editorial….. - patriarchal seminary of...

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Patriarchal Seminary of Rachol

Editorial…..The communion (Koinonia)

expresses the core mystery of theChurch. A profound understanding ofcommunion is central to the renewal ofthe entire Church. The concept ofcommunion resonates with the otherchief aspects of the Church such as thechurch as people of God, the mysticalBody of Christ and the universalsacrament of salvation. Indeed,communion is at the heart of the selfunderstanding of the Church. Iteffectively mirrors the life of our triuneGod and the eschatological fulfillment inheaven. Communion has a verticaldimension (communion with God) andthe horizontal dimension (communionamong humans). It has to berecognized as the gift of God and thefruit of the Paschal mystery. JesusChrist did not just establish a deeprelationship between God and humanitybut also established profound bonds ofunity among humans. Hence, thechallenge is to actualize this mystery ofcommunion at all levels in the Church.

In the last few decades, the Churchin Goa has taken significantlyimportant strides towards it self-renewal through communion.Beginning with the tremendous effortsof implementation of the renewal setinto motion by the great CouncilVatican II, one can discern a gracedhistory of the Church in Goa in itsefforts to become a Church ofcommunion. The various pastoralplans, the Diocesan Synod 2002 and thepastoral plan that flowed from it, thepastoral themes of the past years alongwith the pastoral letters of the

Archbishop Patriarch have galvanizedthis mult ipronged movement forrenewal of our Church in Goa. Thepastoral theme and the pastoral lettersof this year and the first nationalconvention hosted in Goa haveaccelerated this process and underlinedits urgency and relevance in the Church.The priorities of the diocesan pastoralplan with its vision of coordination of theentire pastoral action in the diocese,through various structures and organsof communion such as the priestsenate, the diocesan pastoral councils,the council of deans, the council ofdiocesan bodies at the diocesan level,the parish pastoral councils and thesmall Christian communities at theparish level has ushered in a profounddegree of the culture of communion inthe Church in Goa.

The Rachol seminary has also keptpace with these efforts of renewal inthe diocese in many ways. The themeof the formative year ripples with themain pastoral theme of the diocese.Under the dynamic and visionaryleadership of the Rector, Rev. Dr. AleixoS. J. Menezes, the seminary is movingtowards a life of communion anddialogue in every sphere. In congruencewith the spirit of communion, the themethat we have chosen for this year, thework of editing and publishing of thisannual journal Luceas, has beenconducted at all stages from its initialconceptualization, guiding of thewritings of our seminarians, theircorrections, editing and the finalpublication. This work is a fruit ofcommunion that is flowering in our

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seminary. The path of communion isdifficult yet profoundly satisfying andhence the editorial team is grateful toeach and every persons who has offeredus their contribution that helped us tobring to light this publications.

In our effort to coherently presentthe vibrant content of this publication,we have sub-divided it into four mainsubsections interspaced with scientificpapers that were presented duringvarious occasions in the seminary inthis formative year. Besides this, wehave the insightful, inspiring anderudite messages of our belovedArchbishop and Rector as well as thejoyous reports of the happenings in ourseminary in the last academic year. Thefirst section directly explores thetheme Church as a communion, thesecond section attempts to reach outin dialogue to some of religio-culturalconditions that influence ourcommunity life, the third section takesthe ethical challenges that arise fromtime to time due to tourism andmining that has steadily become the

economic backbone of our communityin Goa, fourth section attempts toanalyze various biblical themes that canprovide inspiring vistas to our life ofcommunion for the Church in Goa.Alongside of these chief sections, wehave the lectio brevis of this formativeyear, the key note address of thenational seminar on SwamiVivekananda and the insightful paperspresented during the annualmissionary academy. The annualreports of different associations in theseminary are prefaced by profoundlyevocative stanzas of the budding poetsin our seminary and a melodiousmusical score of a song on the themein konkani. We are happy to offer thiswork as a loving tribute to our belovedlate Rev. Fr Tomas d’ Aquino AntonioSequeira (ex-rector and ex-professor),late Rev. Dr. Ivo da Conceição Souza (ex-professor), late Rev. Dr. Alfredo Mesquita(ex-professor) who served the seminarywith great distinction. May the Lordgrant them their eternal reward.

EDITORIAL BOARDRev. Dr. Aleixo Menezes (Rector)

Rev. Dr. Victor FerrãoRev. Fr. Simião Fernandes

Sem. Melvin FernandesSem. Elvis Godinho

Sem. Sanford RodriguesSem. Walter D’souza

COVER DESIGN:Sem. Roman Rodrigues

OUR SINCERE GRATITUDE TO:Mrs. Socorina Gomes, Mrs. Sandra Fernandes, Ms. Norma Rodrigues,

New Age Printers, Our Benefactors and all our Well Wishers.

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SEMINARY STAFFRector : Rev. Dr. Aleixo S.J. MenezesSpiritual Director : Rev. Polly LoboGrowth Facilitator : Rev. Dominic Savio VazProcurator : Rev. Mario Pascoal SouzaPrefects : Rev. Arvino Fernandes

: Rev. Simon M. D’Cunha

Resident Professors : Rev. Dr. Aleixo Menezes: Rev. Donato Rodrigues: Rev. Dr. Victor Ferrão: Rev. Simião P. Fernandes: Rev. George Dias: Rev. Dr. Nelson Sequeira: Rev. Noel D’Costa

Visiting Professors : Rev. Edson Fernandes: Rev. Feroz Fernandes, sfx: Rev. Dr. Maxim Pinto: Rev. Sunoj K. M, op: Rev. Kenneth Teles: Rev. Edmund Barreto: Rev. Maverick Fernandes: Rev. Joseph Fernandes, sac: Rev. Bernard Cota: Rev. Justin Sequeira, sss: Rev. Dolreich Pereira: Rev. Dr. John Peter: Rev. Joaquim Rebello: Rev. Domingos de souza: Rev. Ramiro Luis: Rev. Mariano D’Costa: Mr. Sachin Moraes: Ms. Dr. Roshida Rodrigues: Ms. Sandya Menezes: Ms. Maggie Pereira: Ms. Fernanda Colaco

Prefect of Regents (1 Year Regency) : Rev. Donato Rodrigues

Office Assistants : Mrs. Socorina Gomes: Mrs. Sandra Fernandes: Ms. Norma Rodrigues

Library Assistant : Ms. Veverly D’Souza

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STUDENTS OF THEOLOGY

4th YEAR1. Carvalho Mario Tilamola

3rd YEAR1. Albuquerque Jackie Afonso Daman2. Britto Peter Morjim3. Fernandes John Albano Morjim4. Rebello Stifan Calisto Palolem

