CRI Meets the Challenge of a New India

The Conference of Religious India (CRI) is to launch a special scheme to prepare new Indian Religious congregation leaders to meet challenges posed by the country’s expected rapid development in the next decade. “There are many people predicting that India will be adeveloped country by the year 2020 and the Catholic Religious will have to prepare for that,” said Brother Mani Mekkunnel, CRI national secretary. He said the conference will organize courses on “visions for the future” for young Religious in its 13 regions across India. “We are planning to bring one Religious aged 30-35 from each region for the program,” Brother Mekkunnel explained. The first session is scheduled for July 1-4 at the Renewal Centre in Kochi, for the Kerala region. The program will conclude with a national convention in March, 2011 in Pune, where more than 1,000 young Religious are expected to attend. CRI represents more than 125,000 Catholic Religious brothers, priests and nuns in India. Some 30,000 religious are aged 30–35.

Religious who participate in the program would become leaders in their congregations and regions by the year 2020, Brother Mekkunnel said. The participants will make a commitment to seek ways to make Religious life more relevant in the modern world. They will set 10 goals to achieve this. Many of the traditional functions done by Religious today will become irrelevant in the next ten years, said Brother Mekkunnel. The Religious will have to look for ways to make their life meaningful and purposeful, he said, adding “nothing will be imposed” on the participants during the program. It would be a collective search, he added.

Popes and Ecumenical Thinking

Eastern Theology Has Enriched the Whole Church

by Pope John Paul II

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

1. Continuing my reflection on Eastern Christianity, today I would like to focus attention on the development of Eastern theology, which, even in the centuries that followed the age of the Fathers and the sad division with the Apostolic See, led to profound and stimulating perspectives at which the whole Church looks with interest. Although there is still disagreement on this point or that, we must not forget that what unites us is greater than what divides us.

An important doctrinal development occurred between the eighth and ninth centuries after the "iconoclast" crisis unleashed by several Byzantine emperors, who decided radically to suppress the veneration of sacred images. Many were forced to suffer for resisting this absurd imposition. St John Damascene and St Theodore the Studite come to mind in particular. The victorious outcome of their resistance proved decisive not only for devotion and sacred art, but also for a deeper understanding of the mystery of the Incarnation. Indeed, in the final analysis the defense of images was based on the fact that God truly became man in Jesus of Nazareth. It is therefore legitimate for the artist to endeavour to portray his face, not only with the aid of his talent, but especially by interior docility to God's Spirit. The images refer to the Mystery that surpasses them, and they help us feel its presence in our life.

2. The hesychast controversy marked another distinctive moment in Eastern theology. In the East, hesychasm means a method of prayer characterized by a deep tranquillity of the spirit, which is engaged in constant contemplation of God by invoking the name of Jesus. There was no lack of tension with the Catholic viewpoint on certain aspects of this practice. However, we should acknowledge the good intentions which guided the defense of this spiritual method, that is, to emphasize the concrete possibility that man is given to unite himself with the Triune God in the intimacy of his heart, in that deep union of grace which Eastern theology likes to describe with the particularly powerful term of "theosis", "divinization".

Precisely in this regard Eastern spirituality has amassed a very rich experience which was vigorously presented in the famous collection of texts significantly entitled Philokalia (love of beauty") and gathered by Nicodemus the Hagiorite at the end of the 18th century. Down the centuries until our day, Eastern theological reflection has undergone interesting developments, not only in the classical areas of the Byzantine and Russian tradition, but also in the Orthodox communities scattered throughout the world. One need only recall, among the many studies worthy of mention, the Theology of Beauty elaborated by Pavel Nikolaievich Evdokimov, which is based on the Eastern art of the icon, and the study of the doctrine of "divinization" by the Orthodox scholar, Loth Borovine.

How many things we have in common! It is time for Catholics and Orthodox to make an extra effort to understand each other better and to recognize with the renewed wonder of brotherhood what the Spirit is accomplishing in their respective traditions towards a new Christian springtime.

3. Let us ask Mary, Mother of Wisdom, to teach us to recognize promptly the infinite expressions of God's presence in the history of mankind. May she help us to concentrate on the positive rather than the negative, and to use all the creativity of mutual understanding for engaging in fruitful dialogue, even on points where differences remain. For this reason, may the Holy Spirit grant us the wisdom of heart so dear to Eastern spirituality and essential to any genuinely Christian experience.

I am pleased to welcome all the English-speaking visitors who have joined us for this Angelus prayer. May these summer holidays be a time of relaxation and spiritual renewal for you and your families.

Today, as we remember St Clare of Assisi, my thoughts turn to the Poor Clares and to all cloistered nuns. I express to them the loftiest esteem which the Christian community has for this kind of life, "a sign of the exclusive union of the Church as Bride with her Lord, whom she loves above all things" (Apostolic Exhortation Vita consecrata, n. 59). By offering themselves to Jesus for the world's salvation, they represent "a joyful proclamation and prophetic anticipation of the possibility offered to every person and to the whole of humanity to live solely for God in Christ Jesus" (ibid.). They therefore deserve my gratitude and that of the whole Church, and an encouragement to persevere faithfully in the cloistered life according to their specific charism.

