Sunday 1 April 2018
TRANSFER CONTROL OF CHURCH ASSETS FROM BISHOPS TO TRUSTS
Sunday 11 March 2018
MAMMON AND POWER: CHURCH IN A TRAP
Wednesday 17 January 2018
POWER CORRUPTS
Supreme Court chief justice uses a simple and humble Ambassador car for travel. Pope uses a 2008 model Ford Focus in Vatican. Its cost won't be more than Rs 6 lakh (new model costs $ 20000 or around Rs 12.80 lakh). He was recently gifted a luxury car -- Lamborghini Huracan -- which costs $ 200000 (around Rs 1.28 crore). But Pope auctioned it and gave the money for charity.
However, there's no need to tell you the vehicle brands (and their cost) owned by our church heads. Everyone knows it. The heads of two Christian churches (not Catholic church) in Kerala own Mercedes Benz cars.
The day when cyclone ockhi wreaked havoc, the head of a protestant church -- who is based less than 10 kms from the ravaged area -- spent Rs 75000 to get a particular registration number for his brand new Innova Crysta. Bishop of a diocese bought a Toyota Hybrid car worth around Rs 45 lakh last year. Another bishop has a Toyota Fortuner which costs over Rs 30 lakh.
The head of a Protestant Church denomination is on a buying spree of rubber estates. Several dioceses have huge properties including estates and buildings across kerala. One Christian congregation owns two shopping complexes in a central Kerala town. There could be more. Where's the income going? Are lay people benefiting from this huge wealth of Christian denominations?
We witnessed the spectacle of a section of priests launching a mutiny against the Cardinal in Kerala. Reason: a mismanaged land deal involving a middleman. Rebel priests are washing the dirty linen in the public. They lamented about lack of career growth options. They want power, position and career growth.
The trappings of power that come with various positions in the curia or institutions are immense.... a great attraction for clergy. The menace of clericalism. Church has become an institution to climb the social and church ladder and control the laity. They are cutting the branch on which they are sitting. All in the name of God. Laity is watching the tamasha helplessly.
As English historian Lord Acton said, "power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
Saturday 6 January 2018
GIVE TO CAESAR WHAT BELONGS TO CAESAR
Let there be good governance and transparency in the church. Caesar's wife must be above suspicion. This is applicable to everyone in India, including the church whether it's Protestant or Catholic or Jacobite.
Only God knows why the Church and sister organisations keep on accumulating land and institutions. On the other hand, there’s a shortage of 18 million houses in urban areas in India, per capita income is only around Rs 1.11 lakh and unemployment is rising. Per capita income in the US is over Rs 36 lakh and Switzerland over Rs 50 lakh.
Saturday 30 December 2017
Catholic Church must stop the mad race to construct palatial churches, engineering and medical colleges
The multi-crore church in Edappalli, Kerala, had recently raised many eyebrows. “It is a sin before God if the money offered by faithful is used for luxury instead of utilising it for social welfare projects or to help the needy,” Cardinal George Alencherry said while consecrating the Rs 40 crore plus church.
There's also a demand that the Syro-Malabar Church should put a moratorium on building new churches.
Friday 13 October 2017
Churches or cultural clubs? Why a pagan festival like Onam is celebrated in churches, that too, cancelling catechism for children?
Wednesday 16 August 2017
Feasts of saints becoming less spiritual and more pompous
SUNDAY, 26 JANUARY 2014
Is the jamboree in the name of celebrating the feast of saints turning the attention away from our saviour Jesus Christ to saints?
Our former parish priest, Rev Fr Biju Kollamkunnel, narrated this story in one of the homilies.
When the father was serving in a Mumbai suburban parish many years ago, he used to conduct Novena for St Joseph every Wednesday. Parishioners and even outsiders used to throng the church on Wednesdays.
So far so good. However, the sad thing was that on week days only few people used to come for Holy Mass -- the re-presentation of the ultimate sacrifice on Calvary.
Intrigued by this no show for Holy Mass, the priest asked the parishioners, “Why you don’t come for Holy Mass?”