2nd YEAR1. Barretto Myron Jeson Sadolxem2. D’Silva Savio S. Jose de Areal3. Fernandes Haston Julius Rock Tollecanto4. Fernandes Rony Nazareth Cortalim5. Noronha Mario Margão6. Rebello Socorro Chinchinim7. Rodrigues Richard Arambol8. Rodrigues Roman Arambol

1st YEAR1. Alfonso Agustin Arambol2. D’Cruz Nazareth Onasis Savio Velim3. Dias Dyrel Orlim4. De Souza Joism Benjamin Chopdem5. D’Souza Walter Arambol6. D’Souza William Morjim7. Fernandes Kevin Margão8. Fernandes Melvin Consua9. Fernandes Peter Martin Shiroda10. Fernandes Reagan Sarzora11. Gama Joseph Anthony Verna12. Pereira Vaizel Carmona

ACADEMIC YEAR 2013-2014

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REGENTS1. Barreto Jovier Edwin Santa Cruz2. Carvalho Anthony Maina-Corgão3. Coelho Jude Korgão4. Da Costa Rohan Colva5. Diniz Filipe Francisco Merces6. D’Sa Edwin Cansaulim7. Fernandes Christopher Patrick Korgão8. Fernandes Franky Arambol9. Fernandes Fraser Jose Merces10. Fernandes Gabriel Rafael Minguel Dona Paula11. Fernandes Jollyson Savio Velção12. Fernandes Roger Lenny Cuncolim13. Gomes Alroy Friendson Chinchinim14. Lobo Blaise Robert Socorro14. Magalhaes Aaron Joseph Santo Estevão15. Pereira Snyter Selwyn Nagoa-Verna16. Simoes Agnel Morjim

GRADUATION/THEOLOGY(Outside Rachol Seminary)

1. Dias Joephil Dominic (Goa University) Chandor2. D’Souza Jonas (JDV, Pune) Bodiem3. Fernandes Linferd S.(Pius College, Mumbai) Siolim4. Ferrão Heston (JDV, Pune) Assonora5. Menezes Arly Movin (Pius College, Mumbai) Chandor

STUDENTS OF PHILOSOPHY

3rd YEAR1. Almeida Mathew Bastora2. Barbosa Allwyn Kundaim3. Barreto Francisco Xavier Verna4. Carrasco Roque Assis Mapusa5. Costa Jerson Navelim6. Crasto Stevan Nuvem7. D’Costa Melito Varca

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8. D’Souza Peter Paul Panchwaddi9. Fernandes Jovial Mandrem10. Godinho Elvis Majorda11. Gomes Leslie Ambaulim12. Mascarenhas Roblan Mapusa13. Noronha Myron Shiroda14. Pires Francisco Telaulim15. Rodrigues Ashwin Navelim16. Vaz Aleston Rachol

2nd YEAR 1. Carneiro Clarence Milton Ucassaim 2. D’Costa Denrish Clyde Chinchinim 3. Fernandes Aidan Manuel Navelim 4. Fernandes Newton Paul Quelossim 5. Gama Magnus Francisco Virgil Merces 6. Noronha Leslie Borda 7. Pereira Selwino Succoro Carmona 8. Rodrigues Sanford Jordan Benaulim

1st YEAR1. Barbosa Valfern Raia2. Cardozo Jericho Anthony Varca3. Costa Aestrony Herbert Franco Betalbatim4. Dias Boris Cuncolim5. Diniz Clive Collem6. Gama Elroy Francis da Moira7. Vaz Flaston Borda

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Church As Communion

The New Testament communitiesQahal-Ekklesia were characterised bykoinonia, which means sharing, having incommon, fellowship. Those who werebaptised were noted for their prayer, breakingof the bread, teaching of the Apostles andcommon life or koinonia (Acts 2,42). ForPaul, koinonia is the vital union of believersamong themselves (1Cor 1,9) and the spiritof sharing of all possessions with others (2Cor 8,4; 9,13; Rom 15,6). John viewskoinonia as union with the Father through theSon (1 Jn 2,23; 5,12.20). Koinonia is acovenantal relationship between the believingcommunity and God. John expresses thisrelationship by using statements like “to be inGod” (1 Jn 2,5; 5,20) or “abide in God” (1Jn 2,6; 3,24; 4,13) or “to have God” (1 Jn2,23; 5,12; 2 Jn 9). The New Testamentunderstanding of Communion, koinonia, isnot directed towards the unity of Churchesbut towards the relationship of the Triune Godwith His People (cf. P. Neuner: 20063, 298-302). Hence, the Church is a communion ofall those whom God loved first and are nowgiving a living expression of His love by lovingone another.

Communion is, first of all, a theological

TRINITY, THE SOURCE AND SUMMIT OFSMALL CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES

* Rev. Dr. Aleixo Menezes

reality. God is a communion of three persons.God’s self-revelation is in terms of thecommunion of the human and divine in Christ.The Spirit is the bond of communion that holdsthe Church together and binds each Christianin a divine communion with God and oneanother. The Church is therefore acommunion of all those who believe inChrist, sent by the Father and who arebound together by their common faith inChrist by the action of the Holy Spirit. Inthis sense, the Trinity becomes the source andmodel of the Church – Communion (LG n.2).

The Vatican II took up this biblical modelof the Church as Communion and expoundedit through the biblical images of People of God,Body of Christ and Temple of the Spirit. TheVatican II understands the Church as acommunion that has her origin in God and hergoal in God (LG nn. 2,48). This communionwith God is inseparable from communionamong humans because it is God’s desire thatthe whole human race may become OnePeople of God from the One Body of Christand be built up into One Temple of the HolySpirit (AG n. 7; LG n. 17). Thus in Christ, theChurch is already a communion of men and

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women of every nation, race, people andlanguage; however the full realisation is yetto come.

The model of the Church as Communion,with emphasis on interpersonal relationship,aims at a personal growth, not through lawsand structures, but through interpersonalrelationship. Thus, the Church is understoodas a fellowship of persons, namely men andwomen with God and with one another inChrist.

Trinity, a Communion of PersonsThe Trinity is One God and Three

Persons is a dogma of faith. But the questionis “Is this One God a person?” If the questionis answered metaphysically, then God is nota person in the sense of a human person.However, if the term person is takenanalogically, then one can speak of God as aperson i.e. the reality we call “God” hascertain qualities that are normally attributedto persons, e.g. intelligence, love, compassion,graciousness, fidelity, etc. The personhood inGod is characterised by two basic activitiesof God namely knowledge (one who knowshimself fully, a pure act of self-understanding)and will (one can possess himself fully, a pureact of self-love). The Old Testament peopleexperienced a personal God in their historyand covenants. The New Testament peopleencountered him in the person of Jesus Christ,who is truly God and truly Man.

