Indian Church refuses to endorse political party in election
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Pope Francis’ visit to Singapore ‘has revived the faith of our people,’ cardinal says
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The message of Pope Francis on the day of Consecrated Life has heartened a number of women religious in India. It is based on his prayer intention for the month of February: “Let us pray for religious sisters and consecrated women, thanking them for their mission and their courage; may they continue to find new responses to the challenges of our times.” “The Pope is very sensitive to the contribution of women religious to the church. He is well aware of the discrimination and abuse that victimize sisters. He may not be able to do much to change the situation but his words give us the space to mobilize opinion and take action,” said Sister Philomena Thomas, a religious of Assumption Sisters. Yes, women religious are the ones who by and large give the Catholic Church the credibility it enjoys in India and the world. The video message had clips of sisters working in various mission areas. The one that caught my eye was a sister climbing a steep hill to reach someone in need. The video ended with the iconic picture of Sister Ann Rose Nu Twang kneeling before the soldiers of the Myanmar military junta with her hands raised, begging them to kill her instead of the children. A picture that speaks a thousand words and sums up the image of a sister in the Catholic Church – powerless in the eyes of the world, yet owning a spiritual power that could halt a gun that had already caused much death and suffering. As Pope Francis pointed out in his message, wo
When our kids were quite small they regaled visitors to our home with this story. “There were three friends named Somebody, Nobody and Mad. One day Somebody killed Nobody so Mad went to the police station and blurted out that Somebody had killed Nobody. The inspector was not amused and shot back – Are you mad? Yes I’m Mad said the complainant”. Imagine the exasperation of the police inspector. I was reminded of this seemingly innocuous story after reading about the acquittal of Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar in the alleged case of rape of a nun, formerly the superior general of a congregation under his diocesan jurisdiction. If nobody was raped by somebody then I too am mad. I have been following this story for the last few years and had even petitioned the Papal Nuncio for the protection of the witnesses. I have also read several articles and “comments” on the “acquittal” of him who I had nick-named Frightening Franco. A friend also sent me the 289-page judgement that I have not been able to read fully for paucity of time. Before going into the nitty-gritty of the judgement I have a few apt observations, more allegorical than argumentative. There is an old English proverb – Don’t miss the wood for the trees. Wood here means a forest. A fan of National Geographic TV wanted to see a tiger in real life; having seen so many graphic images in the comfort of his sitting room. He spent a large amount
Mumbai, Jan 10, 2022: ‘Unity in Diversity’ has been a major phrase which I picked up during my school days. Enjoying Ramlila for ten days before Vijayadhami ran parallel to seeing the Tazia processions, to the Jains processions with slogans Vande Viram (Hail Lord Mahavira), the celebrations of Dalits on the day when Babasaheb Ambedkar embraced Buddhism, and the celebration of Christmas with college friends. The experience of diversity was deeply rooted in the celebrations of different festivals; it was experiential and not just in the realm of theory. Indian society’s diversity dates as back in time as one can imagine. Christianity is older in India than in many Christian majority countries. Right in seventh century Islam became a part of this land. Shaka, Kushans, Huns, Greeks added their own flavor to our culture. How did the diversity become deeply rooted in our psyche? While there was ethnic strife, Shia-Sunni, Shaiva-Vaishnav conflicts, overall the social atmosphere was rooted in peace and harmony between diverse religious streams. Edicts of Ashoka ask for mutual respect between diverse religious streams (that time Buddhism, Brahmanism, Jainism, and Ajivikas in particular). Much later the likes of Akbar promoted Deen-E-Ilahi and Sulhe Kul, While Dara Shukoh went on the describe India as a vast ocean made of two seas (Hinduism and Islam) in his book Majma Ul Baharayn. Running parallel to the same was the grea
India’s poor have become poorer over the years with the bottom half comprising over 600 million Indians sharing just 6 percent of the nation’s wealth, hinting at widening inequality. “India stands out as a poor and very unequal country with an affluent elite,” says France-based World Inequality Lab in its latest global report penned by its co-director Lucas Chancel and coordinated by French economist Thomas Piketty. The top one percent of Indians owned more than one fifth of the total national income in 2021 while the bottom half earned just 13.1 percent, said the report. The findings are in contrast to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popular slogan “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas” promising to take along and ensure development for all, which helped him come to power in 2014. Modi generated great hope among ordinary Indians promising better incomes and jobs for all, saying at election rallies, “Acchey Din Aaane Wale Hain” (Good days are in the offing). The picture painted in the World Inequality Report appears gloomy. “If the middle and neo-middle classes were wondering why things haven’t improved despite the hype around Modi’s promised ‘Acchey Din,’ this report makes it crystal clear now,” said Ramakanto Shanyal, an educationist from West Bengal. He pointed out a plethora of problems that had caused the economic governance model of the country to fail over the years. “India has to p
I differ from Bishop Vijayanandh Nedumpuram CMI, in his write up on ‘Synod decision’ for the ‘unification of Syro-Malabar Qurbana (LIGHT OF TRUTH, Nov.16-31, 2021), My question is the unification of Qurbana ‘essential or not? I am for the unification in the interests of Unity in the church. Now what is going on is celebrating Qurbana in different forms particularly in Ernakulam-Angamali Archdiocese and Changanacherry Archdiocese. A section of priests in Ernakulam-Angamali Archdiocese are more particular for the ‘Qurbana’ towards the faithful, how they were celebrating ‘Qurbana’ for the last five decades. At the same time in other Archdiocese particularly in Changanacherry Archdiocese, they are celebrating the traditional ‘Syrian liturgical Qurbana towards the ‘Altar’ where the Holy Eucharist is kept permanently. Because of different forms of worship in some of the dioceses, the ‘Synod’ of the Syro-Malabar church after two years of discussions and study they decided on majority opinion of Bishops for ‘unification of Qurbana’ in the interests of unity in the church. According to the ‘Synod’ decision and approval from the Vatican the Hierarchy of the church prepared a new ‘text’ to follow the Priests and laity in all the dioceses in the Syro-Malabar church. So, there is no question of ‘Unanimous’ decision. But the ‘Synod’ took a decision based on majority support. As long as the
