ROBERT JOHN KENNEDY: Locking horns over 'The Asian Jesus'

ROBERT JOHN KENNEDY: Locking horns over 'The Asian Jesus': Locking horns over 'The Asian Jesus' Why was a respected Indian theologian called to the Vatican?   ...

Locking horns over 'The Asian Jesus'

Why was a respected Indian theologian called to the Vatican?

By Myron Pereira
Mumbai:  Father Michael Amaladoss, one of the most respected theologians in India, is said by some to be under suspicion from the Vatican’s watchdog on doctrinal orthodoxy, the Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). He was summoned to Rome for a series of “conversations" with the CDF, although reports differ over how cordial these conversations were.

The scrutiny of Amaladoss stems from a book he wrote, The Asian Jesus, which grapples with an issue that has bedeviled Christians in Asia for centuries: how to present Jesus Christ as a genuine fellow Asian to the millions of our countrymen, who often see him as a white European import.

This is not just a matter of visual iconography, but of theology as well: What has Jesus Christ to say to the world religions of India? This is what Amaladoss tries to answer.

The Asian Jesus explores diverse images of Jesus from the Asian context, for after all, 'Jesus was born, lived, preached, and died in Asia'. The images Amaladoss selects include Jesus as the Sage, Guru, Satyagrahi (seeker of truth), Aavatar (incarnation), and the Dancer. Amaladoss explores how these images of Jesus are relevant to Asian Christians.

He is not the first to make the attempt. Other Christian theologians, like V. Chakkarai, in Jesus the Avatar (1932), and Thomas Thangaraj in The Crucified Guru (1994), have also experimented with understanding the mission of Christ across cultures.

There are many aspects to the question. For one thing, as many Asian leaders have said, Jesus, as he appears and speaks in the Gospel, is not so much the problem as the Church, and the peculiar form of Roman Catholicism which it gave birth to. For many of our contemporaries, ‘mission’ is seen as an expansionist program with Western overtones and political ramifications. It is bitterly resented because of these colonialist connotations. So proclaiming Christ is seen as an attempt to convert others.

While drawing on images from the Asian context, including the Hindu tradition and Buddhism, Amaladoss does not offer a comparative theological study. Rather, he explains how the various images of Jesus are perceived. This is reflected in both the images selected for the book and the subsequent reflections offered within each chapter. Certainly the images presented in the book provide an insightful and thought-provoking glimpse into the diverse perceptions of Jesus in Asia, opening up new and dynamic questions for theological discourse. Indeed, these images cannot be excluded when entering into Christological and theological reflection in Asia.

However, one may also ask which 'Asia' and which 'India' Amaladoss refers to, for India (and Asia, too) is a wide and diverse cultural space, and The Asian Jesus does not touch on every symbol there is. The emergence of Dalit voices in the Indian context, for example, offer distinctive images relevant to this discourse, which are out of the scope of this study. So are Adivasi (tribal) concepts of religious leaders and holy men.

The whole issue needs to be seen in the context of the Church’s attitude to the world’s great religions. This is an area that has changed considerably over the last 50 years, and some remarks on where Catholics stand today would not be out of place.

To start with, it would be true to say that no educated Christian today holds the medieval view that the non-Christian religions are evil, and the Church alone offers salvation.

Fifty years ago, the Vatican Council taught that Jesus Christ is indeed the savior of all, and the fulfillment of all the religions of the world. The mission of the Church is to take what is holy and true in other religions, and show its fulfillment in Christ. The Council’s view is that all religions should gradually recognize the unique place of Christ within their own faiths. This view is Christ-centric, and not Church-centric.

Post-conciliar theology, however, holds greater respect for the autonomy of each religion, and in view of the steady numerical growth of so many of them, tends to accept religious pluralism as part of the divine dispensation. This pluralistic view accepts that God has revealed himself to others, and that Jesus’ salvation is meant for all and decisive. However whereas Jesus is the indispensable and normative way to God for Catholic Christians, it is less so for others. This view is God-centric rather than Christ-centric.

In this context, the Church evangelizes (or proclaims the Gospel) when it urges people to accept their God-given humanity, and to treat others justly and lovingly as their brothers and sisters – the values of the ‘Kingdom’, in other words. “The Church evangelizes by promoting the human,” as Paul VI said in Evangelii Nuntiandi.

Many theologians in Asia have a greater acceptance for religious pluralism, living as they do in a multi-religious society in which Christianity is usually a feeble minority. In this, they are different from their European or American colleagues, for whom the conciliar position is the final word.