Platinum jubilee of CHAI to be held in Hyderabad

The Hindu, Hyderabad, April 26 Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD: The National Board of the Church History Association of India which met on Saturday has resolved to hold platinum jubilee triennial assembly here in July 2011. A massive exhibition of early Church initiatives dating back to the first century AD covering the themes of socio-economic upliftment, literacy and printing technology initiation, peace promotion and other subjects would be the highlight of the assembly. Historians from India and observers from other countries will attend the event, according to Prof. Snaithong of Shillong and Prof. George Manachery of Kerala, president and general secretary respectively of CHAI.

Hyderabad, 24 April
The Church History Association of India CHAI celebrates its Platinum Jubilee and 15th Triennial together at the American Research Centre Complex Hyderabad / the ACTC on a large scale with five-day long programmes. The National office bearers and the Church History Association of Andhra Pradesh CHAAP the local organisers took this joint decision at a meeting presided over by Bishop Parmar at NCC HQ / Satyodaya, Hyderabad.

More than 18 Scholars will present papers at the Triennial on "Indian Christian Historical- Cultural Studies- Yesterday, today". A platinum Jubilee Commemoration Volume containing 75 learned papers edited by Dr. Oberland Snaithang (CHAI President) and Prof. George Menachery (CHAI Secretary General) will be published on the occasion. A National Essay competition on the preservation of Christian Monuments in India will be conducted under the charge of Dr. Varghese Perayil, prof. Agnes d’Sa, and Rev. Jeramia (ACTC). An Indian Christian Historico-Cultural Exhibition under the auspices of the association’s Northern, North-Eastern, Eastern, Western, and Southern branches will be organised under the leadership of Dr. Oliver, Dr. Francis Thonippara, Dr. Pasupalethi Manasseh, Dr. Thomas Edmunds, Dr. George Ummen, Dr. Mathias Mundadan, Rev. Jeramiah, Rev. P. Diggal and Dr. Leonardo Fernando. The national executive committee and the Twin Cities’ organizing committee solicited the active co-operation of Church leaders and historians to make the CHAI Platinum Jubilee celebrations a success. The delegates were received in typical and traditional Telugu style and decorated with Ponnadas and Veshtis by former Moderator Bishop Rev. Dr. Parmar.

A Source of Hope
The flourishing Church in India is destined to play a leading role in ecclesiastical affairs
in the 21st century. in ecclesial affairs in the 21st century.
by Jeff Ziegler

Nearly two millennia ago, a doubting apostle saw, believed, and preached the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Fifteen hundred years later, a student at the University of Paris met Ignatius of Loyola, helped found the Jesuit order, and obeyed an order to accompany the Portuguese who were colonizing the East. The apostolic labors of St. Thomas the Apostle and St. Francis Xavier have borne much fruit in the ensuing centuries. If demography is destiny, then the Church in India, more than any other nation, is destined to play a leading role in ecclesial affairs in the 21st century, much as the Church in France left its mark on the 13th century and the Church in Spain deeply influenced the 16th. At the end of 2007, India’s Catholic population ranked 16th in the world, behind Brazil, Mexico, the Philippines, the United States, Italy, France, Spain, Colombia, Poland, Argentina, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Germany, Peru, Venezuela, and Nigeria. Yet more than the faithful of any other nation, India’s 18.6 million Catholics have fostered a culture in which priestly and religious vocations and Catholic institutions flourish. India has more seminarians (14,120) than any other nation—nearly 5,000 more than second-ranked Brazil. (This figure does not include India’s 10,875 high-school seminarians.) Between 1999 and 2007, the number of Indian seminarians increased by an astounding 40 percent. Nearly 64 percent of India’s seminarians will be ordained for religious orders rather than local dioceses. Between 1999 and 2007, the number of diocesan priests ministering in India rose by 24 percent, from 10,690 to 13,290—not counting the 1,032 diocesan priests serving in other nations— while the number of religious-order priests rose by 33 percent, from 8,248 to 11,003. During the same time period, the number of diocesan priests in the United States—which has 67.8 million Catholics—fell by 5 percent, and the number of religious priests plummeted by 17 percent. Vocations to non-ordained religious life are flourishing as well. India has more nuns than any other nation (except Italy), and will soon rank first in the world if trends continue. Between 1999 and 2007, the number of professed women religious grew by 19 percent, from 79,608 to 94,450, during a time

when the number dropped by 23 percent in the US, from 81,364 to 63,250. During the same time period, the number of non-ordained male religious in India rose by 37 percent, from 2,558 to 3,502, while the number declined by 13 percent in the United States to 5,124. Accompanying the continued growth of the priesthood and religious life in India is an institutional presence unmatched anywhere in the world. India has 10,240 Catholic elementary schools with more than three million students— more than any other nation in the world, and more than all the nations of North and Central America combined. India has more than five thousand high schools with over three million students— again, more than any other nation, and more than double the number of Catholic high school students in all of North and Central America. There are more Catholic hospitals in India than in all of North America. Indeed, the Church in India has more hospitals (754), medical dispensaries (2,504), leprosaria (220), and orphanages (2,327) than any other nation. These institutions are desperately needed in a nation where the per capita gross domestic product is $2,900 but 42 percent of the people live on less than $1.25 a day.