Although One God is a person,nevertheless he is a communion of ThreePersons. Theologically, the Trinity isunderstood in terms of Processions,Missions, and Relations. In the Trinity, onecan identify two Processions: that of the Sonand that of the Holy Spirit. The Father (doesnot proceed from anyone) begets the Son

from all eternity, and with (or through) the Sonoriginates the Holy Spirit. The Father knows/loves himself absolutely and the expression ofthis absolute self-knowledge/love is the Son.Hence, the Father is not the cause of the Sonbut the origin of the Son. On the other hand,the Father contemplates in the Son and giftshimself infinitely in love to the Son and theSon contemplates in the Father and giftshimself infinitely in love to the Father. Thisgifting-love that unites the Father and the Sonis the Holy Spirit. Pope John Paul II, in hisEncyclical Dominum et Vivificantem speaksof Holy Spirit as Person-Gift (DV n.10). TheHoly Spirit is the ‘bonding person’ of theTrinitarian communion between the Father-Son. There is a distinction between the lovethat is natural and essential in the Father andSon, and the love that is Personal, which isspecific to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit isthe Love that unites the Spirit of the Fatherand the Spirit of the Son. However, thisconcept of procession is not a temporalsuccession or passive acts of begettingbecause in God, everything is eternal andthere is dynamism of relationships of love andintelligence. In the Trinity, Missions orPerichoresis or Circumincession meanscohabitation, co-existence, inter-penetration ofthe divine persons. One can identify threeMissions: Appropriated (action attributed toone Person: creation to the Father; Revelationand Redemption to the Son and Sanctificationto the Holy Spirit); Proper (action effectivelyperformed by that one Person alone with theinvolvement of the other persons also, e.g.incarnation is proper to the Son alone,however there is the involvement of theFather (sending the Son) and the Holy Spirit(sanctifier); and Divine (action whereby thedivine Person seeks to insert the creatures

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within its own eternal history. In the Trinity,one is able to discern four real Relationsnamely the Fatherhood of the Father to theSon i.e. paternity; the Sonship of the Son tothe Father i.e. filiation; the breathing out ofthe Spirit by Father and Son i.e. activespiration; and the existence of the Spirit as theSpirit of the Father and the Son i.e. passivespiration. However, there are only threesubsistent Relations namely paternity,filiation and passive spiration because onlythese three relationships are mutually opposedand distinct from one another. Active spirationinvolves the Father and the Son and is notopposed either to paternity or filiation. TheFather can only be Father whose hypostaticuniqueness is Generating. The Son can onlybe Son whose hypostatic uniqueness isGenerated. The Holy Spirit is the Unionbetween the Spirit of the Father and the Spiritof the Son. This Union is the HypostaticUniqueness of the Holy Spirit i.e. Love thatis Personal, Love that is a Gift, which is non-created-eternal. The Holy Spirit expressesthe Unity of the Father and the Son withoutdestroying their specific hypostasis.

Hence, the Three Persons are incommunion with each other because of theOne Godliness. It is the one Godliness thatbinds them together. Although processionsand missions, and even subsistent relationsmake the three Persons distinct from oneanother, this distinction is in view of thecommunion of the persons, otherwise onewould commit the heresy of Tritheism orAbsolute Monotheism.

Trinity, the Heartbeat of the ChurchThe Catechism of the Catholic Church

states, “The mystery of the Most Holy Trinityis the central mystery of Christian faith

and life... The whole history of salvationis identical with the history of the way andthe means by which the one true God,Father, Son and Holy Spirit, revealshimself to men and reconciles and uniteswith himself those who turn away fromsin”. (Catechism of the Catholic Church(CCC) n.234). Lumen Gentium dedicates thefirst chapter to the understanding of theChurch as a Mystery. The English wordMystery has to be understood in the sense ofGreek Mysterion. In the Greco-Romansense, Mysterion is the sacred ritual in whichthe myth of life and death was symbolicallypresented and its meaning revealed.Something hidden or secret was made knownto those who were being initiated into thereligion. They in turn were sworn to keep itsecret. (Prümm: 1981, Vol. 10, 153-164). Inthe Old Testament Septuagint, Mysterion isused in the context of Jewish apocalypticlanguage. It does not refer to undisclosedsecrets, but rather of divine secrets nowrevealed by a divine agency (cf. Brown: 1981,Vol. 10, 148-151; Dunn: 1987-2001, Vol. 38,675-697). In the New Testament, Mysterionoccur around 30 times specially in the lettersof St. Paul. It occurs only once in theGospels, Mark 4,11 (Mt 13,11; Lk 8,10) andrefers to the advent of the Kingdom of Godin Christ and to the possibility offered to thedisciples of knowing and participating in thismystery for a gratuitous revelation of God. ForPaul, the mystery of the Kingdom of God isdefinitely in Christ himself. He uses the termbased on two reasons: Firstly, because withChrist, the divine plan of salvation has foldeditself (1 Cor 2,7-10; Rom 16,25-26; Col 1,26-27; Eph 1,9-10; 3,30-32). This plan consistsof the vocation to the Jews and the Pagansand has its origin and recapitulation in Christ

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(Rom 11,25); and secondly, because this plan,which had remained hidden from eternity wasmade known by means of the Spirit throughthe will of God to all humanity so that allhumanity may see the treasures of theknowledge and wisdom of God, whoconceived this plan in order to encounterhumanity and come in communion with it.Because this plan of salvation was revealedand totally actualised in Christ, incarnate-crucified-risen, Paul calls Christ, theMysterion par excellence of God, the Father.(Col 2,2; 1 Cor 1,23; 1 Tim 3,16). Hence,Mysterion means the plan prepared by God,at first hidden but at the fullness of time,realised in Jesus Christ and will be totally andfully realised at the Parousia (Grelot: 1969-1971, 1233-1243). The Church, therefore, isthe realization in visible historical form ofGod’s secret plan to gather all people and theentire universe into one great unity. This planwhich was hidden from eternity and revealedonly at the coming of Christ has its origin inthe love of God who wishes to share withhumanity the infinitely perfect and blessed lifeof the Trinity (Kloppenburg: 1974, 14-15).Hence, the Church is a people made one withthe unity of the Father, the Son and the HolySpirit (McNamara: 1983, 56).