As one can see, theological opinion is not an abstraction, but very much a matter of socio-religious environment.

Would this be the reason for the difficulties which the Roman office of the CDF has with the likes of Dupuis, Balasuriya and Amaladoss? It would seem so, and only the future will reveal just how successful these “conversations” have been.

Fr Myron Pereira is a Jesuit priest and media consultant based in Mumbai.

Source: ucanews.com

Pakistan's sorcerers promise the world, for a price

A cure-all or a scam, it has been around for centuries.

Islamabad:  From winning the heart of your beloved to getting a promotion at work, Pakistan's practitioners of black magic say there is nothing they can't help you achieve – for a humble donation.

The centuries-old practice is rooted in mystic Sufi lore and has traditionally been the domain of pirs (saints) and aamils (sorcerers).

A cure-all to some and for others a scam that preys on people's superstitions, the sorcerers continue to thrive despite the disapproval of some hardline schools of Islam.

"Contact us immediately to get all the jobs done while sitting at home," screams one classified advert featured in several newspapers.

It offers an answer for all manner of problems: "failure in love, overcoming the boss, getting a job transfer, foreign travel, lack of marriage proposals and a chance to win a lottery".

Pir Ali Hussain Shah, the 55-year-old "saint" referred to in the notice says the correct incantation from the Qu'ran is key to working miracles.

"Disease, financial or family problems or any other problem of the world, can be solved in one night of recitation," Shah says.

Shah said he was working for the good of humanity and providing the service on a charitable basis – though he admitted satisfied followers were generous with their gifts.

"People who are happy with my work and get solace from their worries, themselves come and give offerings in cash and kind which I spend on langar [charity food handouts]," Shah said.

The expensive Sunday newspaper ad was paid for by one such follower grateful for Shah's help in getting married to a man in Britain despite her parents' opposition, he said.

"The girl's parents did not want her to marry a British-Pakistani man she liked. She contacted me and I did the recitation and told her that within seven days she will get married and it happened."

Shah and his ilk use a number of traditional practices, including writing verses of the Qu'ran on paper and folding them into various patterns to be worn around the neck as a talisman.

Other methods include reciting the Qu'ran and then blowing onto water or rosewater, which a follower then drinks.

Inscribed "spells" of black magic script can also be dissolved into liquids and used as a curse to be given to one's enemies, while some sorcerers ask their followers to sacrifice a black hen or goat to ward off evils.

Visiting the shrines of ancient Sufi saints and offering alms to the poor – and cash to the custodians – are very popular in Pakistan, where many believe they will help get their prayers answered.

For 45-year-old Razia Bibi, a housewife from the city of Rawalpindi, visiting her saint Syed Izhar Bokhari at his astaana (Sufi abode) is an important ritual she believes ensures her family's health and wellbeing.

"It surely is effective, I am coming here for the past 25 years and I have come out of so many troubled situations in my life," the black-veiled Bibi said.

Not everyone approves. Mufti Tehsinullah of Islamabad's radical Red Mosque said that while the practice of black magic was officially recognized in the Hadith – Islamic texts relating to the life of the Prophet Muhammad – it was wrong to exploit it.

"Practicing black magic and making it a business is against sharia and the fake practitioners have in many cases abused young girls who go to them for help in getting proposals," he claimed.

It's not just the poor and so-called simple people who believe in the dark arts.

A remarkable full-page advertisement appeared in national newspapers recently, signed by the head of Pakistan's only brewery, accusing his brother-in-law of turning his mother against him through "witchcraft and black magic".

And there have been some notorious cases of abuse. In 2011, long-haired, bushy-bearded sorcerer Mohammad Saleem was arrested for duping hundreds of women into having sex with him in the hope of conceiving a boy.

He was sentenced to five years in jail and fined 10,000 rupees (US$100 dollars), but in 2013 he was freed after the only woman who came forward to testify retracted her statement.

There is also little legal redress available for those left unsatisfied by their sorcerer's efforts.

Taxi driver Irfan Ahmed, 26, sought help to win the hand of a woman he had fallen in love with – with no success.

"I have tried these problem solvers and they all are fake. I lost thousands of rupees on them to make my marriage possible, but she got married to someone else and I am still a bachelor," he said.

