NEW DELHI (UCAN) -- People across India have welcomed the Vatican guidelines on road use as a unique and timely aid that can foster social responsibility.

The Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travelers, after observing that road negligence annually kills 1.2 million people and wounds 50 million others worldwide, issued its "ten commandments" for drivers on June 19.

"You shall not kill" is one such "commandment" in the council's Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of the Road. Others include: "On the road, protect the more vulnerable party" and "Feel responsible toward others."

According to Cardinal Renato Martino, the council's president, the "commandments" link the Church to world realities and motivate national bishops' conferences to include road use in their pastoral ministry.

Several people shared their appreciation of the guidelines with UCA News.

Father Anthony Charanghat, Bombay archdiocese spokesperson, said they dispel "the myth" that the Church is unconcerned about people's daily problems. By issuing the guidelines, he said, the Church makes religion "come alive" on the roads, and its suggestions could help curb road rage cases, especially those involving young people.

Joseph Dias, a Catholic lay leader in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) in western India, said the Vatican has shown concern for people's "temporal and mundane matters," not just for "our spirituality."

James Sylvester, a Catholic lay leader in Andhra Pradesh, said the "catchy and attractive" guidelines will remind drivers to exercise social responsibility and help the weak.

Brother Varghese Theckenath pointed out that roads have become major killers in developing countries, so he also welcomes the guidelines as "a good initiative." The Montfort Brother, who works in southern India's Andhra Pradesh state, said they will create awareness about proper use of roads and make society "a little more humane."

Ashwita Arogyam, a young Catholic, was impressed that the guidelines stress social responsibility on the road. She said they are "very relevant" in India, where few follow traffic rules, and she wants schools to teach the guidelines.

Three days after the Vatican released the guidelines, India's Supreme Court issued a call for stricter punishment for reckless driving. The court noted that road accidents killed 59,927 people last year in India.

Several states also record hundreds of road deaths annually. In Bihar, eastern India, around 2,000 people die on the road annually. Andhra Pradesh in the south says 3,000 people died and 15,470 others were wounded in 11,158 road accidents during the first three months of 2007. In 2006, Goa in western India registered 222 road deaths, while Kerala, another southern state, had 3,077.

Servelo Fernandes, recently retired deputy director of Goa's Road Traffic Authority, said the guidelines have "hit the nail on the head." Tensing Rodrigues, a Goan Catholic, lamented that easily available bank loans tempt many Indians to buy expensive cars. According to Rodrigues, the guidelines may help at least Catholics become "leaven" for social change.

Sacred Heart Sister Mary Elise, who coordinates health services in Bihar's Bettiah diocese, blames rash driving for deaths. "Most drivers drive drunk," she said. "The 'amazing' guidelines offer remedies for 'all sorts' of problems on the road." She noted that many victims are teenagers, despite India's laws against people below 18 driving. Parents encourage children do so, she said, "so if children perish in accidents, the real killers are their parents."

Hindus have also welcomed the guidelines. Rameshwar Prasad, a social activist in Bihar, said they can greatly curb road accidents, and he wants the Church to use its schools to spread the road safety message.

Last year, Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil of Ernakulam-Angamaly, head of the Syro-Malabar Church, described drunken driving as a sin that should be confessed. A pastoral letter he issued in May 2006 blames drunken and careless driving for most road accidents in Kerala, where the cardinal is based.

Father Paul Thelakat, spokesperson for the Syro-Malabar Church, said the guidelines will make people aware they are "keepers of our neighbors." concern for others, he added, should be included in Church teachings.

He also criticized the Indian craze for cars as status symbols. Pointing out that people use cars to travel even short distances, the priest, who does not drive a vehicle, asserted, "There is more dignity in walking."


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