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Friday, October 31, 2014

Listen Rev. Sisters....

An open letter to the congregations of Rev Sisters belonging to Syro-Malabar Rite.

Why do people talk about the Syro Malabar rite and its administration so much? The answer is simple - their purpose, which has come to be administration with no evangelism anywhere. Sri. Jose Paul aged enough to evaluate everything and bold enough to speak out the truth, continues to explore into the hidden agendas of a big rite.  

The syrian congregations of sisters  who had been working in the north for the past half a century with the Latin Churches are following the traditions of Kerala as slaves and servants of the priest of the Syro-Church. The S.D.Sisters were in the north for the past 50 years and now it seems to be the first to show their affection to Syro-Malabar in a big way. Others will automatically follow their foot steps - Editor

We the syro-Malabar- Catholics living in Kerala and anywhere in the country are proud of your congregations for the great and magnificent missionary work you have done in Kerala and elsewhere. Your congregations originated and flourished first in Kerala with solid roots there. They ventured to all parts of the country and even abroad with a catholic vision and mission to spread the message of Christ. You all came out of Kerala with the vision of the great apostolic, catholic (universal) and evangelic motivation. Your sacrificing spirit and simple and spiritual life in these faraway places have motivated many people of these places to come close to Jesus. Many of them have become members of the church were you were working.  Our congratulation to you for the courage and fortitude and independence you showed for the sake of your belief in Jesus.

We had the opportunity of seeing just three sisters C.M.C. congregation from the Ernakulum province left their comforts in their mother house and went to Jullundur in the 50s when the presence of Catholic churches, Catholic community and its strength in those areas were negligible and practically nil. They worked with the existing churches and bishops to do the evangelistic work.  Going through great struggles, walking hand in hand with the priests and the lay people, slowly and steadily the congregation grew and they have schools, hospitals, social work centres, and helped diocese institutions. Today they have many big and small institutions of repute in all the north Indian Dioceses, and even in the difficult border areas. Now they have their own province. Congratulations for your great achievements and services.  We also had the opportunity of seeing the Sisters of Destitutes working in Delhi Rosary School in the 50s and from there to

Holy Angel Hospital in Greater Kailash and then Jivodaya Hospital in Delhi. We have seen three or four sisters of the congregation Sr. Reni, Sr. Cyril etc coming to Himachal in the beginning of 60s and working their way with great missionary zeal in places where there were no Catholics and without knowing the local languages. Working with courage and commitment you  built up good hospitals, schools and social work centres and also served the small Catholic Community especially people in military services. Today the congregation has schools and their other institution in most of the parts of North India and in every diocese in North India. . They have grown to the extent of creating their own province in north. Real great work. Our real appreciation for the great vision. There are many other congregations such as Clarists and Adoration sisters and may be others also have done great service for the Catholic Church in different parts of the country and abroad. These congregations have taken Christ’s message to every part of the world.

We are writing this because we see that in the recent past, it appears that these congregations are losing their apostolic vision and they are slowly moving to slavery to their power hungry clerical hierarchy of Kerala. First and foremost these congregations of sisters were working with the Latin Bishops and priests as representatives of one and only one apostolic Catholic Church. Occasionally these congregations may have faced difficulties and differences with individual bishops or priest. This is what is common even within Kerala between the congregations and the some members of Church Hierarchy. Suddenly you are showing signs changing over your affiliation to the New Syro-Malabar Church which came to north India with sinister intentions.  Your congregations survived and flourished as exemplary catholic congregations
  
without the help of these saviors of Syrian Hierarchy. First of all you are dividing the one and only Catholic Church which you were a part of that mystical body into sectarian churches. By the change of this affiliation, you are changing your apostolic mission. You did not come here to look after a particular sect of the Catholic Church. You came here as missionaries to serve every community (Humanity of this area irrespective of the communal affinity) as servants of god because of your love of Jesus. If you become a part of this new establishment, you will have to reformulate your congregation’s vision and mission.  The new establishment has come to North in order to look after the spiritual needs of the Syro-Malabar people. They felt that the Latin Bishops did not really care about the Spiritual needs of the Syrians.  They are stating categorically that  they came to serve the Syro-Malabar Catholics living without proper guidance (Their own statement). It means that they are here not as an apostolic and evangelic church. They are just as administrators of an already established group of Malayalees and nothing else. They only want to run some institutions and make your congregations do the same for them. 

Forget about the lower caste people, not even a Brahmin from the north can be absorbed to the Syro-Malabar Church as these people from the north can be neither “Syro nor Malabar” people. Full stop for evangelisation.  Would you like to change your evangelical work?Are you going to be satisfied by just looking  after the health, wealth, prosperity and may be the spirituality of the few Syro-Malabar people who are working in the North of India? Are you going to dance to the tune of aristocracy of the new Eparchy and be proved of their culture? Or you will have your a greater vision? Only our request is “Please don’t break away from Jesus. You have left your homes and your parents and your dear ones to wed Jesus. Don’t Divorce Him”
  
Think well whether you have an individuality and identity of your own or do you just want to be the slaves of the patriarchal system of the Syrian Church? We believe that you have a number of sisters who can think, and take decisions for the congregations and provinces without just being emotionally attached to parochial organizations or heads of institution. Stand for your great mission. All the Best wishes.

With love,

People who admire you for your great Courage, commitment, and sacrifices to our dear nation and also elsewhere.

Prepared by Jose Paul (Delhi)

“No compulsion”

“No compulsion” statement By Archbishop of Faridabad Eparchy.

Jose paul (Delhi)

The statement by Faridabad bishop in the homily during concluding mass of Santhom Bible convention 2014 regarding the freedom of choice to be a Syro-malabar rite is very crucial if there is a change of mind in sync with the Synod of Rome.

My parents are born in Syro-Malabar Church. I was born and baptized and brought up as a Syrian catholic. I lived in the north of India for the past 54 years and lived as a Syrian catholic though I practiced the religious practice in a Latin parish. The Latin parish church accepted me as a full-fledged member of the church without asking me to join the Latin rite. I came to the north in search of my livelihood. No Syro-Malabar priest or bishop was there to take care of my spiritual needs. No syro-Malabar priest or bishop ever asked the Latin Bishop or the parish priest to look my spiritual needs. The Latin parish took care of me and family including my children’s’ spiritual needs meticulously.