"I did not go to police as it would be too embarrassing to explain and also police are not of much help in these matters." AFP

Source: ucanews.com

ROBERT JOHN KENNEDY: Hopes grow for papal visit to Sri Lanka and Philip...

ROBERT JOHN KENNEDY: Hopes grow for papal visit to Sri Lanka and Philip...: Hopes grow for papal visit to Sri Lanka and Philippines Vatican spokesman says trip in early 2015 is 'under study'. ...

Hopes grow for papal visit to Sri Lanka and Philippines

Vatican spokesman says trip in early 2015 is 'under study'.

Picture: AFP Photo/Andreas Solaro

Vatican City:  A visit by Pope Francis to the Philippines in January or February 2015 is “under study,” the Vatican confirmed Friday, May 16, according to the Catholic News Service (CNS).

Quoting Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi, the CNS said the Pope will possibly stop by Sri Lanka if he visits the Philippines.

Francis has long said he wants to visit the Philippines, which is Asia's most predominantly Catholic country.

Once calling this Southeast Asian country his "beloved Philippines," Francis sent a video message to Filipinos in October 2013 – his first papal message in English.

“Don’t get tired of bringing the mercy of the Father to the poor, the sick, the abandoned, the young people, and the family,” Francis said in his video message for the Philippine Conference on New Evangelization at the University of Santo Tomas.

Shortly after he was elected Pope, Francis told Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle he has "high hopes for the Philippines."

"When I approached Pope Francis to assure him of the closeness and collaboration of the Filipinos, he said, 'I have high hopes for the Philippines. May your faith prosper, as well as your devotion to Our Lady and mission to the poor,'" Tagle said after the conclave that elected Francis.

Evaluating Francis' papacy one year later, Tagle described the Pope's "simple" gestures as "grand in their simplicity." Cotabato Archbishop Orlando Cardinal Quevedo said Francis stands out because he "is able to laugh."

The Philippine government has invited Francis to visit the Philippines.

The last time a Pope visited the Philippines was in 1995, when the late John Paul II led World Youth Day in Manila.

Source: Rappler

ROBERT JOHN KENNEDY: Cardinal seeks truce between Vatican and US sister...

ROBERT JOHN KENNEDY: Cardinal seeks truce between Vatican and US sister...: Cardinal seeks truce between Vatican and US sisters Rift deepened after tense meetings and Vatican rebuke.   ...

Cardinal seeks truce between Vatican and US sisters

Rift deepened after tense meetings and Vatican rebuke.

Vatican City:  A senior Vatican official on Tuesday tried to defuse the damaging rift between the Vatican and U.S. nuns after a recent rebuke over obedience and doctrinal differences.

Cardinal Jo�o Br�z de Aviz, who heads the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life that oversees men’s and women’s religious orders, said there had been “sensitive times,” but relations between religious orders and the Holy See remained “very close.”

“There are positive aspects and less positive aspects,” the Brazilian cardinal said during a press conference on human trafficking ahead of the World Cup. “We have chosen the path of dialogue. We have to speak positively.”

Br�z de Aviz was speaking at the launch of a campaign by Catholic nuns, backed by the U.S. Embassy to the Vatican, to fight human trafficking at the soccer World Cup in Brazil next month.

A question about the thorny relationship between the Holy See and the American sisters was put to Sr. Carmen Sammut, head of the International Union of Superior Generals, but the cardinal jumped in before she could respond. She, too, stressed the need for dialogue.

“What is important for us is to dialogue together. We are starting to work together. Like every other organization, we can have differences but it is important that we can be true to each other and we can try and find solutions together,” she said.

Sammut’s group is roughly the worldwide equivalent of the Maryland-based Leadership Conference of Women Religious, an umbrella group that represents the leaders of 80 percent of the United States’ 57,000 Catholic sisters.

In early May, the head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office, Cardinal Gerhard M�eller, reprimanded officials from the LCWR for honoring a Catholic theologian whose work was judged “seriously inadequate” and promoting ideas considered out of step with official church doctrine.

After a series of tense meetings with M�eller’s office, the LCWR issued a statement saying it was “saddened” to learn that impressions of the organization had become “institutionalized” at the Vatican.

“Communication has broken down,” the sisters said, “and as a result, mistrust has developed.”

The investigation falls under M�eller’s doctrinal office, but Br�z de Aviz, who is seen as more sympathetic to the sisters, has tried to serve as a peace broker in the standoff. Because religious communities fall under his portfolio, his office is expected to have some role in the final outcome of the investigation.

Source: Religion News Service