Lumen Gentium, dedicates three articles(LG nn. 2-4) separately to the Father, Son andHoly Spirit and quoting St. Cyprian, concludesby describing the Church as “a peoplebrought into unity from the unity of theFather, the Son and the Holy Spirit” (LG4; cf. Forte: 1995, 79-202). Through the unionwith Christ, who has been raised up to sharein the Father’s glory and who sends the HolySpirit upon the Church, men are taken up intothe eternal life of the Trinity. The Trinity is aCommunion of Persons. God is a communion

of three persons. God’s self-revelation is interms of the communion of the human anddivine in Christ. Hence, Communion is atheological reality. The Spirit is the bond ofcommunion that holds the Church togetherand binds each Christian in a divinecommunion with God and one another. TheChurch is a communion of all those whomGod loved first and are now giving a livingexpression of His love by loving one another.The ecclesiology of the Vatican II can besummed up as the Church coming from theTrinity, is journeying towards the Trinity andis structured in the image of the Trinity (Forte:20038, 22).

The Church is a communion of all thosewho believe in Christ, sent by the Father andwho are bound together by their common faithin Christ by the action of the Holy Spirit. Inthis sense, the Trinity becomes the source andmodel of the Church – Communion (LG nn.2, 48). The Church is the sacrament thatmakes visible here on earth this TrinitarianCommunion of Persons. This communionwith God is inseparable from communionamong humans because it is God’s desire thatthe whole human race may become OnePeople of God from the One Body of Christand be built up into One temple of the HolySpirit (AD n. 7; LG n. 17). Hence, thedivisions amongst the Disciples of Christ, notonly destroy the communion of the Church ofChrist, but destroy the image of the Trinitymanifested in and through the Church (UR n.1). Karl Barth would say, “There is nojustification theological, spiritual orbiblical for the existence of a plurality ofchurches, genuinely separated, mutuallyexcluding one another internally andtherefore externally. A plurality ofChurches in this sense means plurality of

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lords, plurality of spirits, plurality of gods.There is no doubt that to the extent thatChristendom does consist of actuallydifferent and opposing Churches, to theextent it denies practically what itconfesses theoretically – the unity andsingularity of God, of Jesus Christ, of theHoly Spirit” (Barth: 1956, 675). Precisely forthis reason, before shedding his blood for thesalvation of the world, the Lord Jesus prayedto the Father for the unity of his disciples (Jn17,20-21). This oneness prayed for on behalfof all believers by Jesus Christ posits theTrinitarian relationships as the hope for therelationships of those in the Church with eachother and the persons of the Trinity. Hence,the relationships between the persons of theTrinity form a model for the relationshipsbetween believers. The New Testament invarious passages expounds this truth:Matthew 28,19: A disciple of Christ is baptizedwith the Trinitarian formula of Father, Son, andHoly Spirit. Hence, by means of Baptism,which is the entry in the Church, the discipleenters into the life of the Trinity; 2 Corinthians13,14: By appealing to the Trinity, Paul triesto bring together the divided Church inCorinth through their personal experience ofthe Trinity in their daily lives. Paul mentionsfirst Christ, then God (Father) and then HolySpirit. Paul is drawing attention to theTrinitarian consciousness, not in the initialwork of salvation which has already beenaccomplished in Corinth, but in the sustainingwork that enables divisive Christians toachieve unity; 1 Peter 1,2: The scatteredChristians are reminded by Peter throughreference to the Trinity that their election(destined and chosen by the Father) andredemption (the sanctified by the Spirit) shouldlead to holy life (obedient to the Son);

Ephesians 4,4-6: Paul pleads with theEphesians to be united because we have beenformed into one body by the one Spirit, wehave one faith and baptism in the one Lord,and we have one Father of all who is oneGod; 1 Cor 12,4-6: Paul informs theCorinthians that they have to be united eventhough there may be variety of gifts, varietyof services, variety of activities because thereis the same Spirit, same Lord, same God.

The Holy Spirit as the Principle ofCommunion in the Church

The first Christian Community (Acts2,41-47) is the result of the descent of theHoly Spirit. On the day of the Pentecost, theHoly Spirit descends on the disciples (Acts2,1-4), the crowd is amazed (Acts 2,5-13),Peter’s first kerygmatic speech (Acts 2,14-36), the call to repentance (Acts 2,37-40), theforming of the first Christian Community(Acts 2,41-47). Vatican II has upheld that itis the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth thatleads the Church into a full understanding ofthe truths revealed by Jesus Christ. TheChurch, which the Spirit guides in way of alltruth and which He unified in communion andin works of ministry, He both equips anddirects with hierarchical and charismatic giftsand adorns with His fruits (LG n. 4). It is theHoly Spirit, dwelling in those who believe; andpervading and ruling over the Church as awhole, who brings about that wonderfulcommunion of the faithful. He brings theminto intimate union with Christ, so that He isthe principle of the Church’s unity (UR n. 2).The Holy Spirit is the principle of unity in theChurch as communion as He was in the earlyChurch (LG n. 7 and Acts 2,42). The primitiveChurch grew guided by the Spirit of God andby the spirit-guided persons. This Church was

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a Communion of Faith i.e. they accepted,lived and proclaimed the faith handed downby the apostles; a Sacramental Communioni.e. they celebrated the same sacramentseverywhere and the Eucharist is thesacrament of communion; a CharismaticCommunion i.e. they were inspired andstrengthened by the Holy Spirit; aCommunion of Sharing and Love i.e. theywere concerned about one another andnobody was found wanting (CCC nn. 949-953). Speaking of the coming of the HolySpirit, Jesus exhorted his disciples, “When theSpirit of truth comes, he will guide youinto all the truth; for he will not speak onhis own, but will speak whatever he hears,and he will declare to you the things thatare to come. He will glorify me, because hewill take what is mine and declare it toyou. All that the Father has is mine. Forthis reason I said that he will take whatis mine and declare it to you” (Jn 16,13-15). Hence, the inspiration by the HolySpirit, although a Trinitarian mission properto the Holy Spirit, is the work of the entireTrinity. In the Trinity, the Holy Spirit is thePrinciple of Unity. Hence, in the Churchtoo, the Holy Spirit, without destroying theindividual uniqueness of the disciples, keepsthem united as the One Church of Christ.According to Augustine, the first principleof invisible unity is the Holy Spirit, whoconfers the grace of Christ on themembers of the Church, while the firstprinciple of the visible unity is the Eucharist(Mondin: 1988, 296-297).