After 54 years of my life as a Syrian catholic here, a group of people calling themselves laborers of  the vineyard of Jesus Christ come to Delhi proclaiming themselves as they are the custodians the Syro-Malabar Catholics in Delhi and its surroundings.

 Their first statement (the official statement) through the Joint pastoral letter dated  Nov 2013 was that the Syro-Malabar Catholics have  already became the members of the Faridabad Diocese with retrospective date from March 2012 ( the date of establishing themselves as the custodians of the innocent Syro-Malabar Catholics)  and that they have no choice in this respect . What power on earth or heaven gave them the authority to take away the freedom of the Syrian Catholics in Delhi as if they are not people but some movable property? They know that these human beings are the source of movable and immovable property and power for them.

Instead of building unity among the faithful, to complete the division of the church, (though a lot of loose words are used about the love and unity in the universal catholic church in the Joint pastoral letter) the Syrian Catholics are allowed to continue their good works such as members of Catholic Association, St. Vincent de Paul Society, Youth Movements, Charismatic Renewal etc through a corresponding group in their new Syro-Malabar Parish. (Not with the Catholics with whom they worked charitable and spiritual activities for many years. Any exception to this norm will have to be addressed to the Bishop of Eparchy of Faridabad and he will take the decision for the lay person’desire.

This is the sign of unity and cooperation of the new Catholic Church.  Again another quote,”The syro-Malabar Catholics has a right and duty to avail of the ministry of this new Eparchy for all the sacraments, in particular for Baptism and Marriage. It appears that they possesses the judicial and the spiritual  power on earth to control the life of the Syrian Catholics anywhere in the world just because they came to the place as intruders pretending to be saviors.

Lately we see the Eparchy proclaiming freedom to the Syrian Catholics in Delhi to join or not to join Syrian rite through press interviews and homilies. He Proclaims “Stay where you are comfortable. No one is compelled to Join Syro-Malabar Rite”. These people are already of syro-Malabar rite. They do not need any body’s permission to be syro-Malabar rite. Nobody can take away their right or rite. It is not the property of some bishop. The Syrian church does not mean only the hierarchy. The lay people of the church also are part of the Syrian Church. If these Syrian people could survive as Syrians without a special hierarchy, they can still survive. What they don’t want is not to join Faridabad diocese. To remain as Syro-Malabar catholic or Latin, Why should they apply to anybody?

All these statements are only gimmicks and have no meaning. If one is sincere and he wants the people to believe him, he has to show it officially. If people have to believe him, he has to officially withdraw the Joint Pastoral Letter unconditionally either unilaterally or along with the Archbishop of Delhi. The newspaper interviews and the homily in a Faridabad diocese group do not reach the people who need these assurances.

Fr. Jose Philip, the principal of St. Xavier’s School Delhi said in his words of Appreciation to the change of heart of the Eparchy.  About the declaration of the Archbishop of Faridabad “A right steps in the right time against fundamentalism”. He added “very much needed when there is so much rigidity in matters of religion all around us” He was very positive “A big change of mind in sync with the synod in Rome.”   “The declaration might have huge witness value”


Dear Father Philip, We all pray that each of the words you said may become a reality and bring unity in the mystical body of Christ. 

എന്നാലും എന്റെ പോപ്പേ................



ഞങ്ങള്‍ നസ്രാണികള്‍ ഇപ്പോള്‍ 'കൈച്ചിട്ട് ഇറക്കാനും വയ്യ മധുരിച്ചിട്ട് തുപ്പാനും വയ്യ' എന്ന അവസ്ഥയിലാണ്. അതോ 'തൊണ്ടയില്‍പുഴുത്താല്‍' എന്ന അവസ്ഥയിലോ. രണ്ടാമത്തേതാവും കൂടുതല്‍ ശരി. ലോകത്താകമാനമുള്ള നസ്രാണികളെപറ്റിയല്ല കേട്ടോ ഞാന്‍ പറയുന്നത്. മഴക്കാലത്ത് പാണ്ടിലോറിയുടെ മുന്നില്‍ മസ്സില്‍ പെരുപ്പിച്ചുനില്‍ക്കുന്ന തവളകളെ പോലെ ഊതി വീര്‍പ്പിച്ച മത, രാഷ്ട്രീയ സദാചാരവുമായി മസ്സില്‍ പെരുപ്പിച്ചു നില്‍ക്കുന്ന കേരളത്തിലെ നസ്രാണികളെ പറ്റിയാണ്. അതില്‍ തന്നെ ഉയര്‍ന്ന മൂല്യബോധമുള്ള ഒരു ചെറു ന്യൂനപക്ഷത്തെ ഞാന്‍ വിസ്മരിക്കുന്നുമില്ല. പക്ഷെ ആ ന്യൂനപക്ഷത്തിന് ഇവരുടെ ഇടയിലുള്ള സ്ഥാനം വേലിക്കുപുറത്താണ് എന്നുമാത്രം. കാശുള്ളവന്‍ കത്തോലിക്കന്‍ കാശില്ലാത്തവന്‍ വെറും തൊലിക്കന്‍ എന്നാണല്ലോ പ്രമാണം


ഓ ഞാന്‍ വിഷയത്തിലേക്ക് വരട്ടെ . കാര്യം തുറന്നങ്ങ് പറയാം ഈ ഫ്രാന്‍സീസ് മാര്‍പ്പാപ്പയുടെ വാക്കുകളും പ്രവൃത്തികളും ഒന്നും ഞങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് ഒട്ടും സുഖിക്കുന്നില്ല കേട്ടോ. അങ്ങേര് പറഞ്ഞത് കേട്ടില്ലേ സ്വന്തം രാജസഭാഗങ്ങളുടെ മുഖസ്തുതി കേട്ട് കോരിത്തരിക്കുന്ന നാര്‍സിസിസ്റ്റ്കളായിരുന്നു പലപ്പോഴും സഭാധ്യക്ഷന്‍മാര്‍ മാത്രമല്ല ഈ രാജധാനി പാപ്പ ഭരണ സംഭിധാനത്തിന്‍റെ കുഷ്ടരോഗമാണെന്നും. അതു പോട്ടെന്നു വെക്കാം. പക്ഷെ അദേഹം പറയുവാ സത്യസന്ധതയും ധീരതയുമുള്ള വ്യക്തികളില്‍ നിന്നും അങ്ങേര് കംമ്യുണിസ്സത്തെ പറ്റി പഠിച്ചു എന്നും അതിലെ സാമൂഹികമായ വശങ്ങള്‍ തിരിച്ചറിഞ്ഞു എന്നും പില്‍ക്കാലത്ത് സഭയുടെ സാമൂഹിക പ്രത്യയശാസ്ത്രത്തിലും അതുതന്നെ കണ്ടെത്തിയെന്നും.

