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++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

For Son of Man to Rest

         When you are in Rome do as the Romans do! A Malayalam version of it is: In the land of snake-eaters eat its central piece. The thrust of the exhortation is to be circumspect, move with time and place – be it in the style of the dress you wear, the food you eat, the vehicle you drive, the house you live in and the temple you go to worship.

   The topic under discussion is the disturbing  competition so visible all around in erecting churches, mosques and temples of worship in various religions and between religions. Think of the monumental temple planned to be built in the place of demolished Babri Masjid. For Christians, what bothers some  is that their parish church doesn’t grow in length and width and size as their parish community grows in numbers and so how to solve it with minimum modification and least cost. For others it is a God-sent excuse to go in for a new fashionable Church  of their dreams in  style and size and architectural extravaganza  to put their imagined zeal for the house of God  to work to achieve - Nirvana -mental and spiritual fulfillment and also  to exhibit  the faith they believe in, through visible  concrete wonders  in size and shape.

    No one can question man’s innate need to assemble together  to express their brotherhood and to worship together to acknowledge their total dependence on God almighty. Besides when narrow lanes are replaced with highways and old buildings  by  sky-high shopping complexes, glittering  mansions or  multifaceted apartments, shouldn’t old fashioned churches and temples of bygone times  be replaced with modern ones? Thus goes the argument and not without some justification.

For  Carpenter of Nazareth?

   But for whose sake are these churches built? They are made in the name  and for the sake of Jesus, the carpenter of Nazareth, who said: “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head.”(Mt.8.20) Listen also to the words of Isaiah on the subject: “Thus says Yahweh: With heaven  my throne, and earth my footstool, what house could you build me, what place could you make for my rest? All this was made by my hand and all of this is mine.” Is.66.1.

   In any case Jesus  didn’t have or want any house of his own from his birth in a stable to his death on Calvary. Nor did he entrust any one to build one.  Nay to those who wanted to follow him didn’t he say:  “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me,” Lk.9.23, leaving behind father, mother, brothers, wife, children and the whole household, in fact after selling everything and distributing to the poor?Lk.18.22 “Every one who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children or land for the sake of my name will be repaid a hundred times over.”Mt.19.29 And a married Peter’s reply was: ”We have left everything and followed you.”Mt.19.27. Peter himself built no churches, though his name is immortalized by  St.Peter’s Basilica in Rome, fortunately  not the name of his master. Caught in the mental conflict to imitate his master to the last and the realization of his unworthiness to do so, it is said Peter got himself crucified upside down. That was the extent to which he went to imitate Jesus.

   Where then is the biblical basis for churches and shrines to imprison Jesus or God almighty? Jesus did not come to establish a new religion or build temples of worship. He did not ask his followers to worship him but to imitate him. Worshiping him is easy, not imitating! As for worshiping   God he asked them to do it neither in that temple or this temple, but in spirit and in truth in one’s own heart. When he prayed, it is said that he often did it  in solitude and on mountain tops. One of the few times he is reported to have wept,  it  was over Jerusalem and  its glorious  temple which he prophesized would be razed to the ground not leaving a stone upon a stone. After that he  is reported to have gone into that temple  to chase out the buyers and sellers inside. So what is the lesson for those who are busy like bees in  cities and country side putting up monumental mansions of artistic beauty called churches, shrines or Cathedrals and filling wayside corners with eye-catching chapels? Can their fate be anything other than that of the tower of Babel ventured upon by the builders  to make a name for themselves and reach up to the heavens through  lifeless structure of brick and mortar?

Dust of the Empire

   The followers of the carpenter of Nazareth began to be called Christians in Antioch, Acts 11.26. They came out of the catacombs and began to live in Royal style with thrones and dominations wielding spiritual and temporal power only with the blessing and support of Emperor Constantine in the fourth century. To sweep clean that dust of the empire accumulated through centuries on the Church starting from the throne of Peter downwards, Pope John the XXIII called the Vatican Council. That process is still going on with fits and fumes, with pulls and counter pulls. Part of it is the Churchmen’s struggle to combine the incompatibles – to run with the rabbits and  to hunt with the hounds, to befriend the powers that  be of this world with possession and position and at the same time to bear witness to the Jesus of Nazareth who  gave up everything to identify  himself with the poor, oppressed,  exploited, sick and marginalized  in order to establish the Fatherhood of God and brotherhood of all humans based on love, truth, justice, mercy, compassion and selfless service.