The Trinity as the basis forHierarchical Communion in the Church

Lumen Gentium n. 23 states that JesusChrist mandated the Successor of Peter to

be the guarantor of the unity of theepiscopate and to preside over andsafeguard the universal communion of allthe Churches. The First Vatican Council(Session IV, Chapter 2, Art 5) stated that thehierarchy in the Church is divinely instituted(DS nn. 1822-1825). The Second VaticanCouncil views the hierarchy in the Church asa hierarchical communion which isessentially manifested in the College ofBishops with the Roman Pontiff, thesuccessor of Peter, as its head (cf. LG n. 22).The Roman Pontiff is the perpetual and visibleprinciple and foundation of unity of both thebishops and of the faithful (cf. LG n. 23). ThisHierarchical Communion has its basis in theTrinitarian Communion. The three Persons(hypostasis) of the Trinity are substantially(ousia) united into One God. However,among the three Persons there is an internal/logical Order (taxis). The Father generatesthe Son (the first procession) and the HolySpirit is the spiration of the Father and the Son(second procession). This Order in no waydiminishes or destroys the fundamental unityamong the three Persons. Hence, the Pope,although equal to every other Christianbeliever, nevertheless has the unique role ofkeeping the Church of Christ united as onePeople of God and one Body of Christ. ThePrefatory Note of Explanation to Chapter IIIof Lumen Gentium affirms that in thehierarchical communion (which is notunderstood as some kind of vague disposition,but as an organic reality which requires ajuridical form and is animated by charity), thecollege of bishops can act only with theconsent of the Pope. However, this authorityof the Pope is not exercised in a dictatorialmanner but on the personal level (Cf. Tavard:1992, 163).

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Trinity, the Source and Summit of SCCsOne of the pastoral priorities of the

Church in India is the formation andstrengthening of Small Christian Communities.The Archdiocese of Goa and Daman hostedthe First National Convention of SCCs inNovember 2013 in which representatives(bishops, priests, religious and lay faithful)from almost all the Dioceses in Indiaparticipated. While accentuating theimportance of the need of Small ChristianCommunities in our parish communities, veryfew speakers highlighted that communion inthe Church and SCCs has its origin and goalin the Trinity. For example, Apostolic Nuncioto India, Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio,“The divine gift of communion, in fact,represents, ....the very essence of the mostholy Trinity” (Homily at the Inaugural Mass,19.11.2013); and Archbishop of Goa andDaman, Most Rev. Filipe Neri Ferrão, “OurGod is a Trinitarian God and, in theprocess of creating humankind, he sharedhis Trinitarian life with us. We thereforeare relational by nature” (Pastoral Letter:2013-2014, n.2ii). The Final Statement speaksof the SCCs as rooted in the power of theWord and the Eucharist (Cf. Renovaçao,January 1-15, 2014, 17).

In any human society we come acrossvarious types of communities: ethniccommunity, the religious community, aprofessional community, etc. However, everygroup of people does not become acommunity. Certain characteristics make acommunity:a. Geographical area (place): The term

“community” is related to a specificgeographic area, which in SCCs arecalled zones, sectors, etc.

b. Common bonds: A community is held

together by certain mutual foundations,experiences, outlooks, etc., which havegrown over the years in the group andhold the group together. In the SCCs, itis the common faith that binds themembers together.

c. Sense of belonging: The feeling of beingaccepted by others and the attitude ofacceptance of the other. In the SCCs,this is the practice of the virtue of love.

d. Celebrations: One of the crucial aspectsof a community is the communitycelebrations. It is at this time that thesense of identity of the communitycrystallises and grows. It is also animportant time for meeting andinteracting. In the SCCs, the communitycelebrations like Christmas, Feasts, evencommunity celebrations of birthdays,wedding anniversaries, etc.

e. Sense of Fellowship: Every member isready to invest integrally for the good ofthe other. In the SCCs, every individualfamily is united with the other family,where individual family growth isessentially oriented towards communitygrowth.

g. Animation: A community acknowledgesthe leadership of one person, or a groupof persons. In the SCCs, the animator isthe leaven, not so much to lead and direct,but help every member and familyparticipate in the life (not only activities)of the community.

In order to make the SCCs truly vibrant,they should be truly Trinitarian:

i. Oneness: The oneness in God is the basisof the unity of the three persons.Although this Trinitarian mystery isdifficult to grasp, nevertheless, the

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theology is loud and clear: it is the faithin Jesus Christ that brings the faithfultogether. It is the oneness of faith thatbecomes the basis of the unity of thedistinctness of the faithful. Hence, faithformation is an essential element for theestablishment of SCCs. Faith formationshould consist in growth in faith and notgrowth of faith. If faith is a personalencounter with Jesus Christ, then thisencounter has to be a responsible, notblind, encounter, whereby the personmakes a knowing and willing self-surrender to God. When this encounter-surrender is genuine and authentic, thenthe SCCs become a measure to grow infaith, mystagogia. In this growth in faith,the Word of God is the basic tool andschool.

ii. Communion: The three persons of theTrinity are united despite of theirindividual missions, on the other hand, theindividual missions of the each person ofthe Trinity necessarily demand unity.Every individual disciple of Christ isbaptized in the name of the Trinity, whichmakes her/him a member of the Church,which is a community of faith. Christianityis by essence communitarian, not in thesense of Marxist or political communism,but where every individual member of theChurch is sacramentally united with theother, not because one wants but becausethe membership in the Church requires.Hence, interpersonal relationship is anessential element for the sustenance ofthe SCCs. It is only when members ofcommunity are one of mind and heart,then they automatically have things incommon. For the interpersonalrelationship, the Eucharistic celebration

is basic tool and school. Every individualdisciple of Christ participates in theEucharistic celebration, which is thecelebration of/by/for the community. Likethe many wheat ground, make one bread,and many grapes pressed, make one wine,the many members of the community, arepleased to sacrifice their individual likesand dislikes, for the sake of thecommunity.

iii. Unity: Despite the unity amongst thethree persons of the Trinity and despitethe involvement of one Person in thespecific mission of the other Person(proper missions), the individual personis responsible with regards hisappropriate mission. Every disciple ofChrist has a specific vocation and missionin this world. In order to discern one’svocation and one’s mission within acommunity, she/he requires the assistanceof the other members. However, thevarious ministries/apostolates are anessential element for the growth of theSCCs. When every individual member,and not the ‘elite few’, discernsresponsibly her/his ministry/apostolatewithin the context of community, andexercises it responsibly for the sake ofthe community, then the SCC becomesthe home of lasting communion.