കര്‍ത്താവേ ഇങ്ങേര് ക്രിസ്ത്യാനി തന്നെയോ!!!!!

ഇതൊക്കെ പോട്ടെ, കാരണം അങ്ങേര് ആ കസ്സേരെ കേറിയിരുന്ന ഉടനെ പറഞ്ഞതല്ലെ. വെറും ആരംഭ ശൂരത്തം എന്ന് വിചാരിച്ച് ഞങ്ങളങ്ങ്‌ ക്ഷമിച്ചു. പക്ഷെ ഇപ്പം ഇതാ വീണ്ടും,..... കൊത്തി കൊത്തി മുറത്തില്‍ കേറി കൊത്തുന്നു എന്ന് പറഞ്ഞ് കേട്ടിടട്ടേയുള്ളൂ.

മുതലാളിത്തത്തിന്‍റെ പണക്കൊതിയാണ് എല്ലാ യുദ്ധങ്ങളുടെയും കാരണമെന്നും ( ഹേ ഇത് തന്നെയല്ലെ പണ്ട് നമ്മുടെ മാര്‍ക്സും, എംഗല്‍സ്സും ഒക്കെ പറഞ്ഞത്} ഇനിയൊരു മൂന്നാം ലോകയുദ്ധത്തിനു സാധ്യതയില്ലാത്തതിനാല്‍ പ്രാദേശിക യുദ്ധങ്ങള്‍ കുത്തിപൊക്കുന്നു എന്നും. ഭലമോ സമ്പന്നന്‍ അതിസമ്പന്നനും ദരിദ്രന്‍ പരമദരിദ്രനുമാകുന്നു. പാവപെട്ട ഒരു മനുഷ്യന്‍ പട്ടിണിമൂലം വഴിയില്‍ മരിച്ചുകിടന്നാല്‍ അത് വാര്‍ത്തയല്ല എന്നാല്‍ സെന്‍സെക്സ് പത്ത് പോയന്‍റ് ഇടിഞ്ഞാല്‍ അത് വലിയ വാര്‍ത്തയാവുന്നു അത്രേ. മനുഷ്യനെ പണത്തിന്‍റെ ദേവന്‍റെ മുന്നില്‍ ബലി കൊടുക്കുന്നു എന്നൊക്കെയാ അങ്ങേരുടെ ഇപ്പോഴത്തെ വേവലാതികള്‍. അല്ല അറിയാഞ്ഞിട്ട്‌ ചോദിക്കുവാ ഇതിയാന് ഇത് എന്നാത്തിന്‍റെ കേടാ. അങ്ങ് വത്തിക്കാന്‍ കൊട്ടാരത്തില്‍ എല്ലാ സൌകര്യങ്ങളുമുണ്ട്. വൈകിട്ട് രണ്ടെണ്ണം അടിച്ചിട്ട് വല്ലോടത്തും ചുരുണ്ട് കൂടി കിടന്നാപോരെ.

ദേണ്ടെ കിടക്കണ്......... ഇന്നലെ അങ്ങേര് പറയുവ ദൈവം മാന്ത്രികനൊന്നുമല്ല, ദൈവം ഒണ്ടാകട്ടേന്ന് പറഞ്ഞപ്പം ഒണ്ടായതൊന്നുമല്ല ഭൂമീം മനുഷ്യനും. ആദിയിലെ മഹാവിസ്ഫോടനത്തിലൂടെയും പരിണാമ സിദ്ധാന്തത്തിലൂടെയും ഒക്കെയാണ് ഭൂമീം മനുഷ്യനും ഒക്കെ ഉണ്ടായതെന്ന്.

ഹും..... വേദപാഠം പടിച്ചപ്പം പഠിച്ചിട്ടുള്ളത ഒരു ദിവസ്സം രാവിലെ ദൈവം ബോറടിച്ചിരുന്നപ്പം ഭൂമി ഉണ്ടാവട്ടെന്നു പറഞ്ഞു ഭൂമിയുണ്ടായി അടുത്ത ദിവസ്സം ഇരുട്ടും വെളിച്ചവുമുണ്ടാക്കി, നാലാമത്തെ ദിവസ്സം സൂര്യനെയുണ്ടാക്കി എന്നൊക്കെ. അന്ന് വെളിച്ചം ഉണ്ടായിക്കഴിഞ്ഞാണോ സൂര്യനുണ്ടായതെന്ന് ചോദിച്ചതിന് അച്ഛന്‍ എന്‍റെ കുണ്ടിക്കിട്ടടിച്ചതിന്‍റെ വേദന ഇപ്പോഴും മറന്നിട്ടില്ല. ദേ എന്നിട്ടിപ്പം പറയുവാ അതൊന്നും ശരിയല്ലാന്ന്.

ഒക്കെ സഹിക്കാം മുതലാളിത്തം ശരിയല്ല കമ്യൂണിസ്റ്റ്കാരെ മാറ്റിനിറുത്തേണ്ട അവര് കുഴപ്പക്കാരല്ലാന്ന്.

ആ പിന്നേ... കാര്യം മാര്‍പപ്പായൊക്കെയാ .... പക്ഷെ കമ്മ്യുണിസ്റ്റ്കാര്‍ നല്ലവരാണെന്നും അവരുടെകൂടെ കൂട്ടുകൂടാണമെന്നും മാത്രം പറഞ്ഞ.... ഞങ്ങടെ ശരി സ്വഭാവം അറിയും.