One parishioner replied, “This area is infested with robbers. They will attack us. That’s why we don’t come for the Mass.”
The priest refused to believe and continued, “but you come in large numbers for the Novena of St Joseph.” The parishioner said, “St Joseph will protect us from robbers.”
The priest nearly fell off the chair with that reply.
Is Jesus Christ not capable of protecting you from robbers? Shocking. Whom do you believe? Who is your Saviour? Saints or Jesus Christ?
The laity in the Catholic Church in India, Kerala to be precise, is still confused. Or shall we say ignorant? If that’s so, this ignorance is unpardonable and indefensible. Is the jamboree in the name of celebrating the feast days of saints in the Catholic church turning the attention away from our saviour Jesus Christ to saints? The festivities, illumination, fireworks and other embellishments on feast days of St Sebastian, St George, St Joseph, St Antony etc. are mind-boggling. In many parishes, celebrations have reached ridiculous levels with fireworks display, chariot processions and music bands adding to the cacophony. To top it all, commercialisation has added a new dimension to the celebrations in some places.
Of course, these saints are martyrs and torchbearers of faith, but the central figure is and must be Jesus Christ. He is Son of God and your Saviour. Saints can’t take that position.
Saints are good models of faith to emulate in this world. However, salvation comes through Jesus Christ. You often see a big crowd during the feast days of saints but Holy Mass, especially during week days, in many parishes witnesses only a thin attendance.
This writer agrees that feast of a saint is an occasion to celebrate, give respect and proclaim the faith. But we sometimes forget that these are solemn spiritual occasions. Over the years, feast celebrations have become more colorful and competitive with parishes trying to outdo each other in displaying money power and pomp. It has also become an occasion for drinking sessions in many places.
“The spiritual dimension of the feast is often lost in the eagerness to make the feasts colorful,” one Archbishop of Syro-Malabar Catholic church wrote in a letter to laity. Does Jesus Christ want all this? He’s looking inside your heart, your attitude and approach. What have you learnt from these saints? Have saints brought about any change in our thinking and lifestyle?
This writer was a witness to another incident that happened inside another Mumbai church. As usual, less than a dozen people were attending the Holy Mass. A big group of children, teachers and office-goers came inside the church to pay respect, venerate and pray in front of the statues of saints. Ignoring the Holy Mass, many of them started praying in front of the statues of saints and the priest celebrating the Mass got agitated and flared up. He stopped the Holy Mass and admonished the crowd gathered near the statue. “You don’t want Jesus Christ? Why are you running after saints when Holy Mass is being celebrated, where real God is present,” he reacted angrily. He restarted the Mass only after the crowd in front of the statues dispersed.
Aren’t they missing the woods for trees?
The Catholic bishops in Kerala often call for austere and more spiritual celebration of Church feasts, but their sage advices fall on deaf ears. “The feasts are becoming less spiritual and more pompous and commercial. We need to take corrective steps,” an Archbishop was quoted as saying.
We have to celebrate feasts of saints, but our celebrations should not become a show of money and pretentiousness. But celebrate them differently, in a spiritual atmosphere, to change our mindset.
Sunday 14 May 2017
Multi-crore opulent churches: For whom?
The number of Catholic parishes -- more so in Syro-Malabar Church -- which seem to have joined the mad race to build impressive edifices is increasing. In Kerala, every third church is under renovation or reconstruction. Saving the souls is now secondary. This is also at a time when people, even faithful, don't have roof over their heads, and struggling to keep both ends meet. Spending crores of rupees on opulent churches is an atrocious idea in a country like India where a sizeable number of people live below the poverty line. Remember what Acts 7:48-50 says: “However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says: “‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things?’"
Often, rich people in the parish are roped in cleverly and they don't mind diverting part of the black money generated from their businesses for church construction. Yes, the sad part is that church authorities are after these people for big construction activities of the church. Parishioners are given specific amount as contribution for church construction. There was a complaint from auto rickshaw driver in Kerala who was unable to give his share of Rs 35,000 for church construction in his parish. The result was that his daughter's baptism was blocked until he cleared his dues. There was another complaint in North Kerala about overestimating the construction cost and money collected from poor people getting diverted to the pockets of some people.