   But didn’t Jesus also say to Peter: “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church. And the gates of the underworld can never hold out against it.”Mt.16.18. Yes he did  and wanted to build his   quahat  in Hebrew or  Ekklesia   in Greek, meaning an assembly or community, faithful to his teachings and not a lifeless structure of brick and mortar, which the word “Church” has come to mean.  In this first sense there is an urgent need to build up new living churches (communities) within the confines of every existing parish in every diocese. This  living church is what St.Paul speaks of: Don’t you know that your body is the temple of God and the spirit of God dwells in you.(1Cor.6.19) and  again: ”God…does not make his home in shrines made by human hands.” Ac 17.24.

It is here that we should return to our roots of the concept of Ekklesia  or the prototype of the first Christian  community. There the gathering for the breaking of bread took place in Christian homes, that is, in domestic churches. That did away with need of building up separate edifices where no one lives or assembles except once a week. There was also a clear demarcation  of spiritual and temporal duties. The apostles handed over all administrative and money matters like serving the tables to “seven men of good reputation, filled with the Spirit and with wisdom” Acts 6.3 and they confined themselves to “prayer and to the service of the word” or preaching.

 The principle was that the spiritual leadership or the priestly class in the Christian community should never handle money  to get tainted or immerse themselves in administrative matters. These are to be left to honest,  service minded experts in  various fields in the community. The spiritual leadership is to excel themselves in two things only: prayer and preaching of the word, to speak out without fear or favour what they have prayed over(contemplata  tradere)  like Jesus and to lead the community like its good shepherd In modern parlance, the laity should take over all administrative matters in the Church and priests should have nothing to do with it. The  great dilemma is, what to do with the magnificent pyramidal hierarchical structure of Judaism which Jesus buried with the washing of the feet and which got resurrected in the church with Constantine! If the present pyramidal structure is to be maintained for the sake of organization and efficiency, how to divest the spiritual leaders from their material and profane worldly duties, possessions and positions?

Living Temples of God

   Building up such living temples or communities should mean going  in search of every home  irrespective of class, caste or creed in the parish confines  to find out the hungry to make sure  that no home in the locality goes to bed hungry, no one in any home is left to die for lack of means for urgent medical care, no one is denied decent clothing due to lack of money,  no one is denied the basic amenities of a rain-proof house, no one is denied basic education due to his inability to pay capitation fees, no grown up girls are denied marriage due to lack of minimum means needed to get engagements clinched etc. This is the way to build up living temples(Churches) of God. The early Christian community did just that, not build churches. There was no one in need among them because they loved each other not in words but in deed, sharing one another’s needs and burdens. That  was responsible for attracting many into their fold.

Today the  same carpenter of Nazareth   would really want to rebuild his church,  not according to the plans of the post-Constantine architects who specialize in lifeless brick work but according to the planners of the church of the catacombs. We have any number of churches and Cathedrals of the first type in Europe which have become museum pieces today and are deserted as centres of prayer. The same fate alone can befall the expensive  concrete churches we now build in India.

However it should be noted that deserted churches in the West need not necessarily mean the death of true Christian spirit there. In fact aren’t they  far  ahead of us in helping with men and material  victims of natural calamities to promote humanitarian  and developmental works across the globe especially in poor and developing countries? Is not that  what the spirit of Jesus is all about, helping the needy? Instead how can going through the motions  of lip-service, body movements such as kneeling, bowing, singing and exhibiting various devotional poses called liturgical  service  at various fixed hours of the day or week be an imitation of Jesus? Where do the much publicized charismatic prayer centers stand in this context?

During the Second World War a lot of homes and churches were razed to the ground. So after the war there was a hue and cry  in Germany from the Christian community to  rebuild the destroyed Churches first, to help the faithful to come together to pray and thank God for the spared lives and property.  But the bishops insisted:: Let us first rebuild the destroyed homes which are the living temples of God. The destroyed churches and Cathedrals can wait. That was a perfect example of building up living churches.