Sacramental statistics point to an active missionary presence within India and a seriousness with respect to Catholic marriage. Nearly 17 percent of baptisms in India are baptisms of adult converts; in the United States, the figure is 7 percent. Less than 6 percent of Catholic weddings in India are mixed marriages between a Catholic and non- Catholic spouse; in the United States, the figure is more than 27 percent. In addition, Church authorities in the United States annulled 22,174 marriages in 2007; in India, the number was 801. THRE RITES While the majority of Catholics in India belong to the Latin rite, the Church there is also blessed with the presence of two vibrant Eastern Catholic Churches: the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church.

In A.D. 52, St. Thomas the Apostle preached the Gospel in what is now the southwestern Indian state of Kerala. The St. Thomas Christians in time adopted the Chaldean liturgical tradition, now used by the Chaldean Catholic Church and the separated Assyrian Church of the East. When Portuguese explorers encountered the St. Thomas Christians in 1498, the latter professed the primacy of the pope. By 1510, Portuguese missionaries began to spread the faith further up the coast at Goa. The Latin Catholic hierarchy was established with the founding of the Diocese of Goa in 1533; its territory stretched at one time from South Africa to China. Even today, the archbishop of Goa and Daman is also known as the Primate of the East and the Patriarch of the East Indies. Latin-rite Catholicism established a much firmer foothold with the arrival of St. Francis Xavier; using Goa as his base, he preached in western India from 1542 to 1545. In time, the Portuguese Latin rite hierarchy angered many St. Thomas Christians down the coast by imposing changes on the ancient Chaldean liturgy. In 1653, thousands of St. Thomas Christians left the Catholic Church and sought communion with the Syrian Orthodox Church, forming the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, which now numbers 2.5 million members. A Malankara Orthodox Syrian monk and bishop, Geevarghese Mar Ivanios, was reconciled with the Holy See in 1930, leading to the formation of the Syro- Malankara Catholic Church, which now has 413,000 faithful and celebrates the sacred liturgy according to the Antiochan tradition. The cause of beatification of Archbishop Mar Ivanios— hailed by G.K. Chesterton as the “Newman of India” when the two met at a Eucharistic congress in Dublin—was opened in 2007.

The St. Thomas Christians who remained faithful to Rome in time became the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. Now the second-largest Eastern Catholic Church (after the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church), it is a community of astonishing vitality. Led by the Major Archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly, Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, it has 3.7 million faithful, 9,121 priests, 2,607 seminarians, and an astounding 35,000 women religious. The typical Syro- Malabar parish—there are 3,200 of them—has 1,150 laity, three priests, and 11 nuns.

“Not attending Sunday Masses is almost unthinkable for one growing up in a Catholic family,” says Father George Madathiparampil, vicar general of the St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Diocese of Chicago, as he discussed the vitality of the Syro- Malabar Catholic Church. “It would even invite social condemnation.” “There is a great respect for the pope and the bishops and hence, here is very little chance of any act of challenge to their authority,” he added. “Humanae Vitae did not create any ripple of disobedience among Indian Catholics.” Both the Syro-Malabar and Syro- Malankara Catholic Churches—unlike the majority of Eastern Catholic Churches—practice the discipline of clerical celibacy.

“In India, renunciation of worldly pleasures is the hallmark of a person of God,” observed Archbishop Benedict Varghese Gregorios Thangalathil, who led the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church from 1955 to 1994. “A celibate Brahmachari is one who lives and moves in Brahman (God),” he noted in a 1993 essay. “If the non-Christians do not fail to see the advantage of celibacy for the good of religion and society, for a Christian…the motives for celibacy are much more deep and the benefits are much more lofty. Jesus, who lived a virgin life and exhorted his close followers to leave all, including marriage and family attachments, is the ultimate inspiration and the most exalted model of perfect renunciation.”

India has more seminarians than any other nation— nearly 5,000 more than second-ranked Brazil. (This figure does not include India’s 10,875 high school seminarians.) February2010_Complete1.indd 16 1/22/2010 1:03:03 PM THEE CATHOLLIIC WORLLD REEPPORT,, FFeebbrruuaarryy 22001100 1177 A MINOR ITY PRESENCE The least Catholic area of the United States is north-central Mississippi, where the 65 counties that form the Diocese of Jackson are 2.4 percent Catholic. India is even less Catholic than north-central Mississippi: only 1.6 percent of India’s 1.17 billion people are Catholic. India remains an overwhelmingly Hindu nation (81 percent) with a substantial Muslim community (13 percent) and a tiny Christian minority (2.3 percent, including Catholics). “In India the people have a sense of religion deeply rooted in them,” says Salesian Father Joseph Parippil, secretary to the archbishop of Guwahati, a northeastern Indian archdiocese where only 1 percent of area residents are Catholic. “All traditional families are deeply religious whatever religion they belong to. The common people do follow their conscience and are ever seeking the spiritual values.”

“Indian Catholic culture is closely linked with the rich cultural tradition of the country,” concurs Professor K.V. Thomaskutty, a historian at St. John’s College in Anchal, Kerala, and one of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church’s most prominent laymen. The vice president of Malankara Catholic Association told CWR that “decaying but still strong family bonds, dependence, love, care, and associations are there in the social structure of the Indian society.” “Even Communism could not establish atheistic Communism, though so far three states have been ruled by the Communist Party,” adds Father Parippil. “Indian Communists are not atheists.”