വേണ്ടിവന്നാല്‍ വത്തിക്കാനെതിരെയും ഒരു വിമോചനസമരം നടത്താന്‍ ഞങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് മടിയില്ല എന്ന് ഓര്‍ത്താല്‍ അങ്ങേയ്ക്ക് നന്ന്... ഇഎംഎസ്സിനെ ഈയം പൂശി ഈയലുപോലെ പറപ്പിക്കും എന്ന് പറഞ്ഞ നാക്ക് കൊണ്ട് മാര്‍പ്പാപ്പയെ ഈയം പൂശി ഈയലുപോലെ പറപ്പിക്കും എന്ന് ഞങ്ങളെക്കൊണ്ട് പറയിപ്പിക്കല്ലേ......




കടപ്പാട് : ജെയിംസ്‌ ഉതുപ്പാൻ / മുഖപുസ്തകം

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

What is the difference?

The great Culture of Our Syro-malabar Church 

Jose Paul (Delhi)

(The author humbly asks the pro-tradition Masters to explain the difference between rites, the meaning of culture and the substance of the Church - Editor)
     
Many a time the existence of two or two dozen different types of faith (rites) have been propagated by the two prelates. But none of them answers one important question which the laity is perplexed with. Nobody tells us one or two or all the differences in faith of these different catholic churches.  At least tell us the difference between the faiths of the Latin faith and Syro-Malabar faith? Is it because there is no answer which they are not willing to give? Or may be because there is no answer at all to this question? If you are two loving shepherds, of the Catholic Church, be bold enough to make these differences plain to the unknowing and spiritually uneducated lay men and women. At least that will clear a lot of cobweb from the minds of the faithful.

We must thank the Bishop of Faridabad diocese for the statement he made in the convention at Faridabad. He said “Those who are proud of their tradition and culture only should come forward and join the diocese” At least he brought out one difference between the Latin Church and the Syro-Malabar Church. The syro-Malabar church has a tradition and culture. The syro-Malabar hierarchy is proud of this culture and traditions. But many of the faithful still don’t understand what it means.  Does it mean that in Catholic Church there are two different cultures? Can these people in the hierarchy specify one or two different items of culture that the Syro-Malabar people should be proud of? Can you mention one or two different items of tradition that we should be proud of?

Don’t these people know that the culture and traditions are things meant to be changed? If not, they become stagnant and sterile.  Are not the culture of the Syro-Malabar Church changed in Faridabad drastically from that of traditions and cultures of Kerala. The Syro-Malabar Eparchy had a fund raising function in Delhi.  Can the Kerala Syro-Malabar Catholic hierarchy imagines the Boll hood musicians, beauty queen from around the world, Punjabi dance team comprising of males and females to be the main attraction for diocesan fund raising for churches and for charitable activities in the name of Jesus Christ? I do not mean that anything is wrong in this. I am not a judge of traditions, culture or values. That is the prerogative of the 'spiritual' leaders who are sitting on high pedestal. But we can see the changes in traditions.

Next year we may invite Hollywood actors, belly dancers from Hawaii or even conduct a beauty queen contest on the stage. The essence of culture is money now. In Charles Dickens novel, Oliver Twist, the villain Fagin used to collect money by sending children to the streets to beg to fill his pocket. He even disabled many of them for better collection of his fund. We did not do such things to children. We only used the differently abled children in a highly sophisticated way on the stage to enhance “their happiness and our funds.   No judgments on the actions of the hierarchy.  Go ahead and prosper. Money is the King. Let the uneducated, uncultured, non traditional  Syro-Malabar people who have no respect for culture and tradition, who do not want to be with the Syro-Malabar Church, go anywhere. They will be taught a lesson when they or their dependents come to Kerala for marriage or baptism. That is the culture and tradition of the great church founded by St. Thomas, the Apostle!

പരിണാമ സിദ്ധാന്തവും ബിഗ്‌ ബാങ്ങ് തിയറിയും ശരിയെന്നു മാര്‍പ്പാപ്പ .

ഉല്‍പ്പത്തി പുസ്തകം തള്ളി പോപ്‌ ബെനഡിക്റ്റ് 16 നടത്തിയ പ്രസ്താവന ശരിയാണെന്നും, പ്രപഞ്ച സൃഷ്ട്ടിയുമായി ബന്ധപ്പെട്ട മഹാവിസ്ഫോടന സിദ്ധാന്തം ശരിയാണെന്നും കണ്ണടച്ച് തുറക്കും മുന്പ് പ്രപഞ്ചം സൃഷ്ട്ടിക്കാന്‍  മാന്ത്രിക വടി കയ്യിലേന്തിയ മാന്ത്രികന്‍ അല്ല ദൈവം എന്നും  പോപ്പ് ഫ്രാൻസിസ്.

പോപ്പിനെ കല്ലെറിയാന്‍ ആഗ്രഹിക്കുന്ന വിശ്വാസികള്‍ വരിയായി നിന്നോളൂ ..... വിശ്വാസികളെക്കാള്‍ ഇതു സഭയിലെ മെത്രാന്മാര്‍ക്കും കര്‍ദിനാള്‍മാര്‍ക്കുമാണ്  തലവേദന സൃഷിക്കുന്നത്. ഇപ്പോള്‍ അവര്‍ വളരെ കഠിനമായി ദുഖിക്കുന്നുണ്ടാവണം. ഇപ്പോഴാണ് അവര്‍ക്ക് മനസ്സിലായത്, ഒരിക്കലും ബുദ്ധിയും ബോധവും അതിലുപരി മനുഷ്യത്വവും ഉള്ളവരെ ഈ പണിക്ക് എടുക്കരുത് എന്ന് .

പോപ്പ് അത്ര വലിയ വിപ്ലവമൊന്നും പറഞ്ഞതായി ബോധമുള്ളവര്‍ക്ക് തോന്നിയില്ല. വിശ്വാസിയായിരിക്കുമ്പോഴും ജീവിക്കുന്നത് ഇരുപത്തൊന്നാം നൂറ്റാണ്ടിലാണെന്ന് ബോദ്ധ്യമുള്ള ആർക്കും തോന്നുന്ന കാര്യം മാത്രമാണ് അദ്ദേഹം പറഞ്ഞത്. എന്തായാലും ആ പദവിയിലിരുന്നുകൊണ്ട് ഇത്രയെങ്കിലും പറഞ്ഞുവല്ലോ എന്ന് നമുക്കാശ്വസിക്കാം. പക്ഷേ താനിങ്ങനെ പറയാൻ തുടങ്ങിയാൽ എവിടെ ചെന്നെത്തുമെന്നും പോപ്പിന് നല്ല നിശ്ചയമുണ്ടെന്നു വേണം പറയാൻ. അതുകൊണ്ടല്ലേ, ദക്ഷിണകൊറിയയിൽ നിന്ന് ഇക്കഴിഞ്ഞ ആഗസ്റ്റിൽ നാട്ടിലേക്ക് മടങ്ങുമ്പോൾ, തനിക്ക് അധികകാലം ഈ ഭൂമിയിൽ വാഴ്ചയില്ലെന്ന് ഒരു ഉൾവിളിയുണ്ടാ‍യത്? കാരണം, സഭയേക്കാൾ വലിയ പോപ്പിനെ സഭ ഇതുവരെ അധികം വച്ചുവാഴിച്ചിട്ടില്ല.