Radical  Rethinking

But what about the dearth of space in many of the existing churches and      man’s pressing need to pray together? Here a whole lot of existing traditional devotional or spiritual practices should be subjected to a radical rethinking. Sabbath is for man, not man for Sabbath. First is the obligatory Sunday worship. For the human soul prayer is like breath for the body. It is not something needed  just for few hours on Sundays only but for all  weak days. So what is the logic of making it  obligatory only on Sundays?

 Assembling for community prayer can’t be an everyday affair either. Today the concrete buildings called  churches  function fully only on Sundays. They are practically a dead investment for the rest of the weak. Therefore what may be done is to make the churches function fully everyday of the weak like Sundays and ask the believers to fulfill their need (or obligation) to pray together any day of the weak  to avoid overcrowding on Sundays or even to assign each day of the weak mainly for the benefit of  one-seventh of the parishioners (or parish units)  in a rotating manner. It would make the Parish priest fully busy with the pastoral work of his flock every day of the week and  provide the parishioners  a more relaxed and easy access to their Parish priest.

One should also take cue from Europe where the same Church building is used by different denominations at mutually arranged convenient times, instead of multiplying churches for any and every new brand of Churchianitiy popping up. Actually Christians who are unable to call upon God as Father together can’t claim themselves to be Christians, that is, followers of the Jesus of Nazareth. He or the God he revealed can’t be in any of the  Churches that can’t pray together with the rest of humanity and least of all with the rest of those who call themselves Christians but are not able to come together to call God: Our Father and Jesus Our Brother. What true followers of Jesus should strive is to  go much further to develop universal prayer-centers where followers of all  existing religions could come together and pray together. That is the kind of unity and human brotherhood Jesus lived and died for. Humanity cannot and should not stop striving until that goal is reached!

 Dr. James Kottoor

E-mail: kottoorj@gmail.com 

Is there something seriously wrong with me?

“വൈദികർക്ക് നേരെ മാത്രം നിരന്തരമായി നടത്തുന്ന ഈ തെറിവിളികൾക്ക് പിന്നിലെ പ്രേരകശക്തി എന്താണ്?”

ഒരു ഫേസബൂക്ക് സുഹൃത്ത്‌ കമന്റിലൂടെ എന്നോടു ചോദിച്ച ചോദ്യമാണ് മുകളില്‍ കൊടുത്തിരിക്കുന്നത്‌.

ഈ ചോദ്യം ഒരു ആത്മവിശകലനത്തിന് എന്നെ പ്രേരിപ്പിച്ചു.

സമൂഹത്തില്‍ വളരെ സമാരാധ്യരായി കാണപ്പെടുന്നവരാണ് വൈദികര്‍. അവരോടെന്തിനാണ് ഇത്ര വൈരാഗ്യം? (“തെറിവിളി” എന്ന പദപ്രയോഗം അംഗീകരിക്കുന്നില്ല). Is there something seriously wrong with me?

വിചാരത്തെക്കാള്‍ കൂടുതല്‍ മനുഷ്യനെ നിയന്ത്രിക്കുന്നത്‌ അവന്‍റെ വികാരമാണ്. വികാരങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് അടിമപ്പെട്ട മനുഷ്യന്‍ കയറൂരിവിട്ട കാളയെപ്പോലെ അപകടകാരിയാണ്. അവനു നിയന്ത്രണങ്ങള്‍ വേണം. കാട്ടില്‍കൂടെ വേട്ടയാടി നടന്ന പ്രാകൃതന്‍ ദുര്‍ബലരെ പരാജയപ്പെടുത്തി, ഇഷ്ടപ്പെടാത്തവരെ കൊന്നു. അവരില്‍ കൈയൂക്കുള്ളവന്‍റെ മുന്നില്‍ കീഴടങ്ങുകയല്ലാതെ യാതൊരു മാര്‍ഗവും ഇല്ലായിരുന്നു ശക്തികുറഞ്ഞ ആണിനും പെണ്ണിനും. അവന്‍റെ ശാരീരികശക്തി ആ പ്രാകൃതസമൂഹത്തിനു നല്‍കിയത് സുരക്ഷയെക്കാള്‍ കൂടുതല്‍ വിപത്തുകളായിരുന്നു എന്നുവേണം കരുതാന്‍.

