Re: [Goanet] Colva CD Controversy etc - My Take - II
Romeo Ferns wrote: In response to Mervyn Lobo and Joe Goa UK comments, we pray that the grace of God will heal your hurt and bring peace to your mind. Regarding the baptism situation, I agree that it was unfair that they refused to baptise the child because one parent was a non catholic. The church does baptise a chiage we pray that God will ld irrespective of one parent being a non catholic. I say this because in my own family we have had a similar situation where the mother was a non catholic but the church in the USA did baptise the child and vefry gladly presented the baby to the entire congretation asking Arab Emiratesthem all to welcome the baby into the faith. As I said earlier in this message, that God will heal your hurt against His church and its pastors. All we ask is please forgive them for they know not what they do. May God bless you for your patience and understanding. Romeo Ferns, There used to be a time when we were instructed to go to the church and its pastors for forgiveness. Now YOU are asking me to forgive the church and its pastors. I have no problem doing so However, I do have a problem when you say that they know not what they do. Can you explain exactly what you mean? I find it hard to believe that there is a catholic who wants to shout, from the United Arab Emirates of all places, that the church and its pastors do not know what they are doing. Mervyn1080Lobo __ The new Internet Explorer® 8 - Faster, safer, easier. Optimized for Yahoo! Get it Now for Free! at http://downloads.yahoo.com/ca/internetexplorer/
Re: [Goanet] Colva CD Controversy etc - My Take - II
In response to Mervyn Lobo and Joe Goa UK comments, we pray that the grace of God will heal your hurt and bring peace to your mind. Regarding the baptism situation, I agree that it was unfair that they refused to baptise the child because one parent was a non catholic. The church does baptise a chiage we pray that God will ld irrespective of one parent being a non catholic. I say this because in my own family we have had a similar situation where the mother was a non catholic but the church in the USA did baptise the child and vefry gladly presented the baby to the entire congretation asking Arab Emiratesthem all to welcome the baby into the faith. As I said earlier in this message, that God will heal your hurt against His church and its pastors. All we ask is please forgive them for they know not what they do. May God bless you for your patience and understanding. Romeo Ferns - United Arab Emirates
[Goanet] Colva CD Controversy etc - My Take - II
Colva CD Controversy etc - My Take - II It appears the whole thing (Church Letter) gives a clear message thus: ‘any attempts made to defame the shepherds be it thru songs, writing, drawing etc it will be firmly dealt with as in Colva case’ So far, being this side of Goa, found no hard evidence against the Colva Priest apart from reading various posts/ new allegations including pvt mails in the internet forums etc . (except, the priest got transferred from Cutorim for some reasons) The CD producer if found wrong or CD is defamatory should be punished as per the law. On the other hand, what it says about the priest such as allegation having a mistress, amassing wealth etc should be thoroughly Investigated by an independent body not by the church or from Colva as we already have their verdict at hand. It is wrong to say ‘all priests are bad’. Similarly, it is also wrong to say ‘all priest are good’ We all know there are some bad apples in the church basket. It’s time now to identify such rotten apples and throw them out of the basket before it affects the other good apples particularly the fresh ones. We as parishioners, can’t deny the fact that not is all well with some of our shepherds, we know it yet we choose to remain silent simply because no one said anything against them for ages or due to fear of excommunication etc Let me give you a factual example from one of my neighbouring parishes. A section of the parishioners there do not attend the church despite being the church is very near to where they live (including top or well know villagers). And why they do that? No, they did not join any religious sect, (they are still clinging on to the Catholic faith) but what they say is there are not happy with their shepherd’s unacceptable behaviour or activities such as amassing wealth, lending money, owning cars, flats, socializing with the youth including late night drinking, involving with politicians, woman company etc. For Sunday mass etc they go to the other church which is far away from their houses. If church if reading, hope it takes suo-motu cognizance of this post if it has received at least one complaint from such dissatisfied or protesting parishioners. Today, they may be just 10 unhappy parishioners, it could be 100 tomorrow. Are we waiting until such time? Who will be responsible for such division? Merely, they are our shepherds or may be they are helping us with free drinks, lending money, some favours from politicians etc etc are we going to ‘shut up’ despite knowing what goes around? Or are we waiting till another CD comes out from this part of Goa? (Readers should not take it as if I am targeting one particular parish) Elsehwere, in the forums, I have compared ‘ Church ministry with that of Digu’s Ministry which is based on ‘Samjota’ or agreements or threats?’ It seems, it consists of some disgruntled elements (or bad apples) within. Or is it because there are some who do not believe in the head of the Goa church? I will not elaborate much on this. Instead, I would quote some of my past posting with pictures or news paper cuttings. You may be rememeber some 2 years back the then spokesperson of the Church CSJP (Council for social Justice and Peace) clearly said ‘Politics and Mass can’t be mixed’ Also “Priest cannot campaign for elections as it divides the flock...” Despite the above church directives, some priests (or rather disgruntled elements) Kept on doing by disobeying the church.? The type of behaviour, is it not objectionable and condemnable? If so, what action taken so far? Anyone? Can we really blame the CD producers, if anyone takes on this? Here are some of the clippings: Politics and Mass can’t be mixed say Fr. Marverick Fernandes Executive Secretary of CSJP It says “Priest cannot campaign for elections as it divides the flock...” http://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk6/513003994/sizes/l/ see the disgruntle elements within the church http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/GOAN-NRI/message/2258 or http://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk6/503263601/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk6/503263625/sizes/l/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk6/503263597/sizes/l/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk6/503230994/sizes/l/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk6/503230988/ A word about me: I have nothing against the priests. In fact, I do have some of my regulars whom I give my hard earned money only to help with the sick particularly those suffering from cancer and AIDS. I am a not only Catholic but was a catechist too. I have been there, I have seen around and now the experience speaks. As said, all I am trying to do to help identifying the bad apples from the good ones. I don’t think it is wrong to do that. I don’t make up things. The thing I said about the Macazana Priest, everything was proved to be true. Even the case was eventually thrown out as suspected. Let’s be a happy catholic
[Goanet] Colva CD Controversy etc - My Take - II
Joe makes an excellent point. The Colva controversy needs to be investigated thoroughly and from what I have gathered the Head of the Church in Goem has to be UNEQUIVOCAL in his condemnation of ANY violence, irrespective of the cause. The Church in Goem has to urgently set up a body populated by eminent Catholics and not just priests, to monitor, oversee and investigate any allegations of any immorality or illegality within the church and amongst its shepherds. Cover-ups will only be detrimental. The huge scandals in the West which have blown up in our faces and severely damaged the Church should act as a desperate wake up call. My exhortation to Catholic Goemcars is not to lose heart. Christians are but human. We make mistakes. We fail. We can be bad. We very often do not live up to the teachings of our Messiah. But we have our faith. We have our beliefs. We know that GOD is merciful. Let us ask for forgiveness and in turn forgive. This is the crux of our faith. The is the reason of our being. Sincerely Xanno Moidecar
Re: [Goanet] Colva CD Controversy etc - My Take - II
JoeGoaUk wrote: We as parishioners, can’t deny the fact that not is all well with some of our shepherds, we know it yet we choose to remain silent simply because no one said anything against them for ages or due to fear of excommunication etc First of all, let me congratulate you for attempting to tackle a thorny subject. For some reason, Catholics, all over the world, are hesitant to expose their priests that have gone astray. When these 'strayers' are pointed out, the Catholic church drags its feet rather than clean its house. In the west, thankfully, the courts are not afraid to try the 'religious' that break civic laws. I grew up in a Catholic church in Africa that did a lot of good work. I still think that 95% of the Catholic priests/nuns are intent on providing for those in need. However, there are people who are abusing their 'religious' power. This abuse will only get worse as the abusers are now finding out that even when they are caught/exposed, it is extremely rare for any religious organization to take the appropriate action. As for your comment on ex-communication, I guess it's still a potent force in Goa. In my opinion, any religious organization that has to use fear to keep its members in place is in trouble. A section of the parishioners there do not attend the church despite being the church is very near to where they live (including top or well know villagers). And why they do that? No, they did not join any religious sect, (they are still clinging on to the Catholic faith) but what they say is there are not happy with their shepherd’s unacceptable behaviour or activities such as amassing wealth, lending money, owning cars, flats, socializing with the youth including late night drinking, involving with politicians, woman company etc. Once again, there are only a few 'rogue elements' in the church and yet for some unfathomable reason, the Catholic church refuses to cleanse itself. Personally, I think that anyone who has understood the message of Christ need not go to church every Sunday. If s/he he is true a follower of Christ, the person would have learnt to live and behave like Christ. My disappointment on the Colva situation is that the church bells were rung to call the 'faithful' to action. And the action was for the 'faithful' to go and stone someones house. This seems to be of no concern to the head of the Catholic church in Goa. Mervyn Lobo PS. Before anyone starts speculating, I am Catholic. The only time the Catholic church has disappointed me before was when they refused to baptize my child because her mother is non-Catholic. The irony of the situation was that for the previous 30 years, I had contributed generously for the missions that were converting people to Catholism. I got around the baptism situation by bringing in my Jesuit uncle from India to baptize the child. __ The new Internet Explorer® 8 - Faster, safer, easier. Optimized for Yahoo! Get it Now for Free! at http://downloads.yahoo.com/ca/internetexplorer/
