krsna Posted October 31, 2005 Report Share Posted October 31, 2005 timesofindia.indiatimes.com PUNE, INDIA, October 25, 2005: ( note: The following report details how the Catholic Church in India is making clever adjustments to make itself more palatable to Indians. This continues a process begun hundreds of years ago when some of the first Catholic missionaries to the country pretended to be like Hindu sadhus. The external adaptations, however, were not accompanied by any change in the Catholic philosophy that all non-Catholics are denied heaven.) The Catholic church will take up the study of Sanskrit, adapt to monastic life in an ashram and adopt the Hindu ritual of aarti during mass if the movement towards Indianisation of the church gets the nod from 400 priests and five bishops congregating in Pune. Starting Tuesday, Pune's Papal Seminary, which is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its transfer from Kandy (Sri Lanka) to the city, will play host to the priests for three days. Discussions will cover the state of the church in India and the movement for its Indianisation. The Catholic church has already adopted a number of Indian traditions and practices and has come a long way, four decades after the historic Second Vatican Council (1962-65) brought an epochal shift in the modern church through its declaration on religious liberty. Pune's Papal Seminary, which has ordained over 1,250 priests during the past 50 years, has continued with its modernisation effort along with its associate institutions such as the Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth (JDV), formerly the Pontifical Anthenaeum, and the De Nobili College. Pune-based Catholic leaders such as Joseph Neuner, Kurien Kunnumpuram, Francis X D'Sa, John Vattanky and Subhash Anand have been stressing for lesser control from the Vatican, to make the church "truly Indian and genuinely Christian." Pandikattu Kuruvilla, teacher of philosophy at JDV and the Papal Seminary's rector, Ornellas Coutinho, explained that a number of Indian religious customs and practices have already been embraced by the Catholic church to become truly Indian. "A number of Christian priests, for example, strictly follow the ancient Indian ashram system of monastic life, such as those at the Bethany Vedavijnana Peeth (Pune), Satchitananda Ashram (Trichy), Kurusumala Ashram (Kerala) a nd the Sameskshna Ashram (Kalady, Kerala)," said Kuruvilla. "Practising vegetarianism, organizing satsangs and reading Bhagvad Gita are some of the changes that have taken place," he said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 31, 2005 Report Share Posted October 31, 2005 Didyamous Thomas, brother and disciple of Lord Jesus Christ, began missionary work in Western India in the 1st century CE. He did not start a church, but preached the message of the great sadhu Lord Jesus. The teachings were not in opposition to that which western indian adherants of Vaisnava traditions, and some ideas were ingrained in their brahmanical practicesw. When west India was invaded by portugese slave traders and christian missionaries (which are impossible to differentiate), and the envampment of Goa was established just after the disappearance of Lord Chaitanya, these folks were surprised to find that Lord Jesus was worshipped on some altars as a great sadhu. Lord Jesus preceded those who made a muck of his teachings by establishing an eccliastic religion in His name *, by 1500 years. * Even LJC decries the fraud of eccliastic religion, by teaching, "In the future, there will be many who will baptize in my name, heal the sick and even raise the dead, but I will say to them, 'I know you not, you workers of evil, for you fail to do the will of He who has sent me'." hare krsna, ys, mahaksadasa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bhakta Don Muntean Posted November 1, 2005 Report Share Posted November 1, 2005 Quote: "Practising vegetarianism, organizing satsangs and reading Bhagvad Gita are some of the changes that have taken place," he said. Reply: Well we'll see what Krishna makes of this - I think it is a good thing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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