Bishops challenged to offer hope to disillusioned Indians Father Heredia urged the prelates to discern what Christ would do in modern times. Posted on February 2, 2012, 8:24 AM
By Jose Kavi Bangalore: A Jesuit social scientist has challenged Catholic bishops in India to review and revise the Church’s works to help create a better India. “We need a renewal of our vision and mission to inspire an agenda for action,” Father Rudolf C. Heredia told the 30th biennial meeting of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI). Around 170 bishops from India’s 164 dioceses are attending the February 1-8 plenary meeting to address the theme, “The Church’s role for a better India.” Father Heredia, the keynote speaker, urged the prelates to discern what Christ would do in modern world instead of just repeating what he did in his time. “A slavish repetition of what was done centuries ago can only mean a dead one,” he warned. The challenge in India now is to offer hope to millions who seem disillusioned with democracy’s failure to bring justice to the poor and the marginalized. “A just society no longer seems to be the first priority of our ruling elites, who have been the principal beneficiaries of our first freedom struggle,” said Father Heredia. According to him, the current social unrest and corruption in India are the outcome of the rulers pursuing in the name of good governance a “hidden agenda of growth” that only benefited them. So much so, those excluded see no difference between present democracy and the old colonial rule, the Jesuit priest remarked. Vote-bank politics that encourage exclusive cultural and religious identities now threaten India’s multi-cultural , and pluri-religious society, he warned. For him, slums, poverty, destitution and farmers' suicide amid opulence and while venture capitalism prospers are “disgraceful, despairing other side of the slogan “India shining.” In this context, the Church should give “prophetic witnessing” not individually but through its vast network of institutions as shown by Blessed Teresa of Kolkata and her Missionaries of Charity nuns. Father Heredia noted that the saintly nun is the second most recognized name after Mahatma Gandhi in India because people of all religions could see hope in what she did for the poor. He urged the prelates to bring the Church from out of its current positions on the margins to the mainstream and create critical citizenry that would demand justice from the government. He noted that better organized groups have taken advantage of popular movements in independent India. The Jesuit social scientist questioned if the bishops are serious about their commitment to integral development of all people or just satisfied with “partisan gains for our institutions and people.” http://www.ucanindia.in/news/bishops-challenged-to-offer-hope-to-disillusioned-indians/16746/daily CBCI , Jesuit , Father Rudolf C. Heredia --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
