Editorial Pick

Indian Catholic Forum organised a meeting

Current Updates | Editorial Pick | Editorial team | 09-Nov-2023

A one-day meeting was organised by the Indian Catholic Forum in Bengaluru on October 28, 2023. It was held at Nava Spoorthi Kendra. The theme of the meeting was Synodal Church and Secular Society.

This was a follow up of the national meeting held in Varanasi in February this year in which many interested persons from the south could not participate, because of the distance involved. The purpose of this meeting was to share information, create awareness, and join hands in supporting Pope Francis in his desire to create a Synodal Church.

Chhotebhai, Convenor of the Indian Catholic Forum conducted a session on the synodality in the light of Vatican-II. He pointed out to the pre-Vatican-II concepts and the post-Vatican-II concepts on church, obedience, retaliation, marriage/family, priesthood, women and evangelization in the light of Lumen Gentium, Gaudium et Spes, Sacrosanctum Concilium, Nostra Aetate and Dignitatis Humanae. He explained about the Pyramidical, Concentric and ZED models of the church.

He also took a session on the role of the Indian Catholic Forum as the Fifth Estate under the categories of Biblical Era, French Revolution, Modern Democracy and Catholic Church. 

The second speaker was MG Devasahayam, IAS (Retd) who has been a campaigner for Democracy and Secularism. The highlights of his session are:

  • This Synod is a call to shun “clericalism”: “The whole Church is called to deal with the weight of a culture imbued with clericalism that she inherits from her history, and with those forms of exercising authority on which the different types of abuse (power, economic, conscience, sexual) are grafted” (Preparatory Document No.6).
  • Dictionary defines clericalism as "a policy of maintaining or increasing the power of a religious hierarchy." Pope Francis in his address to the Synod Fathers at Synod-2018 decried clericalism thus: “Clericalism arises from an elitist and exclusivist vision of vocation, that interprets the ministry received as a power to be exercised rather than as a free and generous service to be given. This leads us to believe that we belong to a group that has all the answers and no longer needs to listen or learn anything. Clericalism is a perversion and is the root of many evils in the Church.”
  • Fact is that there was no “clericalism” in the original Christianity since there was no blueprint of religious hierarchy handed down from heaven. As Professor Sandra Schneiders writes: "There is wide consensus among reputable New Testament scholars that there were no Christian priests in New Testament times and therefore certainly none ordained or appointed by Jesus. The priesthood does not emerge in the early church until the end of the first century at the earliest and, even at that relatively late date, the evidence is scanty and unclear."
  • It is democracy that permeates the teachings of Jesus Christ. When Jesus addressed the issue of governance He said: "You know that in the world the recognized rulers lord it over their subjects, and their great men make them feel the weight of authority. This is not the way with you; among you, whoever wants to be great must be your servant, and whoever wants to be the first must be the willing slave of all." (Mark 10:42-43).
  • Jesus advocated spirituality and negated temporal wealth, pomp and authority, the evils “clericalism” has brought about. He very clearly said, “My kingship is not of this world.” (John 18: 36). Also, Jesus spurned devil’s offer of “glory and authority” of this world (Luke 4: 5-8).
  • Canon Law mandates democracy:
  1. 204.1: Christ's faithful are those who, since they are incorporated into Christ through baptism, are constituted the people of God. For this reason, they participate in their own way in the priestly, prophetic and kingly office of Christ. They are called, each according to his or her condition, to exercise the mission, which God entrusted to the Church to fulfil in the world.
  2. 208: Flowing from their rebirth in Christ, there is a genuine equality of dignity and action among all of Christ's faithful. Because of this equality they all contribute, each according to his or her own condition and office, to the building up of the Body of Christ.
  3. 212.3: They have the right, indeed at times the duty, in keeping with their knowledge, competence and position, to manifest to the sacred Pastors their views on matters, which concern the good of the Church.
  • Vatican II upholds democracy: The Second Vatican Council was held in the autumn of each of the four years 1962 to 1965 (Sixty years ago). Preparation for the council took three years, from the summer of 1959 to the autumn of 1962. And it voted for democracy and not “clericalism” in the Church.
  • It is evident that Catholic Church is “clerical” because it is neither pluralistic nor democratic. While Christ stood for democracy, Emperor Constantine brought in “clericalism.”
  • Why do we need all this bombastic and lengthy synodal exercise to undo “clericalism.”? This can be achieved by bringing Christ back into the Church through pluralism and democracy.

Varghese Joseph, Chief Editor of Indian Catholic Matters conducted a session on the role of media in the Catholic Church. He explained the following:Behaviour of the church now: Shoot the Message-Not the Messenger; Contrasting Media Behaviour; Misplaced Priorities; Denial, Distraction & Defamation.

  1. Challenges for the Church Media: SOPs for Disaster Reporting; Evidence-based Media Training; Collaborative Media; Highlighting Church’s work in education, healthcare and social service;
  2. Way Forward: Deeper Engagement with Catholic Media (Online and offline); Secular Media-Losing Ground; Create Positive Spin about the Church and its Institutions; Support lay like-minded media groups; Harvest and use Digital Strategy by engaging with Catholic media; Create a Network of well-meaning, supporting & sympathetic people like Lawyers, Doctors, Media, Enforcement officers, etc.

 A committee of 16 volunteers was formed to take the ICF work forward in Karnataka. Forty-two people from different walks of life participated in the meeting. David Lobo was the Convenor of this meeting.

 With inputs from ML Satyan

 

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