitated the Cardinal, including those from the 108-year-old St Joseph Bhajan Society.

Derik Thornton, one of its members, said that this was a great opportunity to meet the Cardinal. Thomas Lloyd, one of the committee members of the Cathedral, said, “The whole parish is excited.”  

School students who did exceptionally well in academics were given special mementoes, including Rithika Monica Louage, who secured 98 per cent, and Kanishka Pearl Arvin from Rosary Convent for scoring 93 per cent.

Cardinal Anthony was earlier welcomed by the college of counsellors and prominent members of the church at Bishop House in Secunderabad. He was also garlanded and offered aarti. He arrived at the Shamshabad airport in the morning, his first visit to the city after his elevation as Cardinal.