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Pope's visit shows how much he cares for India: Archbishop

D Jose in Thiruvananthapuram

The report of the Asian Synod, which Pope John Paul II will promulgate during his visit to India next week, does not contain any hidden agenda for evangelisation as misunderstood by the Sangh Parivar.

Malankara Archbishop Mar Basellios, one of the four bishops from Kerala, who attended the Synod held in the Vatican in October last year, said that therefore there was no basis for the Sangh Parivar's protests against the Pope's visit. The Archbishop told rediff.com that the report mainly contains plans chalked out by the Synod to attain universal brotherhood in the next millennium in tune with the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Mar Basellios said that the report also contains a discussion on the reasons for the apprehension about forcible conversion and it affirms that there is no forcible conversion. The report basically deals with what Christians have done for India and what they should strive for in the coming years. It contains a separate chapter on Kerala, in which 110 proposals for the new millennium are mooted. All these deal with activities in the social, health and education sectors, he added.

The document emerged from a series of dialogues and workshops pertaining to the existence, role and future of the church in Asia during the Synod attended by 20 bishops from India along with their counterparts from other Asian countries. The final document was compiled by a post-synodal committee.

The Archbishop said he was pained by the Sangh Parivar's attempt to question the national spirit of the Christians. There are many eminent Christians like John Mathai and Professor Mundaserry, who have done a lot for the national movement, he added.

"I would not blame the petty leaders or goons, who act according to their political masters. Even at the top they have not understood Christianity and what it stands for. The exploiters of illiteracy and poverty may always make scathing attack on the missionary because the latter upholds the rights of a man and his dignity. A man would learn his rights and be conscious only through education and thus the 'Church in the service of the nation building' is their motto,'' he said.

Mar Basellios said that Indians should feel proud of the Pope's visit as his decision to select the country as the venue for releasing the Asian Synod report shows how much he cares for it. It is a matter of great pride to Christians in particular since the Church in India is ancient and founded directly by one of the apostles, unlike those established by missionaries elsewhere.

The Pope's visit is an acknowledgement of this historical fact, he opined. Otherwise the venue for releasing the report should have been some other Asian country.

Latin Catholic Bishop Dr M Soosai Packyam said that the protests were due to the lack of understanding of basic Catholic tenets as well as the Indian heritage. He said that there was no basis for the Sangh Parivar's argument that the Catholic Church did not recognise the values of other religions. Catholicism realises that salvation is possible through other religions also.

He termed as "illogical" the demand that the Pope apologise for "past wrongs" on the part of the Church. The bishop said he was optimistic that the pontiff's visit would pass off smoothly. He hoped that the prime minister would rein in the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal. He said that he was pained by the VHP's pranks because the proposed protests were in contrast to India's culture of according hospitality to our guests.

The Pope will take these protests lightly and would pardon their misunderstanding, he remarked. Meanwhile, the Kerala unit of the VHP would not be taking part in the anti-Pope protests of its national leadership. However, the state leadership has chalked out a separate action plan without much fanfare to air their protest against conversions.

The high point of this anti-conversion campaign will be sending a delegation of the VHP's tribal leaders to President K R Narayanan to appraise him of the Church's activities in the tribal areas of the state. The delegation headed by K V Madanan is scheduled to meet the President on November 1, four days ahead of the Pope's arrival in the country, according to the VHP's Kerala general secretary D Ravindran.

The delegation's visit would be preceded by four anti-conversion conventions at Thrissur (October 29), Ernakulam (October 30), Kottayam (October 31) and Thiruvananthapuram (November 1), which incidentally are major centres of the Church in Kerala.

The VHP activists would converge in the state capital after the Pope's departure from the country to hold a two-day dharna on November 11 and 12 before the state secretariat demanding legislation against conversions.

Interestingly, there will not be any protests on the days when the Pope will be in the country. "This is to convey the message that we have nothing personally against the Pope. We welcome his visit to India" said VHP leader Kumaran Nair.

"Our protests are against the Church-sponsored conversions. The Pope as a supreme leader of the Catholics should tender an apology for the misdeeds of his followers in the country," he added.

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