CONCLUSIONThe Father sent the Son and the Father

and the Son sent the Holy Spirit; and throughthe Son in the unity of the Holy Spirit to reachthe Father. Hence, the relationship of man toGod is a reflection of the relationships withinthe Trinity, which are articulated inrelationship to the Church as the People ofGod, the Body of Christ and the Temple of

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the Holy Spirit.In the incarnation of Jesus Christ, it is the

Second Person of the Trinity who becameman but remaining intimately related to theother two persons: truly human –truly divine.In the exercise, and for the continuation andfulfilment of his salvific mission, Jesus chosea community of his disciples from whom hechose the Twelve Apostles. The writings ofthe New Testament present a clear pictureof the early Church, as a community ofbelievers with elders, being faithful to this calland mission given to her by Christ. Thus, theChurch is a communion, having as its sourceand summit, the Trinity.

Christ continues to call every humanperson to experience the salvific mystery inand through the Church, which is by her verynature and mission, a communion of believers.Despite the various distinctions of colour,race, region, caste, etc., it is the love of Christthat unites every believer to Christ and to oneanother (Rom 8,35-39). Hence, the Churchcommunion is a communion of love becausehe first loved us (1 John 4,19). Jesus Christ,the Second Person of the Trinity, is the climaxof the salvific mystery (Letter to theHebrews) and the Church is the universal

sacrament of salvation (cf. LG n. 48). Hence,a Church is a communion, having as its sourceand summit, the Trinity.

Selected BibliographyBrown R.E., Mystery (In the Bible), in New Catholic

Encyclopaedia, Illinois: Jack Herarty & Associates,1981. .

Dunn J. (ed), The Final Mystery Revealed in WordBiblical Commentary, Nashville, 1987-2001.

Forte B., La Chiesa della Trinita, Milano: EdizioniSao Paolo, 1995.

Forte B., La Chiesa Icona della Trinita, Brescia:Editrice Queriniana, 20038.

Grelot P., Mistero in vv.vv., Torino: Enciclopediadella Bibbia, Elle di Ci, Torino, 1969-1971.

Kloppenburg B., The Ecclesiology of Vatican II,Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press, 1974.

McNamara K., Introduction to the ConstitutionLumen Gentium in McNAMARA K. (ed.), TheChurch: The Theological and Pastoral Commentary onthe Constitution of the Church, Dublin: VeritasPublications, 1983.

Neuner P., Teologia Ecumenica, in Biblioteca diTeologia Contemporanea110, Brescia: EditriceQueriniana, 20063.

Prümm K., Mystery Religions, Greco-Roman, inNew Catholic Encyclopaedia, Illinois: Jack Herarty &Associates, 1981.

Tavard G.H., The Church, the Community ofSalvation, An Ecumenical Ecclesiology, Collegeville:Liturgical Press, 1992.

“Every person is definedby the communities she belongs to.”

- Orson Scott Card, Speaker for the Dead

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INTRODUCTIONThe recently concluded National

Convention on Small Christian Communities,held in Goa from 19th-21st November 2013,focused on the theme: ‘Small ChristianCommunities – Communion of Faith inLove’. In the above mentioned theme, theterm ‘Communion’ stands out and serves asan inspiration for individuals and groups to adeeper thought-provoking reflection andcommitted action. The Pastoral Letter of theArchbishop-Patriarch of Goa and Daman,Most Rev. Filipe Neri Ferrão, for the year2013-2014, revolves around the same theme,and with focus on the Small ChristianCommunities, gives us number of pointers forthe enrichment of our life of Communion. Thegeneral theme for Luceas 2013-2014 alsoserves as a signboard for a life ofCommunion.

The Greek equivalent for ‘communion’ iskoinonía This paper will strive to dig out inthe etymology of and unravel thevarious shades of meaning that lie hidden inthis significant term. The path for our analysiswill begin in the Hellenistic world and thenretrieve its steps in the religious and culturalmilieu of the Jews, with eyes fixed on the OldTestament Canon. The New Testamentunderstanding and interpretation of the saidterm will be of utmost importance, which, inturn, will lead us to some pastoral practicalities

ίFrom Biblical Perspective to Pastoral Practice

* Rev. Simião Fernandes

that may serve as worthy tools for an aptChristian living, i.e., a life of Communion.

1. Koinonía: ETYMOLOGY andMEANINGGenerally speaking, the termis derived from koinós. Koinós when

used of persons means ‘participant’, andwhen used of things, it means ‘common’;often, it has the sense of ‘commonownership’. The other forms that belong tothe close-knit family of koinōnίa are the nounkoinōnόs and the verb koinōnέō. The termkoinōnόs is used with diverse meanings, andthey vary from ‘participant’ to ‘fellow-being’with implications of fellowship with ‘someoneor something’, and also, with reference to‘sharing of something with someone’. It isalso used with diverse grammaticalpeculiarities like in the absolute sense or withobjective genitive or with dative of persons orwith prepositions. The verbal form koinōnέōlays great emphasis on the reciprocal ‘giving’and ‘taking’, and like koinōnόs, has variednuances like ‘participation’, ‘fellowship’, etc.1Some opinions in the Biblical circles alsomake a distinction between koinōnίa and theso-called Latin equivalent ‘societas’.‘Societas’ is more of an agreement and means‘a partnership’ whereas koinōnίa is moreseen as ‘a relationship’.

In the Biblical arena, koinōnίa is also

koinonía

koinonía

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understood as an abstract form of the abovereferred noun koinōnόs with emphasis eitheron ‘giving or receiving of something’; it is notone-sided but indicates a ‘participation’ or‘fellowship’ entwined with ‘giving’ and‘receiving’.2

Various Biblical experts, restrictingthemselves to the use of the term in the NewTestament, orient our minds in differentdirections. William Barclay speaks in terms ofgenerous sharing in contrast to the spirit ofselfish giving. He also stresses on the qualityof ‘togetherness’3. James Strong’sExhaustive Concordance of the Biblespotlights on different nuances of koinōníaand the terms that belong to its family. Theseinclude ‘partnership or participa-tion’,‘sharers’ and ‘common’, that is, somethingshared by many or by all. For MartinLohmeyer, koinōnía basically denotes‘participation in something with someone’.He further states that the precise meaningwill vary according to the Sitz-im-Leben andcan be deciphered only within the context4.Wright, drawing inspiration from Philemon 6,expresses that through koinōnía themembers of the Christian community not onlybelong to one another, but are mutuallyidentified with each other.5

2. Koinōnía: HELLENISTIC WORLDThe term koinōnía was widely used in

Hellenism. But depending on the differentrealms, the connotation differed. Basically, thedominant use of the term was seen at twolevels: the human domain and the divinedomain.