വര്‍ഷങളായി നിരന്തരം ദൃഡതയും അനിഷേധ്യതയും തെളിയിച്ചു കൊണ്ടിരിക്കുന്ന പരിണാമ ശാസ്ത്രത്തെ  മാര്‍പ്പാപ്പ അംഗീകരിച്ചു. എന്നാല്‍  കേളത്തിലെ സഭയുല്പ്പെടെയുള്ള അനേകം സഭകള്‍ ഇതിനു എതിരായി നില്‍ക്കുമോ? നമുക്ക് കാത്തിരിക്കാം. ഇതിന്റെ പരിണിതഫലം ജന്മപാപത്തെക്കുറിച്ചും  മിശിഹായുടെ ജനനത്തെക്കുറിച്ചുമുളള സഭയുടെ പ്രബോധനങ്ങള്‍ക്ക്‌ എതിരായി മാറും എന്നുള്ളതാണ്.



Tuesday, October 28, 2014

സെക്സും കത്തോലിക്കാ സഭയും , സിനഡിലെ രഹസ്യങ്ങള്‍

Source :Daily Indian Herald



















































































No compulsion on rites: Faridabad Archbishop

Faridabad diocese was created in 2012 to cater to the spiritual needs of the Syro-Malabar Catholics in Delhi Latin-rite territory.


By Jessy Joseph

As a section of Oriental Catholics continues campaigns against joining the Syro-Malabar diocese established two years ago in Delhi, their archbishop has said the diocese will not put pressure on anyone to join it.

Although those who have been following Latin rite are supposed to follow their own Oriental rite when a diocese of their rite was established, "we will not compel any one," said Archbishop Kuriakose Bharanikulangara of Faridabad diocese.

“Stay where you are comfortable and no one is compelled to join the syro Malabar rite,” he said in his homily for the closing Mass of Santhom Bible Convention 2014 over the weekend.


“Those who are proud of their tradition and culture only should come forward and join the diocese,” he added.

Faridabad diocese was created in 2012 to cater to the spiritual needs of the Syro-Malabar Catholics in Delhi Latin-rite archdiocesan territory.

Archbishops of Delhi and Faridabad jointly issued a pastoral letter in November 2013 stating the transfer of all syro Malabar Catholics from the Delhi Latin-rite archdiocese to the Faridabad Syro Malabar diocese.

Some Oriental Catholics living in the national capital revolted the move to bring them under Faridabad diocese and asked Pope Francis to annul the pastoral letter of the archbishops.

The local Churches should be united to give common witness to the love and compassion of Christ said the prelate. “We need to promote unity and become one family,” he added.

He stressed the need for strengthening family life. It should be based on Bible values and prayerful. “Parents should strengthen the family ties by teaching their children faith education and keep the faith alive through daily family prayers,” archbishop Bharanikulangara said, adding that they should also set examples to their children.

Some 10,000 faithful attended the three-day Bible convention held in New Delhi from October 24.

മൂന്നമത് പ്രത്യേക സിനഡു സമ്മേളനം അത്യപൂർവമെന്ന് ഫാദര്‍ ലൊമ്പാര്ഡി്


Monday, October 27, 2014

മനുഷ്യാന്തസ്സു മാനിക്കേണ്ട അന്താരാഷ്ട്ര നിയമസംവിധാനങ്ങള്‍


അവയവ ദാനം മഹാദാനം...

കാറ്റും കോളും നിറഞ്ഞ സഭാന്തരീക്ഷത്തില്‍ എല്ലാവരും ചീത്തയെന്നോ, എല്ലാവരും നല്ലതെന്നോ പറയാന്‍ ആര്‍ക്കും സാധിക്കില്ല. എങ്കിലും, അപരന്റെ കണ്ണുനീര്‍ ആരു കാണുന്നുവോ, അതാര് തുടക്കുന്നുവോ അവരെ നോക്കി മാലാഖാമാര്‍ പാടാതിരിക്കില്ല, 'അത്യുന്നതങ്ങളില്‍ ദൈവത്തിനു മഹത്വം!


അഴിമതി കടുത്ത പാപമെന്നു മാര്പാ പ്പ



Is the Bible Reliable?

(This is an article which appeared in http://pjsaunders.blogspot.co.nz/2012/05/is-bible-reliable.html  - Editor)


                                            Greek Manuscript of 1st Corinthians 13

The Bible is actually a collection of 66 different books written by over 30 different authors in three continents in three languages over a period of 1,500 years which has been carefully complied from reliable copies of the original manuscripts (hand-written documents).

Christians believe that the Bible is both divinely inspired and an accurate record of God’s dealings with man. But many people today question its accuracy. This questioning usually boils down to one of four main questions as follows:

1.Did the events described really happen in the way the eyewitnesses claimed they did?
(Are there errors of fact?)

If the eyewitnesses did not relate the events as they originally occurred, then there are only two possibilities. Either they were mistaken or they deliberately lied.

Individuals may suffer from errors of perception but not whole groups. Unlike the 'revelations' of contemporary cult leaders many of the events described in the Bible were witnessed by more than one person. On examining the accounts we find a remarkable degree of consistency. Consider for example the parallel histories in Kings, Chronicles and the Prophets, the biography of Jesus in the four Gospels or the 500 who were said to have seen Christ after the resurrection. (1 Cor 15:6)

On the other hand would the authors deliberately lie? According to historical tradition, eleven of the twelve disciples of Jesus met a violent death on account of their belief in his resurrection. Would they really have put themselves through such suffering for a faith they knew was false? (1 Cor 15:15-19; 2 Cor 11:23-29)

2.Did the story change before it was written down? 
(Are there errors of verbal transmission?)