While India’s deeply religious non- Christian culture in a sense supports Catholic devotional life and the discipline of clerical celibacy, it also has led to the persecution of the Church. The US State Department’s 2009 international religious freedom report notes that “the government has not admitted new resident foreign missionaries since the mid-1960s. There is no national law barring a citizen or foreigner from professing or propagating religious beliefs; however, the Foreigners Act prohibits speaking publicly against the religious beliefs of others.”

Although India is a secular nation whose constitution respects religious freedom, five of India’s 29 state governments have enacted anti-conversion laws, and some states have turned a blind eye to the persecution of Christians. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)—which ruled the nation from 1999 to 2004 and remains a major political party—has called for the passage of anti-conversion laws throughout India. Anti-Christian persecution in India attracted worldwide attention in 2008 when violence in the northeastern state of Orissa left 90 dead and fifty thousand homeless (see “Kill Christians and Destroy Their Institutions,” CWR, December 2008). Most anti-Christian persecution, however—such as these incidents that took place during the last six months of 2009—is rarely mentioned in the Western media.

• In July, the BJP government in Karnataka refused to extend a property lease and demanded that a Catholic social service agency return 58 acres to the government. In 1977, the state government had leased the property to the agency to help care for leprosy patients. Over the years, the agency built 60 houses for leprosy and AIDS patients, as well as a factory, a job training center, and a dispensary. Upon implementation, the government decision will leave 360 homeless.

• On July 6, the Supreme Court of India reversed an earlier court ruling and decided to consider a lawsuit by a Muslim student at a Catholic school in Madhya Pradesh. The Muslim student argued that the school was infringing on his religious rights by requiring male students to be clean shaven. Bishop Antony Chirayath of Sagar said he was prepared to undergo a lengthy legal battle to uphold the right of the Church to set disciplinary policies in its schools.

• On July 30, Father James Mukalel was brutally murdered in Karnataka as he was returning from the funeral of another priest. No arrests were made in the case.

• On September 5, Father Varghese Thekkekut, a priest who heads a mission school in Chhattisgarh, was kicked and almost strangled by two young men. No arrests were made in the case.

• On September 29, Maoists in the eastern state of Jharkand kidnapped and beheaded a Catholic police officer.

• In October, thousands of Catholics in the eastern state of Chhattisgarh faced the prospect of the destruction of their homes as the government developed plans to confiscate largely Catholic villages and agricultural land in order to build industrial parks.

• On October 13, a BJP government official in Madhya Pradesh gave the Diocese of Jhabua three days to provide the government with details about Church property and cemeteries. A Church spokesman feared that the order portended a government attempt to control Church institutions.

• On the night of November 7, vandals broke into a parish in Karnataka, desecrated the tabernacle, stole a chalice and two ciboria, and scattered the hosts around the church. Archbishop Bernard Moras of Bangalore— India’s fifth-largest city— denounced government and police apathy.

• On November 20, the bishops of February2010_Complete1.indd 17 1/22/2010 1:03:04 PM 1188 THEE CATHOLLIIC WORLLD REEPPORT,, FFeebbrruuaarryy 22001100 the southwestern Indian state of Karnataka issued a statement against the rise of “moral policing,” in which Hindu fundamentalist groups attack youths from different religions when they socialize together.

• On December 19, a politician and his bodyguards used their rifles to beat Father Lawrence Chittuparambil, director of a Catholic school in the northwestern state of Punjab. Police did not arrest the politician; after the Church closed 150 Catholic schools and the local diocese organized a protest in which 1,500 people blocked all entries to the town where the school was located, the politician turned himself in to police.

• On December 20, a group of militants, invoking the names of Hindu deities, attacked a Christmas fair in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and set fire to biblical representations. The local archbishop lamented that authorities rarely respond to attacks on Christians. Despite these and similar incidents of violence and discrimination, Father Hector D’Souza, provincial of the South Asian Jesuits, told UCA News upon leaving office in 2009: What we need now is real persecution. Persecution can purify us of our lethargy, inactiveness, and failure to live the Gospel. If purification does not come within the Church, God will use other means to purify us. Wherever the Church faced persecution, it has become very strong. For example, the Church in Gujarat…has become alive and vibrant after Hindu radicals targeted it a decade ago. The Church in India was very vibrant when the Bharatiya Janata Party ruled India. People were out on the streets for their rights. Similar things happened after the attacks on Christians in 2008. However, the violence we have experienced is only pinpricks. Real persecution will come only when our structures are affected.

MISS IONAR IES AND REL IGIOUS Although the Church in India is known for its education and charitable institutions, “Indian Catholicism will be mainly associated with missionary activity” in the decades ahead, Father Madathiparampil believes. The statistics support his claim: Catholic missionary vocations are flourishing in India. In 1968, Syro-Malabar Bishop Sebastian Vayalil founded the Missionary Society of St. Thomas the Apostle to preach the Gospel in non- Christian regions, principally in India. Today, the order has more than 300 priests. In 1984, the late Father Jose Kailett, a Latin rite priest, founded the Heralds of the Good News, an Indian missionary order whose priests serve in areas where local vocations are lacking, including Guatemala, Italy, Kenya, the Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and the United States. The order now has 211 priests and 745 seminarians. These male religious congregations, while growing, are not among the world’s largest. Four of the nine largest women’s religious communities, however, are now Indian. Each has more members than the Benedictines, Dominicans, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, School Sisters of Notre Dame, and other well-known women’s communities. The Franciscan Clarist Congregation, founded in 1888, is based in Kerala and combines the spirituality of St. Francis with that of Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. Assisting the elderly, orphans, lepers, AIDS patients, and others in need, it has 7,078 members, a gain of 156 between 2006 and 2009. The Congregation of the Mother of Carmel, founded in 1866 by Blessed Kuriakose Elias Chavara, was the Syro- Malabar Catholic Church’s first women’s institute. Working in 500 schools and running 18 hospitals, these active Carmelite sisters gained 109 members between 2006 and 2009 and now number 6,508.

