Maria Emilia Menezes was President of the

All India Catholic Union The All India Catholic Union (AICU) represents almost 16 million Catholics in India: followers of the Latin Rite, the Syro-Malabar Catholics and the Syro-Malankara Catholics. It has 120 diocese and district units. The AICU was established in 1 ...

(AICU) from 2000 until 2004. She followed

Norbert D'Souza Norbert D'Souza is a railway engineer and trainer from Pune who was president of the All India Catholic Union (AICU) for four years. The AICU represents almost 16 million Catholics in India, including followers of the Latin Rite, the Syro Malabar ...

and was succeeded by John Dayal. Maria Emilia Menezes is an eminent industrialist in

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

. She was President of the AICU for four years. When elected in 2000 she was the first woman to hold that post. Soon after her election it was announced that Menezes and Ines Cotta Carvalho, Secretary General of the AICU, were planning to visit Kuwait, Bahrain, the U.A.E. and Oman in October 2000 to raise support for AICU activities. During her tenure the Union grew rapidly. She was an energetic fundraiser, determined to establish a Corpus Fund of one Crore rupees so the AICU would be able to support the Church and related organizations rather than asking them for support. Following the

2002 Gujarat violence The 2002 Gujarat riots, also known as the 2002 Gujarat violence, was a three-day period of inter-communal violence in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The burning of a train in Godhra on 27 February 2002, which caused the deaths of 58 Hin ...

, Menezes and AICU vice-president John Dayal issued a statement in September 2002 voicing profound concern at events in the state. They said Chief Minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

and his rivals were involved in "an aggressive misuse of religious sentiments in their political campaigns". The statement said Modi and the

Sangh Parivar The Sangh Parivar (translation: "Family of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh" or the "RSS family") refers, as an umbrella term, to the collection of Hindu nationalist organisations spawned by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which rema ...

were dismissing the pain of the survivors of the violence and raising fresh fears among minorities. Menezes was unanimously re-elected in September 2002. In her speech after reelection Menezes said the AICU would continue to stress growth of community leadership, and would look for increased participation from

Dalits Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming ...

, women and young people. She said the AICU would focus on restoring the rights of Christians of Dalit origin, working at the state and national levels. Speaking at the 49th Annual General Meeting of the Union in Chennai on 6 September 2003, Menezes said the AICU must reshape itself to better deal with "present political trends and turmoil within the Church". She said "It must harvest ideas and bring renewal in the Church and country". She said that "Proper formation of the laity for the distinctive role in the life and ministry of the Church must continue to be a priority". Christians in India were in a somber mood in December 2008 after the anti-Christian violence in Orissa earlier that year and the

Mumbai attacks Terrorism in India, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs (India), Home Ministry, poses a significant threat to the people of India. Compared to other countries, India faces a wide range of terror groups. Terrorism found in India includ ...

on 26 November 2008. As past president of the AICU, Menezes said "Christmas is going to be as always. But the manner of celebrations should be different. In solidarity with their suffering brethren in Orissa, the Catholic community should suppress festivities and instead concentrate on the spiritual aspects of Christmas". She called on parishes throughout India to use the money they would have spent on Christmas to help their fellow-Christians who were suffering in Orissa. She said the response had been generally good, but not in Goa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Menezes, Maria Emilia Indian Roman Catholics Living people Year of birth missing (living people)