Our Vision
In his
2012 Lenten Message, Pope Benedict XVI draws upon St. Paul’s letter to the
Hebrews (10:24) to reflect upon the very heart of Christian life – love of God
and love of neighbour. In it he outlines three points – concern for others,
reciprocity and personal holiness – that give us the key to our relationship
with our neighbourhood and with society.
“The
great commandment of love for one another demands that we acknowledge our
responsibility towards those who, like ourselves, are creatures and children of
God…If we cultivate this way of seeing others as our brothers and sisters,
solidarity, justice, mercy and compassion will naturally well up in our
hearts.”
Concern
for others, the Pope said, means being aware of their needs and wanting what is
good for them, physically, morally and spiritually. “There is a real need to
reaffirm that good does exist and will prevail,” he said, defining good as
“whatever gives, protects and promotes life, brotherhood and communion.”
The Pope
also called for a renewal of a forgotten aspect of Christian life – fraternal
correction. Often, out of “purely personal convenience” and a sort of
“spiritual anaesthesia, which numbs us to the suffering of others”, Christians
adapt to the prevailing mentality that is contrary to the truth and does not
follow the path of goodness. The Pope, therefore, urges, “We must not remain
silent before evil” but speak out against ways of thinking and acting that are
contrary to truth and justice.
However,
our fraternal correction must never be accusatory or recriminatory. It must
always be “moved by love and mercy, and spring from genuine concern for the
good of the other”. It is in Christian charity that we must help others and
allow them to help us so that “we can be open to the whole truth about
ourselves, improve our lives and walk more uprightly in the Lord’s ways.”
Our Reality
The
Archdiocesan Synod 2001 called the Church in Mumbai to be a
participatory-servant church. The recommendations outlined in the Post Synodal
Document (PSD) and later the Mid Term Synod Assembly (MTSA) 2006 provided the
goals and action plan by which individuals, groups, associations and parishes
could work towards creating a better world for them and the next generation.
The
Archdiocesan Survey 2012 (AS) reveals that much has been done, but much still
needs to be done. There is a measure of openness to people of other faiths,
especially among the 18-25 years age group (72%). However, while 75.4% stated
that they share their faith experiences with people of other faith in their
interactions, the youth and senior citizens were more hesitant as compared to
the other age groups. While parish initiatives to care for creation have been
significant, individual participation has been average. Active response to
civic concerns and violations of human rights are higher among the middle and
older segment of society than the younger group.
The
Small Christian Communities (SCC) movement has grown but it is the age group of
46-60 years that recorded a good response. The reluctance to participate in
community programmes is high among the below-45 age group and among male
respondents. Some of the priests reported that SCCs are slowly dying. Also,
while 82.79% of all respondents state that the Church should reach out to
people of other faiths as well, participation in the functioning and activities
of Centres for Community Organisation (CCO) in the archdiocese is low, both
among the clergy and the people.
Our Mission
Life is
incredibly extreme and violent. Fierce emotions wage silent wars and people are
in dire need of hope and healing. As children of a loving, compassionate and
generous God, every one of us baptised in Christ has been charged to witness
His saving grace. “I give you a new commandment: love one another; just as I have
loved you, you also must love one another. By this love you have for one
another, everyone will know that you are my disciples.” (John 13:34-35)
So, let
not our hearts be so wrapped up in our affairs and situations that we fail to
hear the cries of the poor and marginalised the distressed and oppressed, the
spiritually needy, and the anguish of creation. Reaching out to others and
opening our hearts to their needs can bring us to salvation and holiness.
Care for creation
§ Initiate
and participate in conservation of natural resources such as water harvesting,
installing solar systems, protection of tree cover, and preservation of
mangroves
§
Conduct Audits of church’s carbon footprint
§ Promote
recycling and reusing of non-biodegradable products
§ Segregate
garbage and encourage others to do the same
§ Prevent
misuse of open spaces
§ Initiate
and take part in cleanliness projects in the neighbourhood
§ Do
not contribute to environmental pollution (eg. littering, loud music,
fireworks, vehicular exhaust)
§ Get
involved in social audit of municipal works carried out in the locality (eg.
laying of pipelines, road resurfacing , cleaning of storm water drains)
Faith
in action
§ Support
and rehabilitate victims of domestic violence and abuse
§ Create
a city level counselling helpline and website ; could collaborate with other christian
or non-christian bodies.
§ Reach
out to the needy in times of natural/manmade calamities
§ Empower
the underprivileged to obtain their rights – housing, food, education,
etc. Consider initiating food security
programme in the Archdiocese - ‘Not-even-one-goes-hungry’ Day
§ Explore
micro-housing projects, or subsidised housing loans for the poor.
§ Provide
medical facilities for the poor of all faith
§ Prevent
child labour and be alert to child abuse
§ Say
no to corruption. Based on the popular
Ipaidabribe.com an alternative website Irefusedabribe.com or an ‘honesty meter’
could be co-promoted by the Church and anti-corruption movements.
§ Promote
self-help groups. Also consider
providing vocational training to equip people for job market. Consider a diocesan level employment
exchange.
§ Begin
a ‘room of providence’ in each parish where people can put clothes, shoes, etc.
in useable condition; needy can visit and take what they want no questions
asked.
§ Disseminate
information about government welfare and empowerment schemes, micro-finance for
start-up entrepreneurs, etc.