The Missionaries of Charity, renowned the world over for of the sanctity of their founder, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta (1910-97), serve the poorest of the poor in 133 countries. The Missionaries of Charity have grown to 5,128 members, an increase of 236 between 2006 and 2009.

The Syro-Malabar Sisters of the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, founded by Bishop Thomas Kurialacherry in 1908, have spread to 100 dioceses. Centered upon Eucharistic adoration, the sisters also serve in the areas of education, health care, missionary work, and publishing. In the past decade, they have begun to staff missions in Kenya and Tanzania. Their membership now stands at 4,654, an increase of 135 between 2006 and 2009.

THREATS TO GROW TH In a November National Catholic Reporter column, John Allen discussed the influence of “adventurous” Indian theologians, including Father Felix Wilfred and Jesuit Fathers Michael Amaladoss and Aloysius Pieris, who “have been controversial because of the various ways in which they try to give positive theological value to non-Christian religions.”

The greatest threats to the dynamism of the Church in India, however, according to those interviewed by CWR, are Western-style secularism and smaller families. “Things are changing even here with all the modern media giving a secular picture and a culture of consumerism,” says Father Parippil.

“Many of the congregations in India struggle hard to find sufficient vocations,” adds Professor Thomaskutty. “Ever increasing secularizing forces, leftist thinking, antagonism on the part of the governments, and a host of similar factors contribute to this phenomenon.” “A weakening in this strong and active Catholic life is happening nowadays as the children move out of this strong Catholic ambience to join professional colleges in big cities,” says Father Madathiparampil. “In those situations, parents [still] take a lot of pains to insist that the children go to church for Sunday Masses.”

The temptations to secularism become greater with emigration. “One of the major challenges is the emigration of the young looking for jobs in Europe and America. It is then they lose the support of a culture that is permeated with religion. They become easily susceptible to the secularism of the countries in which they live and fall from the practice of their faith.” “Indian Catholics always had large families,” Father Madathiparampil adds. “Now things are changing. Families are becoming smaller. Smaller families pose a great danger to the flourishing of the faith, as then the number joining the missionary ranks of the Church will be fewer.”

Father Parippil agrees. “Now the families are becoming smaller and smaller. Within a few years we too will have to face a sharp fall in vocations to religious and priestly life.” n Jeff Ziegler writes from North Carolina. February2010_Complete1.indd 18 1/22/2010 1:03:05 PM

The St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India
OLLUR Thrissur City India 680306

www.indianchristianity.com , kunjethy@gmail.com , +914872352468, +919846033713

Cardinal Gracias and Cardinal Toppo Dedicate the St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India to the Nation

GUWAHATI, March 3

The publication of the three volumes of the St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India is a worthy model for the world Churches and an incomparable achievement and contribution of the Church in India, stated Oswald Cardinal Gracias in Guwahati, dedicating the work to the nation. The publication of the third and final volume is something of which the Encyclopaedia team can be justly proud, but they should not rest on their oars but must continue their much needed work of service to the Church in India today, His Eminence went on to say. Telespore P. Cardinal Toppo dedicated the volumes to the world Christian community. The two Cardinals officially released the Encyclopaedia by exchanging copies of the work, in the presence of Archbishops and Bishops from all over India and members of the CBCI Commissions. Archbishop Andrews Thazhath, Prof. George Menachery the Editor of the Encyclopaedia, and Dr. George Plathottam the secretary of the CBCI Commission for Media also spoke on the occasion.

The Encyclopaedia comprises the contributions of hundreds of well-known scholars from all over India and abroad. There are articles on almost every aspect of Christianity in india, dealing with all chronological, denominational, and geographical divisions. The more than thousand illustrations on art plates, half of them on full colour art plates, in addition to the dozens of maps including a whole Christian and Linguistic atlas of India, and the graphs, tables, figures, and sketches go to make the work an exhaustive reference tool. Each major article is supported by bibliographies and inclusive end-notes, making the encyclopaedia an indispensible reference work for seminaries and teheological colleges. universities and colleges, and libraries of ecclesiastical establishments and headquarters and formation houses of religious congregations.

Church in India
C. B. C. I.

Origin and Aims

C.B.C.I. is permanent association of the Catholic Hierarchy of India. It was formally constituted in September 1944 at the Conference of Metropolitans held in Madras. Its objectives are to facilitate co-ordinated study and discussion of questions affecting the Church, and adoption of a common policy and effective action in all matters concerning the interests of the Church in India.