In the human domain, the term referred torelationships of diverse kinds amongst thehuman person: sharing in things, sharing incommon enterprise, sharing in material

possessions, sharing in the same city as equalcitizens, sharing in friendship, and finally,sharing in marriage, which was understood asan intimate life-partnership.

In the divine domain, there was lot ofstress and importance given to fellowshipmeals which were considered as one of thebest means of communion between the divineand the human. The human and divine wereoften seen as partakers or companions attable. Furthermore, the sexual union with thedeity was also seen as an act of koinōníabetween the human and the divine; it was alsoextolled and epitomized as the most supremeform of fellowship that a human person wasprivileged to have with the deity.6

3. Koinōnía: OLD TESTAMENT PERIODThe LXX translates the Hebrew hābar

(hbr) as koinōnía. In the Hebrew lexicon,we find the root hbr in many grammaticalforms like verb, noun, etc. and with variousconnotations.7 The Hebrew hbr is used in theOld Testament to express ideas such as‘common or shared house’ (cf. Prov 21: 9 ),‘binding’ or ‘joining’ (cf. Ex 26: 6; Eccl 9: 4),‘companion’ (cf. Eccl 4:10 ), and even a wife‘as a companion’ (cf. Mal 2:14). The termalso has a lot of added usages which can besummed up as follows: it is used of objectsbeing pulled together (cf. Ex 26: 6); of nationscoming together (cf. Gn 14: 3); of thecommon house (cf. Prov 21:9; 25: 24), etc.8

These references enlighten our minds to theuse of the term hbr concerning the variouslevels of relationship that focus on humanity.

The question is often asked about its usageconcerning the realm of God or gods. It isworth noting that, though the term isoccasionally used to signify the relationship ofthe human person with gods, it is seldom used

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of relationship or intimacy with the God ofIsrael. The book of Hosea out rightlycondemns the union or relationship with godsand terms it as ‘adultery’ (cf. 4: 17) whereasIsaiah does not hesitate to call the followersof Baals as their ‘fellows’ (cf. Is 44: 11)9.The Old Testament thought-patternmaintained a distance between the commonand the sacral. Therefore, the human person,though maintained a relationship with God,was aware of his distance and consequentlyconsidered himself as the servant of God,which led him to a relationship of deep trustin the might of God. Even though thesacrificial meal was also regarded as arelationship between human and the divine, itwas never considered as hbr. In the book ofDeuteronomy, speaking of the festiveoccasion, the writer uses the expression ‘infront of’ or ‘before’ rather than ‘with’ tosignify a sort of a distance between the divineand the human.

The most common expression used by theOT writers to denote the relationship orfellowship with the Divine is berith.10 Thecovenant formula ‘I am your God and youare my people’ denotes relationship betweenGod and his people. Time and again, we alsocome across the reassuring assistanceformula ‘I am with you’ which also signifiesthe communion between God and His people.Furthermore, the people of the Old Testamentexperienced the closeness of God in their dayto day life through events, signs and symbols.Thus we have the Ark of the Covenant (1Sam 4: 3), the pillar of fire (Nu 9: 15ff), themighty deed of God in the Exodus Event (Ex14), the messenger of the Lord leading thepeople in the name of God (Ex 23: 20-21)11.The place of prime importance symbolizingthe divine presence in a superlative manner

was the Temple, the delight to the eyes of thepeople of Israel (cf. Ezek 24: 15).

The Old Testament also presents to usinstances wherein we see the communionbetween God and certain individuals whowere bestowed with an unmerited privilege ofenjoying a close relationship with God.Among the most prominent ones is Moses,the servant of God.12 There are variousbiblical texts that invite us to reflect on thecloseness Moses was honored to have in thepresence of God (Ex 33: 9ff; Deut 34: 10).

Hbr was also used for a member of aPharisaic society. Pharisees tended to formvery close associations with one another insocial, religious, and even business affairs. Amost important dimension in the life of theseheberim13 was a sharing together in the studyof Scripture or Torah, and table fellowship.

Among the Jewish writers, Philo uses theterm and its cognates to express the religioussharing and fellowship between God and thehuman beings.14 He also spells out therequisite for such a fellowship in that hestresses on ‘righteousness’ on part of thehuman person. Furthermore, for him,koinōnía also has a horizontal dimension; hepresents it as an ideal common life of theEssenes. For the first century Jewishhistorian, Josephus Flavius, koinōnía alsoimplies living in a right relationship with fellowbeings.

4. Koinōnía: NEW TESTAMENTPERIODThe term koinōnía features many times

in the New Testament. Primarily, it means‘fellowship, sharing in common, communion,association, community, joint-participation,intercourse’15. However, there are also othershades of meaning that cannot be ignored. In

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this section, our prime focus will be to re-discover these shades in the light of theCanonical Gospels, Pauline Corpus and theother relevant texts of the New Testament.

4.1. Canonical GospelsIn the Canonical Gospels, koinōnía

basically denotes a sort of a bond for aspecific purpose. There are two kinds ofbonds that we can trace in the pages of theGospels. The first one is evident in the Gospelof Luke (cf. 5: 10). The term koinōnoί inthis verse is translated as ‘partners’ in mostof the biblical versions. James and John, thesons of Zebedee are considered as ‘partners’in the business of fishing. Hence, the term isgenerally understood as implying a legalpartnership with ‘common occupation’ as thebond and ‘catching of fish’ as the shared orspecific purpose. The second occurrence isin the Gospel of Matthew (cf. Mt 23: 30). Theterm koinōnoί occurs here in the rebuke ofJesus to the Scribes and Pharisees for havingclaimed that ‘we would have not taken part(koinōnoί) with them in the shedding of theblood of the prophets’. In this second instance,the bond is understood as ‘common spirit’ andthe purpose as the ‘shared opposition’ to theprophet of God.16 The common element inboth the occurrences in the Canonical Gospelsis the ‘joint-participation’ either in somethingpositive i.e. common occupation or somethingnegative i.e. fellowship in carrying outpersecution.

4.2. Pauline CorpusPaul, in his writings, lays a great emphasis

on koinōnía, a term used more often by himthan any of the New Testament humanauthors. In Pauline Corpus, it has basically areligious significance, unlike the gospels,

where the secular was not ignored. Paul’sviewpoint can be summed up under threeheadings:

4.2.1. Koinōnía with ChristTime and again, Paul urges the members

of the Christian Community for koinōníawith Christ (1 Cor 1: 9). Koinōnía with Christimplies sharing in his passion and his glory(Rm 8: 17) and the participation in the Gospel(1 Cor 9: 23; Phil 1: 5).

