Fr. Ivo wide Message: 7, dated: Thu, 29 Jul 2010 writes:" Dear Dr.U.G.Barad,There is no need to be so pessimistic. Scandals have always been in the world. Jesus says: "Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!" (NARB, Mt 18:7)). The Church is not going to fall because of those scandals. Christianity cannot be judged by those scandals. We live in a time in which media can give us a distorted image of the real reality. Also money is involved in this issue. Where there is money, there is devil's workshop.
"The love of money is the root of all evil" (1 Tim 6:10). My answer to you was in terms of the Hindu reformers and wisemen. It is a difficult situation for our beloved and great Pope Benedict XVI. There is a need to analyse the whole situation: the sexual revolution, the media hype, the economic power, the political gimmicks... I did not speak about our problems of today. India has to shine in the future, therefore we need introspection and hard work. .....Why should India not shine if there are "gay scandals" in America? India has its problems, some of them are rooted in the culture, others in the religion itself. All of us need a cosntant renewal..." My response: Fr. Ivo your concluding lines are more striking than any of your previous submissions. This line clearly implies that "gal scandals" of American clergy in no way affects churches and christianity in India. Why? Don't you follow the decisions and directives issued by Vatican which is miles away from India? You follow Vatican because all churches round the glob are part and parcel of Vatican and therefore any incidences taking place in any church has direct implications on all other churches. Secondly, from your above line, one can easily arrive at conclusion that "gay scandals" of clergy in other parts of India also does not affect churches and christianity in Goa. And the very same logic if extended little further goes to imply that "gay scandals" of clergy in any part of Goa will not affect churches and christianity in Margao. Well said Fr. Ivo .. Keep your logic flying high...so that at least Margao will fly high . if not India. Best regards, U. G. Barad * * * How were the 1950s, East African Goans and British Overseas Citizenship linked? Which Kenyan-Goan was one of the world fastest sprinters in the 1960s? What did the 1878 London-Lisbon treaty mean to Goa? Find your answers in Selma Carvalho's *Into the Goan Diaspora Wilderness*. Buy from Broadways Book Centre, Panjim [Ph +91-9822488564] Price (in Goa only) Rs 295. http://selmacarvalho.squarespace.com/ * * *