ആ സമൂഹത്തെ നേര്‍വഴി നടത്താന്‍ രാജാവോ, ഭരണകൂടമോ ഉണ്ടാകുന്നതിനു മുന്നേതന്നെ, “മുന്നോട്ടു നയിക്കുന്നവന്‍” എന്നര്‍ത്ഥമുള്ള “പുരോഹിതന്‍” ഉണ്ടായികാണണം. പുരോഹിതന്‍റെ ബുദ്ധിയുടെ മുന്നില്‍ കൈയൂക്കുള്ളവന്‍ മാനസികമായി കീഴടങ്ങി. പുരോഹിതന്‍ പറയുന്നതനുസരിച്ചപ്പോള്‍ ശ്രീമാന്‍ കൈയൂക്ക് സമൂഹത്തിനു മുതല്‍കൂട്ടായി. ആ ഘട്ടത്തിലായിരിക്കണം അന്നത്തെ പുരോഹിതന്‍ അവനെ രാജാവാക്കിയത്. കാരണം രാജാവിന് ശത്രുക്കളോടു ശാരീരികമായി ഏറ്റുമുട്ടേണ്ടതുണ്ട്. ആയിരം വില്ലുകളില്‍ നിന്ന് അമ്പുകള്‍ പാഞ്ഞുവരുമ്പോള്‍ പുരോഹിതന്‍റെ ബുദ്ധി അപ്രസക്തമാകും. രാജാവ് ശക്തനാണെങ്കിലും പുരോഹിതന്‍റെ ചൊല്‍പടിയ്ക്ക് നില്‍ക്കേണ്ടിവന്നു; നിന്നു.

പുരോഹിതന്‍ ദൈവത്തിന്‍റെ പ്രതിനിധി ആയി അറിയപ്പെട്ടു; രാജാവ് ദൈവത്താല്‍ നിയോഗിക്കപ്പെട്ടവനുമായി. സമൂഹത്തിനു ഒരു അടുക്കും ചിട്ടയും ഉണ്ടായെങ്കിലും സാധാരണക്കാരന്‍റെ നില മെച്ചപ്പെട്ടില്ല. അവന്‍ പുരോഹിതന്‍റെ മാനസിക അടിമയും, രാജാവിന്‍റെ ശാരീരിക അടിമയുമായി.
കാലം മാറിയപ്പോള്‍, ജനം കൂടുതല്‍ പരിഷ്കൃതമായപ്പോള്‍, പുരോഹിതന് സ്വയം പരിഷ്ക്കരിക്കേണ്ടിവന്നു. അവര്‍ വിശുദ്ധഗ്രന്ഥങ്ങളും, നിയമാവലിയും, ഭൂമിയിലും മരണശേഷവുമുള്ള ശിക്ഷാവിധികളും പറഞ്ഞ്‍ അവനെ തങ്ങളുടെ വരുതിയില്‍ നിര്‍ത്തി. ഇതിനെത്തുടര്‍ന്ന് സംഘടിതമതങ്ങള്‍ ഉണ്ടായി, മതഗ്രന്ഥങ്ങള്‍ ഉണ്ടായി.

മനുഷ്യന്‍ രാജ്യത്തിനുവേണ്ടി മാത്രമല്ല മതങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് വേണ്ടിയും യുദ്ധക്കളങ്ങളില്‍ പൊരുതിമരിച്ചു.

ഞാന്‍ തന്നെ രചിച്ച (കൃത്യത ഒട്ടും അവകാശപ്പെടുന്നില്ല) ഈ ചരിത്രത്തില്‍ ഒരു കാര്യം മറക്കരുത് – പ്രാകൃതനെ പരിഷ്കൃതനാക്കാന്‍ പുരോഹിതവര്‍ഗം ഒരുപാട് സംഭാവനകള്‍ നല്‍കിയിട്ടുണ്ട്.

നിയമങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് ശിക്ഷകള്‍ നല്‍കി ഒരളവുവരെ കുറ്റകൃത്യങ്ങളില്‍ നിന്ന് മനുഷ്യനെ പിന്തിരിപ്പിക്കാന്‍ സാധിച്ചു. പക്ഷെ അവനെക്കൊണ്ട്‌ നന്മ ചെയ്യിക്കാന്‍ ആ നിയമങ്ങള്‍ക്കായില്ല. മനുഷ്യന്‍റെ ധാര്‍മ്മികതയും മാനുഷികമൂല്യങ്ങളും നിലനിര്‍ത്തിയത് മതങ്ങളും പുരോഹിതരുമാണ്.
ആ നിലയ്ക്ക് നോക്കിയാല്‍ പുരോഹിതര്‍ ലോകത്തിനു ആവശ്യം തന്നെയാണ്. പക്ഷെ ദുഷിച്ച പൌരോഹിത്യം സമൂഹത്തിനു നന്മയെക്കാള്‍ അപകടങ്ങളാണ് നല്‍കുന്നത്. അത്തരം അപകടങ്ങളാണ് വര്‍ത്തമാനകാലത്ത് നമ്മുടെ ചുറ്റും കണ്ടുവരുന്നത്‌.