General Body

The C.B.C.I. has now 201 members of whom 38 are honorary members. The 163 members with voting right consist of 27 Archbishop-Metropolitans (including one Archbishop-Patriarch), 122 Diocesan Bishops, 1 Co-adjutor Archbishop, 1 Co-adjutor Bishop, 13 Auxiliary Bishops. The members meet for Ordinary General Meetings once in every two years, while Extra-ordinary Meetings are held according to need. At the General Meetings the C.B.C.I. reviews the situation of the Church in India and takes appropriate decision on future plans and actions that are called for. These meetings also consider the annual reports presented by the Secretary General and by the various Commissions.

The C.B.C.I. Centre

The C.B.C.I. Centre is the headquarters of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India. It is headed by the Deputy Secretary General who is assisted by various Secretaries of the C.B.C.I.. The Centre started functioning in 1962. Besides the C.B.C.I. Secretariat the Centre houses the Offices of some of the C.B.C.I. Commissions. Caritas India the Social and Developmental wing of the C.B.C.I. has its headquarters at the centre.

The C.B.C.I. Secretariat

Right from the establishment of the C.B.C.I. in 1944 the Secretariat was functioning in Bangalore until 1962 when it was shifted to Delhi. The functions are to watch over the various movements, to study legislative measures in the States and the Centre; to link together the various sections of the C.B.C.I. and to give information and guidance whenever required.

Statistics at a Glance

1. Ecclesiastical Units	Archdioceses 30	Dioceses 129	Total 159
2. Rite a) Latin b) Syro-Malabar c) Syro-Malankara	23 5 2	105 21 4	128 26 6
3. Bishops a) Diocesan b) Coadjutors c) Auxiliaries d) Apostolic Visitator e) Retired	29 - 10 - 11	123 1 - 2 33	152 1 10 2 44
4. Cardinals	3 (3)	-	3 (6)

Statistics (2003)

Total number of diocesan priests
Religious Priests
Religious Brothers
Religious Sisters
Total no. of Religious Congregations
For men
For women

14, 000
13, 500
4, 300
90, 000
300
70
230

Educational Institutions	Institutions	Students
K. G. & Nursery Schools Primary Schools Secondary Schools Colleges Medical/Nursing School/Colleges Engineering College	3, 785 7, 319 3, 765 240 28 5	600,000 3,000,000 2,000,000 500,000 10,000 1,500

Social Welfare Activities

Technical Training Schools & Polytechnics
Hostels & Boarding Houses
Orphanages
Creches
Hospitals
Dispensaries & Health Centres
Leprosaria
Rehabilitation Centres
Homes for Aged, Destitutes & Physically
Challenged

Caldwell’s language laboratory was a small shack

CHENNAI: Conversion of the house of Bishop Robert Caldwell at Idayankudi in Tirunelveli district into a memorial will be the second honour bestowed on the scholar, who came to India as a Protestant missionary, by the Tamil Nadu government.

The house was originally a small shack measuring just 17X11 feet when Caldwell occupied it in 1841 after walking down to Idayankudi from Chennai, covering about 800 km. He started the journey in July 1941 and reached the poverty-stricken backward village towards the end of that year, says H Vincent Kumaradoss, a former office bearer of the Church History AAssociation of India (CHAI) , who has written a biography of the Christian missionary from United Kingdom.

After reaching Madras in 1838 as a 24 year-old evangelist, Caldwell spend three years before setting out on the odyssey down south and choosing Idayankudi for his missionary work.

It was at that point that he lived in the small house, even as he was struggling to build the Holy Trinity Church in Idayankudi. It took Caldwell 33 years to build the church, which was consecrated in 1880.

Besides pre a ch i n g , Caldwell, who had graduated from the University of Glasgow, spend enormous time on linguistic research. In 1849 he published an ethnographic treatise on Shanars, the local community of people, and then in 1856 came out with a book on Dravidian grammar.

Besides coining the term ‘Dravidian’, he was the one who first who pointed out that the south Indian languages - Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada - had their origins outside the Indo-Aryan family and that they were distinctly different from Sanskrit.

Honouring the seminal work on Dravidian grammar, the DMK government headed by C N Annadurai installed a statue of Caldwell on the Marina during the second World Tamil Conference that was held in Madras in 1968.

The statue still stand hidden from public glare in a corner.

The shack became a proper house much later when the Idayankudi church congregation felt the need for a bigger accommodation for their pastor.

Caldwell vacated it only in 1882 to move into a Bishop bungalow in Thoothukudi.

The shack, whose both walls you could touch by stretching both hands, was subsequently converted into a parish hall, says Kumaradoss, whose book, Robert Caldwell - A Scholar- Missionary in Colonial South India, is perhaps the only biography of the man who devoted his entire life for the uplift of the backward region in Tamil Nadu, besides setting the tone for the later day Dravidian movement.

Caldwell died in 1891 and his body was interred beneath the chancelled floor of the Holy Trinity Church.

Indian President Pratibha Patil, Vice Prez, Other Dignitaries
attend Christmas celebration at Rashtrapati Bhavan

The President of India recieives a present at the Christmas function in New Delhi.

The official residence of the President of India witnessed moments of Christmas cheer. There was a Christmas tree and Carols.

The Ashoka Hall in Rashtrapati Bhavan saw important dignitaries enjoying the Carols presented by troupes from the North East and Delhi itself.