§ Use
RTI to bring about accountability
§ Contribute
to the Community Welfare Fund
Dialogue
of life
Dialogue
with Christian denominations for mutual understanding
Create
an atmosphere of warm fellowship for those in inter-faith marriages
Develop
an understanding of other faiths and their spirituality
Appreciate
the traditions and sacred rites of other faiths
Show
healthy respect for the culture and customs of other faiths
Invite
non-Christian neighbours/friends to share in celebrations – baptism and
confirmation
Be
open to inculturation in Indian culture and learning Indian languages. Promote the use of vernacular to encourage
inclusion. Official archdiocesan website
could have language options.
Consider
twinning with parishes/cities/villages; could involve intelligentsia/volunteers
from our archdiocese with the purpose of reaching out to the marginalized.
Dialogue
of action
§ Exercise
right to vote
§ Get
involved in tackling civic issues
§ Join/support
NGOs/socio-political movements to reform and transform society
§ Collaborate
with ward/area authorities for local development
§ Participate
in campaigns to fight injustice at local/national level
§ Support
advocacy for just laws and legislations
§ Take
up posts in public/government sector to promote Christian values
Social
transformation
Establishing Centres
for Community Organisation (CCO) in every parish has been mandated by the
Synod, yet there are many parishes that have not done so. Further, of those
that are in operation, 50% act as service centres providing welfare schemes to
the people (Research study, Justice & Peace Commission, 2012). This, in the
long run, fails to fulfil the purpose of a CCO, of mobilising the community to
empowerment and to becoming self-reliant in taking up local issues and
problems. Hence, the need of the hour is to establish a parish CCO as per the
guidelines (see MTSA, 12-14). In order to strengthen the thrust of justice for
the poor, socially marginalised, victims of abuse, mentally and physically
challenged, etc., the SCCs are encouraged to link up with CCOs.
The SCCs have done
commendable work in reaching out in service to people in need in the
communities. But the vibrancy of a community requires and demands the active
participation of each member and hence it is imperative that every family
acknowledges their responsibility to contribute to the life of the community.
However, in order to participate fully in the dialogue of life and action, SCCs
would do well to heed the call of the Synod to gradually branch into and foster
Small Human Communities (PSD, 32.2). A
radical suggestion is that all priests religious spend at least 30 minutes each
day (in their habits/cassocks) getting out of their institutions and walking
about their parishes/localities. We call
this ‘being Jesus’ walk. By sharing a
smile, lovingly walking about, greeting passers-by etc. they can catalyse a movement of encountering
christ.
Networking through
and with groups like Advanced Locality Management (ALM), Local Area Citizens’
Committee (LACC), residential neighbourhood groups is the need of the hour to
resolve local issues like garbage accumulation, water shortage and misuse, road
surfacing, ecology conservation, etc.
Also, in order to
fight unjust practices such as corruption, violation of human rights (housing,
food, education, gender and caste discrimination), consumerism, and other such
systems of injustice, people can, individually and collectively, network with
local/national NGOs and groups to support local and national campaigns and
advocacy.
In
Conclusion
The Archdiocese of
Bombay needs us to fulfil the challenge of Jesus (Matthew 25:35-39): I was
hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a
stranger and you made me welcome; naked and you clothed me, sick and you
visited me, in prison and you came to see me.” In accepting this challenge we
find salvation and holiness. May we outdo one another in charity, service and
good works. Many small people, in small
places, doing small things can change the world.
Questions for Discussion:
1. Mention at least 3 most important ideas in
the paper you agree with, giving reasons for the same.
2. Any suggestions relating to the
implementation and the way forward regarding the above?
3. Please mention any ideas in the paper you
disagree with, giving reasons for the same
4. Please
mention any important aspects that you think have not been covered in the
paper.
The Centre for Social Action (of the Archdiocese of Bombay) already facilitates, coordinates and takes up the below mentioned programs with its partners which should also be included in the following heads of the ‘Strategy Paper’:
ReplyDeleteFaith in Action:
• Care, education and development of vulnerable children which also includes leadership development in vulnerable children.
• Empowerment of the women from marginalized communities and the promotion of sustainable livelihoods for them.
• Besides reaching out to the needy in times of natural / manmade calamities, community managed disaster risk reduction (CMDRR) efforts too should be promoted.
Dialogue of Action:
• Promotion of ‘Good Governance’ at all levels is an overarching theme for many of the activities proposed in the strategy paper.
• Active promotion of ‘Communal Harmony’ through empowerment of communities.
Do we really believe in the oppressed and marginalised? Welfare schemes a plenty but no real
ReplyDeleteeffort to get aware on the parish level of the structural causes and a determination to change
Each Parish, with the help of the CCO or SCCs or any other responsible Association should
undertake a Census/Survey of the poor in a parish:
Type of poor: Catholic families or individuals living below the accepted poverty line; slum-dwellers; street children; orphans with no person or home to call their own-jumping from one hostel or PG accommodation to another; hence no security or future of any sort; child labourers…….
Having completed and analysed the census/survey, programmes should be developed to put these sisters and brothers of ours on their feet. The Eucharist will never be what it is meant to be until poverty is made history!
The Review on CCOs published in THE EXAMINER OF 18-08-12 is not at all flattering
ReplyDeleteThe same can be said of the SCCs in our parishes. Of course, we get glowing reports in Bulletins and Parish Councils, the reality, however, is not so rosy. In so many clusters enmities are not done away with and "forgiveness" is only in the prayer books. How many of our SCCs are in contact with persons of other faith in terms of 'dialogue', how many are aware of "systemic injustice" and the dire need in our country of a prophetic stance?
Does a parish really 'know' the extent and depth of poverty within the parish Catholic community - street children, people in slums and orphans with no home to call their own?
The Consult MUST deliberate seriously and with deep concern on the above