By Verghese V Joseph –
Bengaluru: Despite rendering yeomen service in India through education, healthcare, and social service, newer polarisation challenges are affecting the Christian community in India.
In his presidential Address at the ongoing 34th Plenary Assembly of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) at St. John’s National Academy of Medical Sciences, Bangalore, 24-30 January 2023, His Eminence Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão, President stated that the Church in India has been engaged in a large-scale exercise of discernment and self-searching. This has been triggered by the important ‘synodal journey’ in which the whole Church is involved, it may be good to bring to our mind the situation in which we are placed at the present moment.
“The country is loom holding the diverse threads of religions, spiritualties, cultures, traditions, languages and social strata that blend together to form a complex and beautiful tapestry. Alongside a profound spirituality, social and economic disparities deeply fragment the fabric of this nation. The Church in India reflects these diversities and divides in its own composition,” he said.
The prelate further added that in addition to the Latin Catholic Church, there are two other sui iuris Churches – Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara – within the Roman Catholic Church in India, comprising over 20 million faithful. Although this is just 1.9 percent of the country’s population, the presence of the Catholic Church is felt in a significant way through her education, health and social ministries rendered throughout the country.
The Carinal rued that these were now being challenged by the increasing polarization brought about by religious fundamentalism and by the new disturbing trends that keep emerging in our country, at various levels. The Christian faithful live as a minority in a multi-religious society and this situation impacts deeply their witness to their faith and their dealings with people of other faiths and with government authorities. This challenging situation finds an echo in the presence of the Church in our big wide world, a situation that has led our beloved Pope Francis to trace a ‘synodal path’ to be followed by the Church in every corner of the world, in preparation for the Synod 2023-2024.
Cardinal Neri acknowledged and congratulated the Bishop-Designate to the See of Baroda; Most Rev. Sebastião Mascarenhas, S.F.X., former Superior General of the Missionaries of St. Francis Xavier (Pilar Fathers), based in Archdiocese of Goa and Daman. He was appointed by the Holy Father on the 31st December 2022 and will receive his episcopal ordination in Baroda on the 18th February, 2023. He is the brother of the former Secretary General of the CBCI, Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, also of the Society of Pilar.
Cardinal Neri also mentioned some significant ecclesial events that took place, in Rome and in India, since the last assembly meeting in November 2022:
- The passing away of 95-year-old Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI passed away on the 31st December 2022. The CCBI was represented by Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Cardinal Anthony Poola and Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão.
- Closer to home, the CCBI finalized the National Synthesis for the Continental Stage of the Synod. This ‘Synthesis’ is the response of our Conference to the Document for the Continental Stage (DCS), sent in by the Synod General Secretariat in view of the Preparation for the Continental Phase of the Synod.
A good outcome of this whole activity is that many dioceses in India are already enthusiastically involved in the follow-up of what had emerged during the process of the diocesan consultations. May their number keep growing!
“It is precisely in view of enhancing this process, geared towards the building of a truly Synodal Church, that the chosen theme for the Plenary Assembly is: ‘Telling the Story of Jesus in our Context: The Synodal Way,’” the Cardinal added.