Christmas Celebratory Again In Holy Land Amid Ongoing War; Patriarch Urges Pilgrims To Return
Vatican: Former Choir Director, Manager Convicted Of Embezzlement, Abuse Of Office
Christians in Aleppo feel an uneasy calm amid rebel takeover of Syrian city
Kathmandu synodality forum: Indigenous people, ‘not the periphery but at the heart of the Church’
Indian Cardinal opposes anti-conversion law in poll-bound state
12,000 gather as Goa starts exposition of St. Francis Xavier relics
In Kerala, Islamophobia among Christian community has increased in the recent years. Unprecedented animosity is slowly boiling between the two communities that were living in amity for several centuries. Several social and religious issues have developed between the communities in the recent past like chopping off the hand of P.J. Joseph, a college professor, by the Islamic extremists; preaching by some Salafi scholars against the Biblical revelations; and the marrying of Christian girls by Muslim boys with pretended love (popularly known as love Jihad) to mention a few.However, the present rift is not merely reduced to religious differences, but stretches to socio-political as well.Some political issues blown up disproportionately are not really locally relevant but are international such as conversion of Hagia Sofia into a mosque; religious violence against Christians in some African countries; and the recent tussle between Israel and Palestinian Hamas.Lastly, a court verdict (apparently favouring Christian community) on the issue of scholarships for minority students as well as reservation for economically weaker sections has fractured the friendship further.It is only with a sense of shock and turbulence can we perceive this growing unrest between the two religious communities that claim their ancestral lineage to the biblical figure Abraham. The tensions have slowly been developing to a level which at
St Ignatius of Loyola founded the Jesuits at a critical time in church history: disobedience to the pope’s authority was widespread in 16th century Europe. This is why Ignatius was adamant that the distinguishing mark of his company would be obedience. He placed his order at the service of popes so that Jesuits would go wherever sent on a mission. In fact, in the 1930s, Pope Pius XI would wryly remark: “You have to be a pope to appreciate the value of the Jesuits.” And largely because of the overwhelming influence of the Jesuits in the training of both clergy and laity in the post-Tridentine Church (1563-1965), obedience became the hallmark of Catholics everywhere. To tell the truth, though, often obedience was indistinguishable from conformity. I have sometimes said that Catholics are not Protestants. Catholics rarely protest, dissent, disagree or challenge publicly. If they do, they are often called to order by their own ecclesiastical superiors. The watchwords are “Be prudent, be cautious.” After all, the Protestant Reformation took place because of the public dissent of certain Christian scholars — men like Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Erasmus. They questioned church authorities over the interpretation of Scripture and the corruption of certain church practices. In other words, they protested. Because of this, Protestants were called “heretics” and penalized for erroneous belief. But the obedience of
It was a scene which will forever be etched in the memory of millions the world over: on May 25 2020, on a street in Minneapolis, US a white police officer Derek Chauvin, had his knee pressed down on the neck of a black American George Floyd. This continued for more than nine minutes. An excruciating bystander video(which immediately went viral the world over)shows Floyd gasping and repeatedly begging, “I can’t breathe” and onlookers yelling at Chauvin to stop; the officer did not relent till Floyd slowly went silent and limp. The widely watched footage sparked worldwide protests: of anger, anguish and agony. People from all walks of life came out (including some Indian celebrities), social media went berserk; there was just one spontaneous, unanimous and loud cry, “get off our necks, we want to breath!”. On 20 April this year, Chauvin was found guilty of murder (and is likely to face a long prison sentence) in a verdict which brought a sigh of relief to many! The ‘George Floyd’ tragedy is painfully unfolding in India today. Not one George, but millions of Indians, who today are deep in anguish, gripped in agony and seething with anger. The vast majority of them are ordinary citizens – many of them from poor and vulnerable sections of society. They are crying about a system that has completely broken down: of those who are affected by the pandemic : thousands are dying, many in major cities throughout the
As individuals, as a society, as a nation, we are different. Sometimes these differences are minor and are passed over easily — like habits of eating or dressing. At other times they are major and become the source of irritation and conflict.There come times in a great and diverse country like India when the ruling powers, under the guise of unity, keep trying to force uniformity and conformity upon its people.This is why we ask: Do differences matter? Is diversity of value?At different times and at different levels, this question gets thrown at us. Let’s look at some of the issues involving differences in today’s societies.One of the critical questions in almost every society is the acceptance of homosexuality and other forms of sexuality.For centuries, heterosexuality was the norm in most societies, and other forms of sexual expression were seen as deviant, restrictive and susceptible to either criminal or divine punishment.In fact, in most communities today, it is still the norm. So how accepting are we of gender differences?What about those differences based on race or caste? Here, too, the record of history has been largely negative. Whole systems of slavery or serfdom were in vogue, based on demeaning people “not like us” — in physiognomy, skin color and language.While public slavery is rare today, discrimination against people of color continues. In India, for example, hos
The report on “Bishop Jacob Muricken’s plan of leaving the bishopric to lead an ascetic life” raises many questions:Leaving the bishopric to become an ascetic is purely a ‘personal decision.’ Why should others raise questions? Who are we to pass a judgement on the bishop? The bishop has been nursing the dream to become an ascetic since 2017. It is a clear evidence that he has been prayerfully ‘discerning’. It is my opinion that he seems to have found his real vocation. I quote three points from the report to substantiate my view:1) “The decision was communicated to Pala Bishop Joseph Kallarangattu earlier in 2017. Initially, the bishop had not given approval for my demand.” However, Bishop Muricken was quoted as saying, “I persisted in my demand and he asked me to continue in the bishop’s position and lead a monastery life. Since that is impractical, I have decided to follow my mind”.2) He said that although he was not interested to lead a secluded life it was on “inspiration from God” that conditioned his mind.3) The priest also pointed out that the bishop is related to Saint Alphonsa, the first woman saint of India. “Muricken is the maternal house name of St Alphonsa, and her spirituality has influenced him a lot”.Taking the clue from the above point, “call to priesthood” is indeed a “call to a life of renunciation.” Jesus had laid down his condition clearly: “If you wish to be my disciple, “take up your cross
