India, April 27 -- Cardinal Anthony Poola - President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India and Archbishop of Hyderabad - will hopefully preside over the Fourth National Ecumenical Bishops' Fellowship (NEBF) at St. John's National Academy of Health Sciences in Bengaluru.

The invitation, signed personally by the Cardinal, carries a note of urgency bordering on anxiety. The National Federation of Churches in India (NFCI) must be "formally launched" at this meeting, after two years of deliberation. Churches unable to send their heads are asked to delegate deputies and are assured that "Board and lodging will be provided." Quite clearly, the CBCI needs more people in the room.

The CBCI's Office for Dialogue and Ecumenism - headed by...