In addtion to the President Pratibha Patil herself the Vice President Ahmed Ansari, the wife of Prime Minister Manhoman Singh Gursharan Kaur, Lok Sabha Speaker Meera Kumar and some cabinet Ministers were present.

The Programme featured carol singing by the Shillong Chamber Choir, Meghalaya; the Centenary Methodist Church, Delhi; Zowe Madrigal, Nagaland; St. Thomas Mar Thoma Syrian Church Choir, Delhi; Golden Jubilee Choir, Delhi; Mizo Minstrels Choir, Mizoram; Jesus and Mary College Choir, Delhi and Paranjoti Academy Chorus, Mumbai.

The Christmas Message was delivered by Archbishop of Delhi, Rev. Vincent Concessao.

Last year, the annual traditional programme was not held at Rashtrapati Bhavan in view of the terrorists’ attacks in Mumbai. The festivities were cancelled as a mark of respect for the victims of the attacks.

However, Rashtrapati Bhavan had sent grocery items such as Rice, Sugar, Dal and Ghee to orphanages in Delhi on behalf of the President.

The Christmas celebrations, last year, were also toned down in the wake of violence against Christians in Orissa and Karnataka.

Churches that anticipated huge turnout of pilgrims apparently were discouraged as less people turned up.

In Orissa, although there were no reports of violence, it was a gloomy Christmas for many. Still thousands are said to be living as refugees with lack of food and shelter.

Few of these victims on Dec. 25 will be joining a carol-singing programme at India Gate organised by the Delhi Archdiocese.

"Christmas carols will be sung by the victims of Kandhamal riots who would like to let the world know that Jesus' birthday is a good occasion to be reconciled with all and to share his message of love," said a note from the Archdiocese.

[Courtesy Christian Today India]

India Leads World In Women Religious

India led the world in the number of vocations to women’s Religious life in the Catholic Church, statistics show.

Asia and Africa made considerable gains in the number of female Religious since 2000, while Europe, Americas and Oceania showed a downward trend, according to Jeff Mirus of Catholic Culture, who analyzed the statistics for the website.

In Asia, India recorded an increase of 9,398 women religious during 2002-2007 while Vietnam added 2,545 more nuns. South Korea and the Philippines increased by about 500.

Three Kerala-based congregations and Blessed Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity were among those showing an upward trend in world-wide scenario.

The Franciscan Clarist Congregation, the Congregation of the Mother of Carmel and the Sisters of the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament continue to attract more members. Another rapidly growing congregation was the Claretian Missionary Sisters.

Major losers worldwide are the Salesian Sisters, the Order of Discalced Carmelites, the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary, the Sisters of Charity of Saints Bartholomea Capitanio and Vincenzia Gerosa and Benedictine Nuns.

Upward trend was noticed all across Africa: Tanzania and the Congo increased by around 1,500 while Nigeria, Madagascar, Kenya andAngola added 500 to 800 more nuns.

The Middle East and the Caribbean also have added more nuns. Women Religious increased in 99 nations since 2000, according to the analysis.

Unfortunately, their gains are not yet quite enough to offset the 4.6 percent decline among women Religious worldwide during 2002-2007.

Most losers are the Western nations. For example, Italy had 11,156 less nuns during 2002-2007. The United States came second, losing 10,454 nuns during the period.

Germany and France lost around 6,000 nuns each, followed by Canada and Spain each had 4,000 less women Religious. Ireland,Belgium and the Netherlands in Europe, Argentina, Brazil and Columbia have also lost nuns in hundreds.

Between 1965 and 1995, the United States had lost 49 percent of its female Religious, while the number dropped by 46 percent in Canada, 44 percent in France, 48 percent in German, 43 percent in Great Britain, 51 percent in the Netherlands.

All together, there are about 750,000 women religious serving around the world, or approximately one nun for every 9,000 humans.

*Fabulous 50s Christmas* *Carols*
A Holly Jolly Christmas Burl Ives	Away In A Manger Loretta Lynn	Christmas Alphabet The McGuire Sisters
Christmas Country Christmas The Statler Brothers	Christmas In My Hometown Sonny James	Christmas Song Alvin & The Chipmunks
Christmas Times A Coming Bill Monroe And The Bluegrass Boys	Christmas Waltz Frank Sinatra	Christmas Without You Kenny Rogers Dolly Parton
Frosty The Snowman Gene Autry	Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer Elmo & Patsy	Hard Rock Candy Christmas Dolly Parton
Hark The Herald Angels Sing Nat King Cole	Have Yourself A Very Merry Christmas Rosemary Clooney	Home For The Holidays Perry Como
Its Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas Bing Crosby & The Andrew Sisters	I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus Jimmy Boyd	Its a Most Wonderful Time Of The Year Johnny Mathis
Jingle Bell Rock Bobby Helms	Jingle Bells Roy Rogers Most Interesting Middle!	Jingle Bells Perry Como
Jingle Bells The Jingle Bell Piggie	Joy To The World Nat King Cole	Leroy, the Redneck Reindeer Joe Diffie
Let It Snow Andy Williams	Lets Put Christ Back Into Christmas Tammy Wynette	Little Drummer Boy Neil Diamond
O Christmas Tree Nat King Cole	Please Come Home The Platters	Pretty Paper Roy Orbison
Rocking Around The Christmas Tree Brenda Lee	Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer Gene Autry	Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer Unknown Group
Santa Baby Cynthia Basinet	Santa Claus Is Coming To Town Bing Crosby	Santa Claus Is Watching You Ray Stevens
Silver Bells Bing Crosby/Peggy Lee	Silent Night Dean Martin	Sleigh Ride Johnny Mathis
The First Noel Andy Williams	Up On The Housetop Gene Autry	White Christmas Bing Crosby
White Christmas The Drifters (1954)	Winter Wonderland Brenda Lee	Christmas With Elvis

