>From the Joseph Naik Vaz Institute on the occasion of his 362nd birth >anniversary (b. April 21, 1651).
It’s official. A non-European has been elected Pope. A new perspective from the New World has been set for the future Church. What can Africa and Asia add to the latest flurry of recommendations for Pope Francis? Firstly, Indian Catholics can go beyond reform of bureaucracy and existing framework of the Church’s rules right into the mystical heart of religion. Blessed Joseph Naik Vaz famously followed the ideal of a Christian saint and Eastern sannyasi and bodhisattva, combining the ideals of renunciation and detachment by not even touching or accepting money for his work and giving compassionate service to suffering human beings during the smallpox epidemic in Kandy. He was recognized as a living saint by his Catholic bishop and contemporaries as well as by the Buddhist King of Kandy and other non-Christians. Instead of imposing religion as part of a package of colonial conquest and sweeping away the religious ideals, languages, music and culture of non-European peoples, he used them all in the liturgy and in founding a Sri Lankan Catholic literature. Most important of all, he is the ultimate model of selfless, humble devotion to the people as a priest and pastor, even under intense persecution. The modern Church could well benefit from his example of moral integrity and humility. As we celebrate his 362nd birth anniversary (April 21, 1651), we could work to ask Pope Francis to canonize Blessed Joseph Naik Vaz as a Catholic saint for the 21st century and a special model of the priesthood. http://josephnaikvaz.org/