ചിന്താഹീനരായി, പറയുന്നത് മുഴവന്‍ വിശ്വസിച്ച്, കല്പനകള്‍ അക്ഷരം പ്രതി, ചോദ്യം ചെയ്യാതെ, അനുസരിച്ച് കഴിയുന്നവരെയാണ് എല്ലാ മതങ്ങള്‍ക്കും പ്രിയം. അവരുടെ നിലനില്‍പ്പിനായി ജനത്തെ അറിവിന്‍റെ വെളിച്ചമേല്‍ക്കാത്ത അന്ധകാരത്തില്‍ നിര്‍ത്താന്‍ പുരോഹിതവര്‍ഗം എന്നും കിണഞ്ഞുശ്രമിച്ചിരുന്നു. ഇന്ത്യയിലേയ്ക്ക് വന്നാല്‍ പുരോഹിതരായ ബ്രാഹ്മണന് മാത്രമായിരുന്നു വിദ്യയുടെ വെളിച്ചം ലഭിച്ചിരുന്നത്. വിശ്വാസസമൂഹത്തിനു ബൈബിള്‍ വായിക്കാന്‍ അനുവാദമില്ലാതിരുന്ന കാലത്ത്, ബൈബിളില്‍ ഉള്ളതാണെന്ന മട്ടില്‍ എന്തെല്ലാം കള്ളങ്ങള്‍ പഴയകാലത്ത് വൈദികര്‍ പറഞ്ഞിട്ടുണ്ടാവണം.

സമൂഹം കൂടുതല്‍ പ്രബുദ്ധരായപ്പോള്‍, വിദ്യ എല്ലാവര്ക്കും ലഭിക്കാം എന്ന അവസ്തയുണ്ടായി. അവര്‍ ചിന്തിക്കാനും, ഉള്‍ക്കൊള്ളാനാവാത്ത കാര്യങ്ങള്‍ ചോദ്യം ചെയ്യാനും തുടങ്ങി. പരിണാമസിന്ധാന്തം പോലുള്ള ശാസ്ത്രീയ മുന്നേറ്റങ്ങള്‍ ഉണ്ടായി. കാര്യങ്ങള്‍ ബുദ്ധിമുട്ടായപ്പോള്‍ പുരോഹിതന്‍ “വൈദികശാപം” എന്ന വജ്ജ്രായുധം ഉപയോഗിച്ചു. ആ ഭീക്ഷണിയില്‍ പലരും വീണുപോയി.

എത്ര പഠിപ്പുള്ളവനും വൈദികന്‍ പറയുന്ന മഠയത്തരങ്ങളും, ചെയ്യുന്ന തോന്ന്യാസങ്ങളും ചോദ്യം ചെയ്യാനാവാതെ സഹിച്ചു. ഈ അവസ്ഥ വൈദികരെ അഹങ്കാരികളാക്കി.

ഇതിനോടകം, തങ്ങളുടെ പ്രസംഗങ്ങളുടെ നേരെ വിപരീതമായ പ്രവര്ത്തികളിലൂടെ ഉണ്ടാക്കിയെടുത്ത ധനശേക്ഷിയിലൂടെയും, ജനാധിപത്യസംവിധാനം വന്നപ്പോള്‍, വോട്ട്ബാങ്ക് തങ്ങളുടെ കൈയില്‍ ഉണ്ടെന്ന ധാരണ പ്രചരിപ്പിച്ചും ആധുനിക ഭരണാധികാരികളെയും തങ്ങളുടെ സേവകന്മാരാക്കി.