Many people in our 21st century world of internet, email and word-processing believe that verbally transmitted information could never remain uncontaminated. But an examination of the way stories are passed on in contemporary non-literate societies quickly puts paid to this kind of cultural arrogance. Oral traditions are composed in easily memorable format and are constantly repeated and checked. Some early Muslim converts have memorised over 6,000 verses of the Qu'ran accurately! The capacity of the human memory is astounding as any mother who has read to her children knows.

Despite this, there was no chain of verbal transmission before much of the Bible was committed to writing. The words and deeds of Jesus were clearly recorded by eyewitnesses (2 Pet 1:16; 1 Jn 1:3, 19:35) or at least by those who carefully interviewed them (Lk 1:1-3). The meticulous detail in some of the observations proves their authenticity (Jn 19:34-5; 20:6-7).

3.Is what we have now what was originally written down?
(Are there errors of written transmission?)

Scribes who copied Scripture were meticulous in their attention to detail. One has only to look at old manuscripts like the Book of Kells in the Dublin Trinity College library, or some of the scrolls in the British Museum to see the truth of this. Even if we doubted this fact there are enough early copies of both Old and New Testament documents to show that they have not been changed over the course of time. Entire copies of the New Testament in Greek dating from the 3rd and 4th centuries (Codex Vaticanus, Sinaiticus and Alexandrinus) can be viewed today. Some of the earliest fragments (eg John Ryland) date from the lifetime of those who knew the apostles personally. Until last century the earliest Old Testament in Hebrew which we possessed was the Massoretic Text (cAD900). However, the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered at Qumran in the 1940s, (which contain parts of every Old Testament book save one) are 1,000 years older and virtually identical.

When comparisons are made with other documents of antiquity the Bible documents stand alone in terms of authenticating evidence. We know about Julius Caesar (whose existence no-one doubts) from less than a dozen copies of the original documents, the earliest of which post-date his death by 1,000 years. By contrast there are over 5,000 Greek manuscripts alone of New Testament records of the life of Christ and his apostles surviving from the first few hundred years after he walked the streets of Palestine (For more detail on this see here and here)

Apart from the New Testament documents, early Jewish and Roman literature also makes mention of Christ: his teaching, miracles, crucifixion under Tiberius and even the three hours darkness at the time of his death. (see Tacitus, Lucian, Josephus, Suetonius, Pliny and Thallus).

Archeological discoveries have repeatedly confirmed that those who wrote the Bible were consummate historians of the first order. (eg Ezra 6:13-16; Lk 3:1-2)

4.Are there contradictions?

Those who make reference to the 'thousands' of contradictions in the Bible are usually unable to name one. Most genuine contradictions can be attributed to minor errors in hand copying of individual letters or numbers (eg 2 Ch 36:9 cf 2 Ki 24:8) or to verses being taken out of context (eg Mt 7:8 cf Pr 1:28). Others arise when the same story is told from the perspective of different observers (eg Lk 24:1-2 cf Jn 20:1) This is what we would expect. If serial witnesses in court give identical testimonies, one might suspect that the evidence has been fabricated. 

Some contradictions may seem at first difficult to account for, but can be explained satisfactorily (eg Judas's mode of death Mt 27:5 cf Acts1:18 and Jesus's genealogy Mt 1:6-16 cf Lk 3:23-31.) Apparent contradictions confirm rather than cast doubt on the Bible's authenticity. They would be carefully edited out in a fake. The fact remains that there is not a single error in the Bible which casts doubt on any significant historical biblical event or doctrine. Whilst accepting that there will always be mysteries, there are reasonable explanations for virtually all the so-called contradictions (See 101 cleared up contradictions)

Throughout the last two thousand years the Bible has withstood vociferous criticism with flying colours. 

In my experience those who are most vocal in questioning it reject it, not because of the above reasons (these are just smokescreens!) but for one of five reasons:

1.Hearsay. They have never looked at it but have heard that others reject it.
2.Presuppositions. They believe that miracles cannot happen and because the Bible describes miracles it must therefore be false.
3.Science. They think the Bible makes claims which have been disproved scientifically.
4.Morality. They reject the Bible’s moral teaching especially about sexuality.
5.Personal. They are unwilling to accept the personal implications of the Bible’s teaching. 

Peter Saunders

Sunday, October 26, 2014

പതിനെട്ടു വര്‍ഷം, രണ്ടു പൈസ !