The multi-crore new church in Edappalli, Kerala, had recently raised many eyebrows. “It is a sin before God if the money offered by faithful is used for luxury instead of utilising it for social welfare projects or to help the needy,” Cardinal George Alencherry said while consecrating the Rs 50 crore church.
While a section of people feel Cardinal could have prevented Edappalli parish from wasting Rs 50 crore on a new church building, there's also a demand that the Syro-Malabar Church should put a moratorium on building new churches. "Won’t it be right and proper, for the whole Church in India to declare a moratorium on new churches made of brick and mortar and concentrate on repairing and rebuilding ever so many domestic churches of flesh and blood going to pieces because of the too many unforeseen challenges facing families today," writes Dr James Kottoor, Editor-in-Chief in Church Citizens’ Voice (CCV).
Saturday 4 March 2017
Exorcists Warn About Dangers of Wiccan ‘Spell to Bind Donald Trump’
The Power of Spells
Spells can have power, according to Father Vincent Lampert, the designated exorcist for the archdiocese of Indianapolis since 2005 and also the pastor for St. Malachy in Indianapolis. “I think there’s power, but it’s not coming from God,” Father Lampert said. “Anyone who would dare say they want to challenge that God is in charge is using the power of evil as their own. They should realize that we can’t use the devil; the devil uses us. People can’t control it and the devil ends up using them for his own purposes.”
Spells, according to Father Lampert, only have an effect in people who are spiritually weak. If we are anchored in God, he said Scripture tells us we have nothing to fear. “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places,” (Ephesians 6:10-18).
Father Lampert pointed out that in Deuteronomy 18:10-12, using witchcraft is condemned as detestable to God. He has known a few people who derive a sense of power and make money from people paying to have spells cast. Hundreds of people have come to Father Lampert for help after spells were cast on them.
The Solution
“You can’t stop someone from placing a curse, but as a Christian, if you are you praying to God and going to him, the curse will have no power,” Father Lampert said. For Catholics, he said going to Mass, receiving the Eucharist and going to Confession, is strong protection against evil. “Curses are effective when people are weak,” Father Lampert explained. “People are fearing devil more than trusting God.”
As for the call for those casting the spell, Father Lampert said they are relying on evil that feeds on anger and revenge. “The end result of all this for people will be to find themselves more deeply entangled with the devil,” he said. “Their lives will continue to spiral out of control because they do not have God as an anchor.”
Prayers for protection are very effective, according to Father Lampert, but we should not just be reactionary. “We should always be proactive in our faith and praying for our leaders—both civic and religious—as a normal part of our everyday action,” he said. “I would hate to think our faith is just reactionary. Scripture tells us to pray unceasingly.”
Coming out in the Open
Msgr. John Esseff, a priest for 63 years and an exorcist in the Diocese of Scranton, Pa. for over 40 years, said the face of the devil that is becoming more clearly seen in public. Previously, he said we saw more of what he calls an apathetic demon that appeals to the lower weaknesses of human nature such as the sexual revolution and all that comes with it.
“Then, came the apostate demon,” Msgr. Esseff said, “that denies the sacrificial nature of human life is possible. We are told we will never able to achieve this kind of holiness or goodness or unity—it just can’t be done,” he said. “This is a real apostasy; not just in politics but also in churches, convincing people that holiness is unattainable.”
Now, according to Msgr. Esseff, we are seeing the stage of the antichrist where the evil one is not afraid to show himself to humanity. Msgr. Esseff referred to Scripture: “This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.” (1 John 4: 2-3)
“It’s not Trump they are against but Jesus,” Msgr. Esseff said. “The devil is saying, ‘no way are you reigning in this country, we are coming out against you!’”
The spell is nothing to fear if our trust and our hope is in God, Msgr. Esseff said. “Anyone who would even begin to put God back into place is going to have the forces of hell against them,” he said. “Our Lady of Fatima has given us the key to deal with this: Increase prayer and reparation [such as making Five First Saturdays].