Father Joseph Neuner, SJ, at 96 : A Retrospect from ExpressIndia

Father Joseph Neuner, SJ, 96 Fr Neuner is a renowned theology professor teaching at different theological institutes. Through his long life he has witnessed landmark events such as the two World Wars, the rise of Nazism and communism and the rise and fall of the Soviet Union. Fr Neuner came to India and Pune due to an accident of fate - two others who had been appointed to be sent to Pune were not able to get the certificate of tropical fitness while Fr Neuner was able to do so. Neuner has written several books.

TREASURED TIMES: “Working in the service of Church life in India has always being my mission. I treasured the moments when I shared my insights on theology with the priests and parishes. I have been lucky to have been in close association with Mother Teresa and a committee member when preparatory steps had been taken in the process of beatification. Not only that, I was in close contact with Mother Anna Huberta in setting up the Helpers of Mary, a diocesan congregation of the Archbishop of Bombay, “ muses Fr Neuner.

A FULL DAY: Ask him what is his way of life today and he smiles. “By God’s grace, I do not suffer from any ailments. I spend time meeting with people who come to seek my spiritual guidance. I read books on the Church life from across the globe. I also write forewords and prefaces for books penned by theology scholars as well as letters to my Jesuit friends.”

His day starts at 5.30 am with prayers, followed by a walk. My meals are a typical Indian breakfast and lunch, while for dinner I prefer a bowl of soup with chappatis. My day ends at sharp ten pm.”

LONGEVITY LINES: ‘‘Life is immortal. It must be carried on in the service of humanity without thinking about dying,”he believes.

WISHES: To meet the new Pope when he is elected.

Jesuit Father Joseph Neuner, dead at 101, eulogized
by Thomas C. Fox on Dec. 07, 2009
Courtesey NCR Today

Jesuit Father Jesuit Father Joseph Neuner, spiritual advisor to Mother Teresa and probably the world’s oldest Jesuit, died Dec. 3 at 101 in Pune, India. Neuner, born in 1908 at Feldkirch in Austria, had been a Puneite since 1938. For many years, he taught theology at the city-based Jnana Deep Vidyapeeth. In the 1960s, Neuner served as an expert at the Second Vatican Council.

Janina Gomes, an NCR contributor and author of the recently published "Prayers from the Heart," (Pauline Publications @ Sister Bombay Society), wrote the following tribute.

IDEAL PRIEST

By Janina Gomes

If ever there was an ideal priest, I knew one. Father Joseph Neuner, who died at the ripe age of 101 years, sowed many seeds in his life and also reaped a spiritual harvest that is only possible for the faithful, humble and true servants of God.

I knew him for well over 30 years. As a friend, he saw me through the best and the worst, through moments of failure and moments of success. He wrote letters faithfully, even to those others had given up on, and I was one of them. I remember Fr. Richard De Smet, another Jesuit giant telling me that Neuner had an apostolate of letters. He wrote faithfully to those who needed spiritual direction and help in their lives.

A great theologian, who worked on documents for the Second Vatican no doubt, but his spirituality was practical and down to earth. I remember once writing to him about a bathroom leakage I had in my flat. When he visited next, he walked in and immediately asked to see the leakage. That must be what great theology is like, irretrievably linked to the daily and mundane details of life.

How did such a prolific priest who wrote regularly for, the Indian theological journal, Vidya Jyoti, in a series called ‘Listening to the Spirit’ get his originality and wisdom? When he was teaching theology at De Nobili College, he would everyday take a walk to the graveyard and meditate, most in touch with life by reflecting on death.

I remember the long walk he once took me on, the open maidan outside De Nobili. He was able to understand and resonate with the young as well as the old. I also remember the times I would meet him at Shradhha Vihar (He was founder of the Daughters of the Helpers of Mary and wrote their constitution.). He would share with me the special meals made for him by the nuns and be the generous host that he was.

Neuner was a walking marvel. He could walk from Bandra Station to my house and back, taking everything in his stride. When he had a fall and injured himself, once again it was the hardy, determined side of him that won over and gave him a longer lease of life. He was still exercising through most of the latter years.

He did present me with his memoirs which he wrote at the age of 90. But, his personality and person were much richer than a book could capture. He had a capacity to reason and analyze that would be the envy of many a scholar, but it was balanced by an earthy humaneness, compassion and quite strength.

I have a vivid memory of him in a bright yellow cotton checked shirt showing me the original rosary presented to him at his ordination, which he had tucked below his pillow.
The last I saw him was about a year ago still concelebrating mass from a wheelchair. Though he did not recognize people, he was still lucid in mind in many respects.

I once wanted to write a profile of him, but did not do it to his satisfaction and he was a little bit of a perfectionist in his work. What I could not do when he was alive, I am now attempting to do after his death- to pay tribute to a great soul and an ideal priest.