രാമകൃഷ്ണന്റെ അടുത്ത് ഒരു മനുഷ്യന്‍ വന്നു. അദ്ദേഹം ഒരു പഴയ സന്ന്യാസി ആയിരുന്നു. രാമകൃഷ്ണനെക്കാള്‍ പ്രായക്കൂടുതലുള്ള ആ സന്ന്യാസി ഗംഗാനദിയുടെ തീരത്ത് ഇരിക്കുകയായിരന്ന അദ്ദേഹത്തിന്റെ അടുത്തു വന്ന് പറഞ്ഞു: 'നിങ്ങളെ ജനങ്ങള്‍ പൂജിക്കുന്നതായി ഞാന്‍ കേട്ടിട്ടുണ്ട്. വാസ്തവത്തില്‍ നിങ്ങളുടെ ജീവനില്‍ ആധ്യാത്മികമായ എന്തെങ്കിലും ഉണ്ടെങ്കില്‍ എന്റെ കൂടെ വരൂ, എന്നിട്ട് എന്നോടൊപ്പം ഗംഗാനദിയുടെ മുകളിലൂടെ നടന്നുകാണിക്കൂ.'
രാമകൃഷ്ണന്‍ പറഞ്ഞു: 'നടന്നുവന്നതല്ലേ, ക്ഷീണം കാണും, അല്പം വിശ്രമിക്കൂ. അതിനുശേഷം നമുക്കു നടക്കാം. ഇപ്പോള്‍ എങ്ങും പോകേണ്ടതായ ആവശ്യവുമില്ല. അതുവരെ നമുക്ക് അല്പം പരിചയപ്പെടാം. ഇപ്പോള്‍ നാം പരസ്പരം അറിയുകപോലുമില്ല. വെള്ളത്തിനു മുകളിലൂടെ നടക്കുന്നതിനു വേണ്ടി എത്ര നാളുകള്‍വരെ നിങ്ങള്‍ക്കു പഠിക്കേണ്ടതായിവന്നു?'
ആ മനുഷ്യന്‍ പറഞ്ഞു: 'പതിനെട്ടു വര്‍ഷം.' രാമകൃഷ്ണന്‍ ചിരിച്ചുകൊണ്ട് പറഞ്ഞു: 'ഞാന്‍ വെള്ളത്തിനു മുകളിലൂടെ നടന്നിട്ടില്ല. കാരണം, രണ്ടു പൈസകൊണ്ട് എനിക്ക് ഗംഗയ്ക്ക് അപ്പുറം എത്തിച്ചേരാന്‍ കഴിയും. രണ്ടു പൈസകൊണ്ട് നടക്കാവുന്ന കാര്യം, പതിനെട്ടു വര്‍ഷങ്ങള്‍വരെ പഠിക്കുകയെന്ന കാര്യം വിഡ്ഢിത്തത്തിന്റെ ലക്ഷണമാകുന്നു, അത് ആധ്യാത്മികമല്ല. വെള്ളത്തിനു മുകളിലൂടെ നടക്കുന്നുവെന്നതില്‍ അസാധ്യമായ എന്ത് കാര്യമാണുള്ളത്? ഇതില്‍നിന്ന് ജീവനെക്കുറിച്ചുള്ള എന്തു രഹസ്യമാണ് നിങ്ങള്‍ക്കു ലഭിച്ചത്?' Osho..

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Synod Shifts to Parish, Diocesan Levels



 Mature Thinking Year long on
Debatable Family Issues - Pope
                Total transparency, away to all secrecy, enlightened Church Citizens to speak up, willing Bishops to listen, learn and dialogue at all levels, readiness to admit & correct mistakes publically by all are to be traits of Year long Reflection.  