ഇക്കാര്യങ്ങളിലൊക്കെ എല്ലാ മതങ്ങളും ഒരുപോലെയാണ്.
ഇവരെ സാധാരണജനത്തിന് ഭയമാണ്. മാധ്യമങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് അവരുടെ ദുഷ്പ്രവര്ത്തികള്‍ വെളിച്ചത്തുകൊണ്ടുവരാന്‍ ഭയമാണ്.

സ്ഥാപിതതാല്പര്യങ്ങള്‍ ഇല്ലാത്ത ഇരുപത്തൊന്നാം നൂറ്റാണ്ടില്‍ ദൈവത്തിന്‍റെ വരദാനമായി അവതരിച്ച സോഷ്യല്‍മാധ്യമങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് മാത്രമാണ് ഇവരുടെ തനിനിറം വെളിച്ചത്തുകൊണ്ടുവരാന്‍ സാധിക്കുന്നത്.
ഈ പറഞ്ഞ സോഷ്യല്‍നെറ്റ്വര്‍ക്കുകളിലൂടെ ആ ദൈവവേല ചെയ്യുന്ന അനേകരില്‍ ഒരാള്‍ മാത്രമാണ് ഈ എളിയ ഞാന്‍.

സുഹൃത്തിന്‍റെ ചോദ്യത്തിന് സംതൃപ്തികരമായ ഉത്തരമായോ എന്നറിയില്ല.

(From Face Book – written by Alex Kaniamparampil)

സാത്താന്‍ എഴുതിച്ചതല്ല !

ചുവടെ കൊടുക്കുന്ന ഭാഗം ഈയുള്ളവനെക്കൊണ്ട് സാത്താന്‍ എഴുതിച്ചതല്ല. ഒരു മലയാളി കത്തോലിക്കന്‍റെ അതിവിശുദ്ധ പുസ്തകമായ പി.ഒ.സി. പ്രസിദ്ധീകരിച്ച, “കത്തോലിക്കാ സഭയുടെ മതബോധനഗ്രഥ”ത്തില്‍ നിന്നുള്ള ഉദ്ധരണിയാണ് (പുറം 233) എന്ന് മുന്‍കൂറായി പറഞ്ഞുകൊള്ളുന്നു.

“വി. പത്രോസിന്റെ പിന്‍ഗാമിയും റോമാമെത്രാനുമായ മാര്‍പാപ്പ മെത്രാന്‍മാരുടെയും വിശ്വാസികളുടെ കൂട്ടം മുഴുവന്‍റെയും ഐക്യത്തിന്‍റെ ശാശ്വതവും ദൃശ്യവുമായ ഉറവിടവും അടിസ്ഥാനവുമാണ്. എന്തുകൊണ്ടെന്നാല്‍ റോമിലെ മാര്പാപ്പയ്ക്ക് ക്രിസ്തുവിന്‍റെ വികാരി എന്ന നിലയിലും സഭ മുഴുവന്‍റെയും അജപാലകന്‍ എന്ന നിലയിലും ഉള്ള അധികാരം മൂലം സഭ മുഴുവന്‍റെയുംമേല്‍ എപ്പോഴും സ്വതന്ത്രമായി വിനിയോഗിക്കാന്‍ കഴിയുന്ന പൂര്‍ണ്ണവും പരമോന്നതവും സാര്‍വത്രികവുമായ അധികാരമുണ്ട്‌.

മെത്രാന്മാരുടെ സംഘം അഥവാ സമിതി അതിന്‍റെ തലവനും പത്രോസിന്‍റെ പിന്‍ഗാമിയുമായ റോമാ മാര്പാപ്പയോട് ഐക്യത്തില്‍ വര്ത്തിക്കുന്നില്ലെങ്കില്‍ അതിന് ഒരധികാരവുമുണ്ടായിരിക്കയില്ല. ഈ സംഘത്തിന് അതില്‍ത്തന്നെ സാര്‍വത്രിക സഭയുടെമേല്‍ പരമവും പരിപൂര്‍ണ്ണവുമായ അധികാരം ഉണ്ട്. പക്ഷെ, റോമാ മാര്പാപ്പയുടെ സമ്മതം കൂടാതെ ആ അധികാരം വിനിയോഗിക്കാന്‍ സാധ്യമല്ല.

