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Writing in 1966 in his Theological Highlights of Vatican II, Professor Joseph Ratzinger pointed out that even in matters liturgical, Vatican II wanted greater decentralization and plurality within the Church. In 1970, the German bishops’ Conference received a proposal from some theologians, including Walter Kasper, Karl Lehmann, Joseph Ratzinger, to ordain married men of good character to the priesthood.Years later Pope Benedict XVI imposed the new English translation of the Roman Missal on all English speaking parts of the Latin Church, even though Latinists, Scripture scholars, theologians and liturgists had questioned the quality of the translations. Now the retired Pope comes out with a book defending priestly celibacy.In an article on the new English translation of the Roman Missal, written in 2013, I said that Pope Benedict had forgotten what Professor Joseph Ratzinger wrote about liturgy. Now, in the context of the book on priestly celibacy, one international Catholic paper speaks of “Benedict’s estrangement from Ratzinger.” May the Lord save us.Subhash Anand, St Paul’s School, Bhupalpura
Dear Catholic Bishops of India,Greetings and good wishes to each one of you, as you gather together today (12 February 2020) for your 34th biennial plenary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) at St John’s National Academy for Medical Sciences in Bengaluru. I am writing this letter (to each one of you) after much personal discernment and discussions with some, including those who have encouraged me to do so. It is not easy because I would like to be concise yet substantial; however, let me begin...Dear Bishops, millions of our sisters and brothers in our country are crying out for a more humane, just and equitable society; they are crying because divisive, discriminatory, draconian law and policies are threatening their very citizenship; they are crying because they are being targeted because of their faith; they are crying because they are poor and vulnerable; they are crying because they are Dalits and Adivasis, women and children, unemployed youth and beleaguered farmers; they are crying because they want to be listened to, to be in dialogue with, to be accompanied!Dear Bishops, so where do we stand as Church in India today? To put matters in perspective, some Bishops have come out in the open, joined protest rallies and have issued unequivocal strongly-worded statements asking for the repeal of the CAA and a stay on the NRC/NPR; several priests, religious and laity all over the country, have been responsible for organizing protests and/or ha
My vocation as a priest and studies in Rome for seven months remind me of what Saint Mother Teresa of Kolkata often said, “God has not called me to be successful; He called me to be faithful.”Being faithful in my day to day life gives me more satisfaction and joy. “We are pencils in the hands of God” as Saint Mother Teresa would say and many ways, God’s plan for our lives and the lives of the people that we love and serve, will be a mystery.As Henry Ford says, “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young,” therefore learning is a life-long process.I reaffirmed this fact while learning Italian with other priests coming from Asia, Africa and America.Propaganda Fide (the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples) organized two and half months intensive language course in Urbino that helped me a lot. Gradually challenges and difficulties turned to be hope and joy when I could read, speak and understand Italian language and know the culture of Italy.For centuries Italy has been called the garden of Europe for its natural, historical and artistic beauties spread throughout its territory: Rome, Florence, Assisi, Venice, Siena, Pisa, and Naples which are among the best-known cities of the country’s art.To explore Italy and the history of Christianity, Propaganda Fide also organized tours to different important religious places like the city of Assisi, Loreto, Ravenna and Catacombs of
Writing in 1966 in his Theological Highlights of Vatican II, Professor Joseph Ratzinger pointed out that even in matters liturgical, Vatican II wanted greater decentralization and plurality within the Church. In 1970, the German bishops’ Conference received a proposal from some theologians, including Walter Kasper, Karl Lehmann, Joseph Ratzinger, to ordain married men of good character to the priesthood.Years later Pope Benedict XVI imposed the new English translation of the Roman Missal on all English speaking parts of the Latin Church, even though Latinists, Scripture scholars, theologians and liturgists had questioned the quality of the translations. Now the retired pope comes out with a book defending priestly celibacy.In an article on the new English translation of the Roman Missal, written in 2013, I said that Pope Benedict had forgotten what Professor Joseph Ratzinger wrote about liturgy. Now, in the context of the book on priestly celibacy, one international Catholic paper speaks of “Benedict’s estrangement from Ratzinger.” This is a very powerful indication that the institutional Church can domesticate a theologian; that organized religion can blunt the prophetical charism. May the Lord save us.Subhash Anand, Bhupalpura, Udaipur-313001
Anawkward and embarrassing development has happened in the Kerala Catholic Church when Fr Varghese Vallikkatt, the spokesperson of Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC), contradicted himself and the view of the Bishops’ Council on the Citizenship Amendment Act in a span of few days. In the press release of the Bishops’ Council, issued on December 18, 2019, Fr Vallikkatt stated: “The discrimination on the basis of religion shown in the Citizenship Amendment Bill (the Bill had become a law by the time the press release was issued) in deciding the legality of migration and granting citizenship rights to the migrants is against the tenets of the Constitution and secularism.” Thus, the KCBC expressed its protest against and opposition to the CAA.But the mask seems to have dropped when Fr Vallikkatt wrote an article in Janmabhumi, a Malayalam daily with Sangh Parivar leanings, titled “Citizenship and Nationalism; some background thoughts.” Even before the ink in his press release dried up, he used the article to justify the Citizenship Amendment Act, thus contradicting the Bishops’ Council’s stand. He takes refuge in the global threat from ‘political Islam’ to buttress his point. He argues that one should not view the circumstances in which CAA was brought in only in the context of India’s internal political situations. He wants us to see the global scenario of increasing radical Islam and the forces behind it before making a judgment on CAA and its im
