An illuminated St Paul’s Church in Amritsar on Monday. Sunil Kumar
Amritsar, December 25
People from all walks of life braved the biting cold to mark Christmas festivities. While several attended the midnight mass on Sunday, prominent churches across the city held prayers in the morning. The churches in the city have been lit up beautifully, adding spark and excitement to the festival.
Reverend Dr PK Samantaroy, Bishop, Diocese of Amritsar (DoA), Church of North India (CNI), urged the Christian community to turn into torch-bearers of love, peace and humanity. Addressing Christmas services, Bishop Samantaroy attributed social factors like drug addiction and HIV/AIDS to a ‘lack of love and trust’ among those affected by these maladies. “Lack of love and trust leads to myriad issues that are accountable for breach of peace. God’s love institutes peace, which is the most pressing need of the hour,” he said.
Bishop Samantaroy urged the Christian community to establish peace by reaching out to their neighbours in need. He reiterated the commitment of the diocese to continue working for eradication of drug addiction and HIV-AIDS in Punjab through its Turning Point Centre in village Dogar in Fatehgarh Churian, district Gurdaspur, besides catering to the academic, health, social, cultural, economic and environmental needs of society through various programmes run under the aegis of the Socio-Economic Development Programme (SEDP) of the diocese.
Meanwhile, several processions were taken out to mark Christmas. Keeping the festivities eco-friendly, young volunteers of several churches were instructed to shun plastic and not to use non-biodegradable material like styrofoam and thermocol for Christmas decorations.
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