dr.james kottoor

Rome Synod Extraordinary, ended without ending! It was a two-week transfiguration on mountain top in Seven Hills city. They have now come down to ground realities of scorching heat at local parish level. For what? To brood over wexing family realities at home for another year -- till October 2015 – to become more mature before taking  final decisions on what they (bishops): 1. Have rejected for the moment, 2.What they have accepted with proviso and 3. What they have embraced unthinkingly, just because they were the things they always did.One thing is logic and arithmetic of this mundane world; quite another, that of the  world inside the bark of Peter in which the Nazarene takes a deep sleep like Kumbakaranan  least bothered by thunder and lightning, fury of winds and waves tossing up Peter’s bark to dash it on giant Rocks.  Peter thou art Rock, He had said. Which rock is to crush which rock? You and I have to find the answer.The kingdom of God has its own logic. The last will be first there, the winners end up as losers there,  because it is in giving that we receive,  it is in losing that we win, it is in dying that we are born to life eternal. Did these thoughts prompt a Washington Post to run the headline: “Pope Francis and gays will win by losing this round on synod draft”? Will they?  They should, if the logic of the Gospel is to stay last and lost to come first; if the God of Francis is not a Catholic God, but a God of Surprises! So wisdom, both worldly and other worldly forbid us to open the mouth in judgment, until the juice extracted from ripe grapes crushed extraordinarily at this sitting and kept in sealed jars, is allowed to ferment for one whole year to mature with needed kick and modest sweetness for all to take a sip and dance in joy.Thorny  Synod TopicsWhat are the thorny topics we have to ponder over at parish and “Domestic Church” (family) levels to which the debate is shifted now and to which the pastors have to listen with humility to learn and grow mature?  They are broken marriages, divorced relations,  remarried without annulment of the earlier one, cohabiting youngsters as well as elders, gay unions, lesbian relations and all that is included in the nomenclature  in  abbreviation LGBT taking in four groups -- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender—all of them seeking admission to Table Fellowship (communion).Which of these broken families are found in India? None? Who has ever done a survey? “Inter-religious marriages is problem here” says one of the three cardinals who returned from the synod. It is not clear on which survey his conclusion is based. Without conducting a Vatican ordered survey of families, Indian bishops sent their secret reports. It could have been an exercise in talking from their tops, an exercise in guess-work. Even if no data on inter-religious marriages is available, there are any amount of data gathered and sent to Rome on inter-diocesan, inter-Rite and inter-blood (pure and impure blood) marriages and complications created. They are very much discussed by Church Citizens in the Capital (Delhi Explosion), in Chennai, in Kerala and in USA. Bishops of the Indian Church refuse to take part in it. It is a forbidden topic for Catholic publications but a festive item in all websites run by Church Citizens.Is Christ divided and broken up, is the title of the 155 page petition sent to Pope. It highlights the messy Indian Church history from the creation of Kalian Eparchy, then leapfrogging across the ocean to Chicago, Melbourne; now spreading to Faridabad and planning to plant one in Chennai etc. All these are done by diktats from above while the Rome Synod demands: "Bishops from all over the world will have to listen to the laity in their respective dioceses…. I expect laypersons to be protagonists who search for real solutions with their heads held high!"  according to Bishop Bruno Forte the Synod Secretary.So the first duty for the three Rite-based (not Jesus based) churches in India, to my mind, is to put their own houses in order first, by conducting a pew-survey of the three Rites and then acting on it to wipe out all conflicts. If one year was wasted doing nothing, there is still one more year left, to study ground realities and to make course correction to make themselves, led by Jesus, and not by their respective Rites, which is wrong.Migration Breaking FamiliiesAnother issue that causes the break up of families is poverty leading to migration to find at least unskilled work in gulf countries, causing prolonged separation for young couples who do not have the charisma to practice celibacy which the consecrated lot claims to have but fails many. And think of marriage described as a Sexual Sacrament of Intercourse by an Australian couple Ron and Mavis Pirola, from Sydney with four children, one of them notably gay. Describing their 50 years of happy married life Pirola told some 200 celibate prelates: “the only feature that distinguishes our sacramental relationship from that of any other good Christ-centred relationship is sexual intimacy ….. Marriage is a sexual sacrament with its fullest expression in sexual intercourse.” He found Church teaching on sex impenetrable and when their gay son wanted to bring home his partner for Christmas, Pirola’s  grand children could be satisfied with  a three-word explanation: ‘He’s our son.’ The synod gave Pirolas a round of applause according to British Cardinal Nicolas for their out of box eye-popping talk. It also set off conservative critics to term it, “damaging” and “Scandalous”. This is just an example of how open the synod discussions were and what Francis wants to see taking place at parish and diocesan  levels,  to which unfinished Synod discussions are shifted.  Possible? The concluding ordinary Synod is to take place from Oct.4 to 25, 2015. Are parish priests and diocesan bishops ready to listen and learn from talks like Australian Pirolas during this one year period?          Pope Admits & corrects Mistakes
 Readiness to admit mistakes and correct himself in public was a remarkable trait Francis exhibited at the Synod.  “Welcoming” gays into the church and  giving them “fraternal space” were the objectionable phrases in the original draft... While referring to them in his concluding speech Francis said: "The task of the pope is to guarantee the unity of the church; to remind pastors that their first duty is to feed the flock -- feed the flock -- that the Lord has entrusted to them and try to search to welcome -- with fatherhood and mercy and without false fears -- the lost sheep," he said. Then, saying, "I made a mistake," Francis corrected himself: "I said welcome. Go find them!" is the correct wording.
                   What a great example on the part of the supreme pastor to admit that he made a mistake and equally correcting the mistake instantly and publicly.  It is not the first time that Francis responds positively and quickly to reasonable critics. For instance, when he hand-picked a slate of six prelates to shape the synod’s final document, Africans objected saying none from their continent had been selected. So Francis immediately  added to the list Cardinal Wilfrid F. Napier of Durban, South Africa, on Thursday.
          Quite legitimate was the African criticism since Church is flourishing there. Africa fascinates both the Catholic left and right in the West, in different ways. Liberals are fond of empowering the “Third World” and hearing their voices, but that tends to end when those voices say things liberals don’t want to hear, especially on sex and family. Most of them in Africa oppose lesbian trends.          But It is to be noted, says a report, during the last century, the Catholic population of sub-Saharan Africa went from 1.9 million to more than 130 million – a staggering growth rate of 6,708 percent.  Vocations are also booming across the continent. Bigard Memorial Seminary in south eastern Nigeria, with an enrolment of more than 1,100, is now said to be the largest Catholic seminary in the world. Compared to such abundance, what has the Syromalabar Church to boast of? It had an overflow of vocations, but we all know, it is fast declining now.
       3 Failed Topics & Transparency        Of the original draft of 62 topics to be put to vote,  only three failed to get two-thirds. They were 1. Pastoral care for gay people, 2.  Communion to divorced and 3. Handling the remarried who did not obtain annulments before remarrying. These three topics did not get the traditional two-thirds majority support,  that is, 122 of the 183 prelates who were present during voting. But Francis wanted both the original and corrected versions to be published to hide nothing from the Bishops to help them reflect during the one year still left to weigh the pros and cons.
               According to reports “Vatican spokesman Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi said Saturday the pope decided to publish the synod's entire final document, including the three paragraphs without a two-thirds majority, "to ensure maximum transparency on this whole process" and to allow bishops' conferences around the world to use the document in preparation for the 2015 synod.
              Calling the synod  a "journey" Francis continued:"Like every walk there were moments of running fast, as if to win time and reach the goal as quickly as possible; other moments of tiredness, as if to say that's enough; other moments of enthusiasm and ardour… There were moments of profound consolation, listening to the testimony of true pastors that wisely bring in to the heart the joys and the cries of the faithful”
Temptations on Journey             But calling it "a journey of men," the pope said "there were also moments of desolation, of tension and of temptations, of which you could mention some possibilities." Listing those temptations, the pope began with "the temptation of the hostile rigorist."             "From the time of Jesus, it is the temptation of the zealots, of the scrupulous ... considered -- today -- 'traditionalists' and even 'intellectualists,” he said. The pope then warned against "the temptation of destructive do-Gooding, which in the name of a false mercy bands wounds and cures them without first medicating them; that treats the symptoms and not the causes and roots. It is the temptation of 'do-gooders’.. considered 'progressives' and 'liberals,'" he said.
Three other temptations mentioned by the pope are:·         "To transform the stone into bread to break a long fast, heavy and painful, and also to transform the bread into stone and throw it against the sinners, the weak, and the sick, namely to turn it into 'unbearable burdens;”
·         "To come down from the cross, to please the people, and not to stay to fulfil the will of the father; to bow to worldly spirit rather than purify it and bend it to the Spirit of God;"
·         "To neglect the 'deposit of faith,' considering us not preservers but owners and masters or, the temptation to ignore the realty, using a meticulous language and a language of polishing to say many things and to not say anything! They call them ‘Byzantineisms,’ I think these things."

The pope, described himself, not  the supreme lord but “the supreme servant -- the servus servorum Dei [the servant of the servants of God]; the guarantor of obedience and conformity of the church to the will of God, the Gospel of Christ, and the tradition of the church,"
 Concluding, the pope referred to  the upcoming 2015 synod and said the bishops "now still have a year to mature, with true spiritual discernment, the proposed ideas and to find concrete solutions to many difficulties and innumerable challenges that families face." Francis was given five minutes of roaring applause by Synod fathers for his inspiring talk,   Joshua McElwee  and others report from Rome.                    But to be down to earth what are the challenges this report demand from  the Church in India, on national, Diocesan and Parish levels? It looks there are three for the consideration of responsible persons at the helm of affairs in the Church, if they are ready to follow the example of Pope Francis:1.               Practice of total transparency in Church administration by saying goodbye to all secrecy?
2.               Admitting mistakes publicly, knowing well, we all, however highly or lowly placed, make mistakes and blunders knowingly or unknowingly,
3.               To show courage to own up mistakes publicly (not privately) and say “I have goofed” as Francis did publicly. That is real confession, not the “sacramental one” done in secrecy.
                 To achieve all this  what is needed at the diocesan level are outstanding Church citizens who hold their heads high to speak up clearly and fearlessly, and bishops with vision and conviction  to listen to learn through dialogue until working solutions are found.Can be contacted at: jkottoor@asianeindia.com++++++++++++++++++++++++++++