Seeds of the INCC?
From The Hindu: Call to democratise Catholic Church
KLCA rejects pastoral letter by Archbishop
Says the clergy interested only in amassing wealth, maintaining power
Alleges inaction on the part of church in matters concerning the laity
Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Latin Catholic Association (KLCA) has called for radical reforms to democratise the [Roman] Catholic Church and check the amassment of wealth by a section of the clergy.
Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, KLCA president Anto Marcelene and leader of the women’s wing Cordial Stephen rejected the pastoral letter issued by the Thiruvananthapuram Archbishop on Sunday.
—It is only when the leadership of the Church senses a crisis in the education sector that it issues a pastoral letter. They remain inert when it comes to offering assistance to fishermen families reeling under the impact of coastal erosion and contagious diseases or to ensure reservation for the Latin community,— they said.
Mr. Marcelene said the clergy had appropriated minority rights for their own benefit. —They are only interested in amassing wealth and maintaining power and authority. The laity does not benefit by the stand adopted by the Church. Believers have no say in the management and administration of institutions under the Church. Yet, they are expected to participate in agitations for minority rights.—
Mr. Marcelene accused the Archbishop of shedding crocodile tears for the deprived sections of the laity. —Poor fishermen families have to shell out hefty donations to get their children admitted to educational institutions under the Church. It is this craze for money that has driven the Church to set up shopping complexes. Foreign funds and revenue from commercial activities are not properly accounted.—
The association accused the Church leadership of commercialising both education and faith…
It seems that these same themes appear and reappear throughout history. I can imagine Bishop Hodur saying the same things in 1897, speaking to the Poles of Scranton, the poor coal miners who were told to pray, pay, and obey.
Power, authority, money, control, ties to the political machine. It is not the Church per se, but her administrators.
When you think yourself the possessor of the keys, you must keep your ego and your lusts in check. Otherwise the faithful will leave in tears once again – this time to form the Indian National Catholic Church.
Of course, we would welcome them as brothers and sisters in Christ.
seems to me that the PNCC is not interested in welcoming anyone into any form of communion except the Roman Church.
Eric, welcome.
One of the things that causes me particular amazement is the fact that the PNCC gets so grossly misunderstood, whether by members or non-members.
Amazement because the PNCC publishes everything it does.
Minutes of every meeting, a newspaper, God’s Field, that is currently in its 85th volume, and its predecessor publication Straz. Minutes of every Synod whether National or Diocesan. Open meetings on every topic. Almost all minutes, and indexes to all publications, are well published and available through Amazon or the PNCC bookstore.
Now I understand that scholarly research on the PNCC and its history isn’t for everyone, but based on the weight of documentary evidence, and the relative ease of accessibility, I find it odd that so many would mis-characterize everything from Bishop Hodur’s thinking to ecumenical dialog.
I would wonder, based on the long history of ecumenical dialog undertaken by the PNCC, how you can assert that the PNCC is only interested in dialog (or communion) with the Roman Church?
I won’t go into long quotations, but rather will simply leave a reference to The Origin and Growth of the Polish National Catholic Church, Wlodarski, 1974, especially pages 189 through 197.
The most recently completed Supreme Council meeting specifically addressed dialog with Rome, The Episcopal Church, and OCA (ref. God’s Field, Minutes of the Supreme Council Meeting, published June 12, 2007, Vol. 85, No. 12, pg. 6).
The purpose of any dialog is to some extent, dialog. While that can be frustrating for those seeking quick solutions and conclusions, such things rarely happen.
Corporate re-unification of all Catholics and all Christians must start with prayer. For this we pray, and may God have mercy on all of us for our hardness of heart.
I am from New England, and there have been many opportunities for the PNCC to gain some parishes and clergy but lack of dialogue has led to nothing. I just think that if the dialogue with Rome is not intended to bring the PNCC back under the Papal fold, then why don’t they reach out to other churches, anglican etc.
The situation among Catholics in India is more
complicated than your article indicates. Read the
following article from the INDIAN CATHOLIC for
September 20,2006, which, unlike THE HINDU article,
has a more objective, balanced presentation:
Situation of Lay Association in Kerala’s Latin-Rite Community reflects poorly on Church
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India (UCAN) — Recent developments concerning a lay organization in the southern state of Kerala highlight the struggle of laypeople to participate in Church affairs, observers say.