“It’s the Fatima message and it’s coming at this time of the 100th year anniversary much more clearly,” Msgr. Esseff said. “Our Lady warned us about it at Fatima where she said the final battle will be against marriage and the family. This is not about politics, it’s about God.”
Sunday 18 December 2016
We don’t need clericalism in the Church
Sunday 11 December 2016
My tryst with terror in Christmas season... twice in 25 years
Peace was shattered, not once, twice during Christmas season in Mumbai
By George Mathew
Wednesday 23 November 2016
Pope extends power to forgive abortion to all Roman Catholic priests
Reuters
VATICAN CITY
Pope Francis on Monday extended indefinitely to all Roman Catholic priests the power to forgive abortion, a right previously reserved for bishops or special confessors in most parts of the world.
Francis, who has made a more inclusive and forgiving Roman Catholic Church a characteristic of his papacy, made the announcement in a document known as an "apostolic letter" after Sunday's close of the Church's "Holy Year of Mercy".
He said he wanted to "restate as firmly as I can that abortion is a grave sin, since it puts an end to an innocent life" but "there is no sin that God’s mercy cannot reach and wipe away when it finds a repentant heart seeking to be reconciled with (God)".
Francis had already temporarily granted the power to all priests to give what is known as "sacramental absolution" for abortion during the Holy Year, from Dec. 8 to Nov. 20, but the solemn tone of his words in Monday's letter suggested that the change would last for at least the rest of his papacy.
In Roman Catholic teaching, abortion is such a serious sin that those who procure or perform it bring automatic excommunication on themselves as they are knowingly committing a sin the Church considers grave.
In the past, only a bishop or a designated special confessor could grant absolution for an abortion and lift excommunication.
Although bishops in some dioceses in developed countries such as the United States and Britain had already delegated this authority to parish priests, the old practice was still in effect in most of the world.
"Not only is this a change in Church policy, it changes Church law," said Father James Bretzke, a professor of moral theology at Boston College.
"I think it’s very significant in the context of Pope Francis’ theme of his pontificate, which is going to go down as the pontificate of mercy; he sees mercy as absolutely the key."
Thursday 6 October 2016
Vatican’s chief exorcist is no more: Fr Amorth waged a sustained battle with Satan
During a May 24, 1987 visit to the sanctuary of Saint Michael the Archangel, John Paul II said, ” the battle against the devil which is the principal task of Michael the archangel, is still being fought today, because the devil is still alive and active in the world. The evil that surrounds us today, the disorders that plague our society, man’s inconsistency and brokenness are not only the results of original sin but also the result of Satan’s pervasive and dark action.”
According to the Catechism of Catholic Church, there are two types of exorcism: the sacrament of baptism, which is the only form of simple exorcism, and the sacramental reserved to exorcists, which is called solemn exorcism. (CCC 1673). How long does it take to free somebody from demons? It can range from minutes to several years, Fr Amorth’s book says, narrating several incidents of exorcisms.
Fr Amorth’s book says there can be many or few, but there’s always a chief, and he is always the first to be named. Generally, the evil one does not and cannot say holy names; he substitutes expressions such as “he” (referring to God or Jesus) or “she” (referring to our Lady). On other occasions, demons say “your Boss” or “your Lady” to indicate Jesus and Mary. If the possession is very strong and the demon is high ranking, then it is possible for them to say the name of God and Mary always followed by horrible blasphemies, the book says.
According to the book, children are very vulnerable, not because of personal fault, but because of their weaknesses. Many times when we exorcise an adult we discover that the demonic presence can be traced to early childhood, or even worse, to the moment of birth or even to their gestation.
Fr Amorth also spoke about different types of curses: black magic, curses, evil and eye and spells. “Curses invoke evil, and the origin of all evil is demonic. When curses are spoken with true perfidy, especially if there is a blood relationship between the one casts them and the accused, the outcome can be terrible,” the book says.
That said, the scarcity of exorcists clearly denotes a lack of interest on the part of episcopate in general. The first step, and the fundamental one, is to reawaken the awareness of bishops and priests, according to sound doctrine the Scripture, tradition, and the Magesterium have always transmitted.