മെത്രാന്‍സംഘം സാര്‍വത്രിക സൂനഹദോസില്‍ സാര്‍വത്രിക സഭയുടെമേല്‍ സാഘോഷമായി അധികാരം വിനിയോഗിക്കുന്നു. പക്ഷെ പത്രോസിന്‍റെ പിന്‍ഗാമി സ്ഥിരീകരിക്കുകയോ അംഗീകരിക്കുകയെങ്കിലുമോ ചെയ്യാതെ സാര്‍വത്രിക സൂനഹദോസ് ഒരിക്കലും ഉണ്ടാവുകയില്ല.

ഇതാണ് സഭ വിശ്വാസികളെ പഠിപ്പിക്കുന്നത്‌. പരിശുദ്ധസിംഹാസനത്തിന്‍റെ അപ്രമാദിത്വം, തെറ്റാവരം, കുന്തം, കുടച്ചക്രം.

പക്ഷെ, തങ്ങള്‍ക്കിഷ്ടപ്പെടാത്തത് പോപ്പാണെങ്കിലും കോപ്പാണെങ്കിലും തിരുമേനിമാര്‍ അനുസരിക്കുകയില്ല.

എന്നാണു ബിബിസി റിപ്പോര്‍ട്ടില്‍ നിന്നും (ലിങ്ക് ചുവടെ) മനസിലാക്കേണ്ടത്.

അങ്ങിനെയാണെങ്കില്‍, നമ്മുടെ ആലഞ്ചേരിയും കൂട്ടരും, പരിശുദ്ധസിംഹാസനത്തെ അനുസരിച്ചില്ല എന്ന ഒറ്റ കാരണത്താല്‍ കത്തോലിക്കന്‍ അല്ലാതായില്ലേ? ഇനിയും ഒരു കടുത്ത വിശ്വാസി അത്തരക്കാരെ അംഗീകരിക്കാമോ?

ചിന്തിക്കുക....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-29677779

അലക്സ് കണിയാംപറമ്പില്‍ (posted from Facebook)

Exhibition!! Catholic Church!!

(Shri Jose Joseph - Delhi, once again strikes at the very pastoral approach we see everywhere - Administrator)

22 different colours and shades and prints to choose from!!. All designer made.

It is mentioned in the joint pastoral letter, that it is meant to give information to the laity about the new developments in the church. We wished that it was a letter of information, but it happened to be a set of illegal orders and commands. We wish to hear from the spiritual shepherds a joint pastoral on matters of faith. Here are some of our doubts which you have created with this JPL (Joint Pastoral letter) regarding the catholic faith.

a.  Are there scores of Jesus Christs who died for the scores of autonomous churches?

b.   Did St. Thomas, St. Francis Xaviour, and hundreds of missionaries come to India to evangelise for the same crucified Christ or for different Christs? Did one come for Syrian Christ and others for Latin Christ?

c.     Catholic faith is based on the Bible. With regard to the Bible, especially with regard to the four Gospels of the New Testament, what is the fundamental difference between Syrian and Latin faiths? Which of the four gospels are Latin and which are Syrian?

d.    With regards to the “Creed” which we consider as the foundation of Christian faith, what is the difference between Syrian and Latin Creeds?

e.    With regard to the Transubstantiation (the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist) what are the differences between Syrian and Latin faith?

f.  What are the fundamental differences in the prayer taught by Jesus “Our Father” in Syrian and Latin Churches.

g.  What are the differences in the Ten Commandments shared by God to Moses? Did he give one set for Syrians and another for Latins? If so give us a copy of each. Could you enlighten our understanding of the catechism that we learned in our childhood, that the sacrament of Baptism may be given even by a lay person when necessary. We believe that marriage is contract between the groom, the bride and Jesus our lord. Is there a problem about the Syrian Lord and Latin Lord to make it Syrian and Latin sacrament of marriage?  What is the difference in these sacraments? Does it mean that the sacrament of marriage is not valid if  it is blessed by a priest of another autonomous church? What is the essential difference between the Syrian and Latin faiths in catholic church?

h.    Are the seven sacraments different for Syrians and Latins?  Which ones are different? What are the differences?

i.     You demand that out of the seven sacraments, Baptism and Marriage have to be only through their own church? What is the specialty of these two sacraments from other sacraments?

j.   Can anybody from the Oriental  congregations explain to the ordinary lay people the differences in faith in the two dozen varieties of faith in the Oriental rites?

Jose Joseph (Delhi)