In August, Archbishop Daniel Acharuparambil of Verapoly dismissed Felix Pullooden, president of the Kerala Latin Catholic Association, for “anti-Church” activities.
But Pullooden, 47, has refused to vacate his post, saying the archbishop has no power to dismiss him. The lay leader had obtained a court injunction on July 6 barring the archbishop and other Church officials from entering the organization’s office.
The association has units in all 11 dioceses of the Latin-rite Church in Kerala but is based in Verapoly archdiocese, whose headquarters are in Kochi, the state’s commercial capital, 2,595 kilometers south of New Delhi.
Jacob Panathara, a 35-year-old layman from Verapoly archdiocese, says the local Latin-rite Catholic community is caught between two political camps in the state. Marxists lead one group and the Congress party heads the other. According to him, matters became worse when the clergy and lay leaders began to take partisan views and the lay association abandoned its policy of keeping “equidistant” from the two camps.
Pullooden too agrees politics have caused the rift. According to him, the association passed a political resolution last January that some interpreted as an attempt to inch toward the left. Archbishop Acharuparambil did not like this, as he is a Congress loyalist, the lay leader alleged.
Traditionally Kerala’s Latin Catholics, like other Christians in Kerala, have been seen as Congress supporters. But Pullooden said his community felt disillusioned after Congress sidelined it politically and socially.
The community has 2 million members among Kerala’s 30 million people. Some estimates say 95 percent of Latin Catholics live below the poverty line. About 65 percent of Latin Catholics depend on fishing-related jobs for their living, and 30 percent on the coir industry. Other Catholics in the state belong to the Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara Churches, the two Oriental Catholic rites in India, both based in Kerala.
Pullooden said he wants his community to gain enough political acumen to make a “collective political bargain.” He added that his association wants to function democratically, but that some priests oppose this for fear it would weaken their influence on the community.
Archbishop Acharuparambil had asked Pullooden for an explanation after the association’s publication openly campaigned for some communist candidates in state elections this year.
Later the prelate issued a pastoral letter banning a July 14 election for officers of the lay forum’s archdiocesan unit. But Pullooden conducted the election. He said 188 of the 295 members voted. Pullooden also registered the forum as an NGO by amending its bylaws and filed a writ petition in the court against Church authorities interfering with its activities.
Pullooden was elected president of the association in September 2004. He alleges the archbishop dismissed him because the prelate wants to control the forum and use it to advance his own political interests. The layman says this would harm the association and the community.
Speaking with UCA News Sept. 5, Archbishop Acharuparambil refused to comment on the allegations against him. He said, however, that Pullooden was dismissed for “grave irregularities” and vice president Judi D’Silva appointed in his stead.
While the archbishop and Pullooden trade charges, others worry the controversy may hinder the community’s progress. This “tug of war” shows the immaturity of both laity and clergy, says Sebastian Paul, a member of parliament.
Paul, a Latin Catholic, alleged the association was “formed to safeguard the interests of the clergy and not the community.” He said it had accommodated “cronies and ponies of the clergy.”
Observing that the controversy arose after the “lay leaders tried to assert,” Paul said the Latin-rite Catholics in Kerala lack political education and charismatic leadership. They “remain the most backward,” unlike other communities in the state that have made much progress in education and health sectors, he added.
According to K.M. Roy, a leading journalist in Kerala, the wrangling does not interest most Latin Catholics because the current lay leaders have no “grip” on the situation and do not command respect in the community. They and the clergy will “compromise at the convenient time mutually beneficial for them,” the Latin Catholic predicted. “These dramas won’t last long,” he added.
Father James Kulas, a Latin-rite priest, laments that the tussle will damage the Church’s credibility and affect the community’s development. He told UCA News the fracas is “politically motivated and driven by selfish interests.”
If Indian Catholics are really “dissatisfied” with the
Indian Latin Catholic Church, they do NOT have to look
to a “hypothetical” Indian National Catholic Church.
They can always join the native Syro-Malabar Catholic
Church, the Syro-Malakara Catholic Church, the
Malankara Orthodox Church, the Syrian Orthodox
Malankara Church, or even the Church of the East in
India. Unlike an “Indian National Catholic Church”,
these native Indian Churches all have ancient,
apostolic roots.