Furthermore, Paul links koinōnía withChrist to the participation in the Supper ofthe Lord. As a polemic against the Jewishand pagan festivals and sacrificial meals,Paul makes a clear-cut distinction betweensacrificial meals of the Jews or pagans andthe Lord’s Supper. According to him,participation in the sacrificial meals leadsone to have koinōnía with the evil one. Onthe contrary, worthy participation in theLord’s Supper leads one to koinōnía withChrist.

Finally, speaking about koinōnía withChrist, Paul exhorts the followers of Christ toparticipate in the various stages of the life ofChrist. The stages are categorized asfollows17:- Sharing in the Life of Christ (Rm 6: 8)- Sharing in the Work of Christ (Col 2: 12)- Sharing in the Sufferings of Christ (Rm 8:

17)- Sharing in the Cross of Christ (Rm 6: 6)- Sharing in the Death of Christ (2 Cor 7:

3)- Sharing in the Glory of Christ (Rm 8: 17)- Sharing in the Kingship of Christ ( 2 Tim

2: 12)

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4.2.2. Koinōnía with the SpiritFor Paul, koinōnía is not just limited to

Christ. He also speaks of koinōnía with theHoly Spirit. At the conclusion of the letter tothe Corinthian community, he uses theexpression ‘the communion (koinōnía) of theHoly Spirit’ (2 Cor 13: 13). Going by thegrammatical analysis and peculiarities, thephrase ‘of the Holy Spirit’ is called objectivegenitive, and thus, the whole expressionconveys the sense of ‘participation in theHoly Spirit’ or ‘participation in the gifts of theHoly Spirit’. Again in Philippians 2: 1, we findthe expression koinōnía of the Spirit18. Thissharing or fellowship in the Spirit or in the giftsof the Spirit, according to Paul, should urgethe Christian follower to be of the same loveand mind that was in Christ (cf. Phil 2: 2-5).

4.2.3. Koinōnía with fellow-ChristiansKoinōnía with Christ or with the Spirit has

no meaning, if it does not urge someone foran effective koinōnía with fellow beings. Inthe letter to the Corinthians, Paul cautions thecommunity about the divisions in the Body ofChrist and appeals the members to be of thesame mind and the same purpose as was inChrist (cf. 1 Cor 1: 10). Using the powerfulimagery of a body, he allegorically exhorts thefollowers of Christ to live a life ofcommunion with one another (1 Cor 12: 12ff).Koinōnía with fellow-Christians impliesvarious kinds of fellowships:- Fellowship in Faith: this is motif used by

Paul when he sends Onesimus back toPhilemon (Phlm 17).

- Fellowship in the Work of Christ: this isthe motif used by Paul so that Titusreceives honorable welcome in theCorinthian community (2 Cor 8: 23).

- Fellowship between the Jews and the

Gentiles: this is the motif used by Paul tomaintain the unity of the Church of Christand also to reinforce his mission to thegentile world (Rm 15: 27; Gal 3: 28).

- Fellowship in Material Goods: this is themotif used by Paul to motivate thecommunities to support those in direfinancial need (Rm 15: 26-27).

- Fellowship in Sufferings: This is themotif used by Paul to urge the Christianfollowers to share in the sufferings ofothers (1 Cor 12: 26; cf. Phil 4: 14).On one hand, Paul strongly appeals to the

members of the Body of Christ to live inkoinōnía with each other, while on the other,he cautions about the situations wherekoinōnía is to be avoided: koinōnía shouldnot exist with the evil one: ‘I do not want youto be koinōnos with the demons’ (1 Cor 10:20b); writing to the Timothy, he issues a wordof caution not to associate with the sins ofothers: ‘Do not koinōnei in the sins of others’(1 Tim 5: 22).

4.3. Other WritingsThe other Canonical writings of the New

Testament also lay some emphasis onkoinōnía. We shall make an attempt tobrowse through some of them:

In the Acts of the Apostles, the membersof the early Church lived in communion withone another. The biblical pericope that throwsmuch light on this is Acts 2: 42-47. Theseverses bring out the many aspects ofkoinōnía in the early Christian community:they shared things together; they listenedtogether, they prayed together and they brokethe bread together.

The Catholic letters present koinōnía asa relationship with both the divine as well asthe human. In the first letter of John,

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fellowship with God necessarily impliesfellowship with one’s neighbor (cf. 1 Jn 1: 3);one cannot be in fellowship with God, if oneis not fellowship with fellow-being (cf. 1 Jn4: 19). In his writings, John also has a wordof caution to the Christian disciple: ‘if we saywe have fellowship (koinōnían) with himwhile we are walking in the darkness, we lieand do not do what is true’ (1 Jn 1: 6). Finally,in the Johannine thought ‘one who greets thetransgressor of the doctrine of Christ shares(koinōneō) in his evil deeds’ (2 Jn 12). Nodoubt, this has to be interpreted in the contextof those times.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews,focusing on the sacrificial dimension ofworship says: ‘do not neglect to do good andto share (koinōnías) what you have, for suchsacrifices are pleasing to God’ (Heb 13: 16).

5. Koinōnía: TODAYIn today’s context, koinōnía is often

limited to fellowship in the sense of sharing a‘common table’ or eating a ‘common meal’.Going through the various biblical nuances, wehave realized how rich the term koinōnía is.Drawing inspiration from the biblical world,especially the life of the early Christiancommunity and the canonical writings of theNew Testament, let us draw home a fewinsights for a right Christian living:

a) Koinōnía implies sharing in thematerial goodsIn Acts of the Apostles, we observe that

the early Christian Community bore witnessto koinōnía through sharing of material goodsin such a way that no one was in want (Acts4: 34). St. Ambrose once said: ‘You are notmaking a gift of your possessions to the poorperson. You are handing over to him what is

his. For what has been given in common forthe use of all, you have arrogated to yourself.The world is given to all, and not only to therich’.19

Reflecting on the Small ChristianCommunities, the Archbishop of Goa andDaman in his Pastoral Letter highlights theneed for a relationship of the neighbors withthe needy, the poor, the marginalized, etc asone of their traits20. For koinōnía to be ourway of life, we need to share the God-givenmaterial resources with people in various kindsof wants.

b) Koinōnía implies sharing in theCharismsIn the first letter to Corinthians, Paul

draws our attention to Charisms. Though thesource of these gifts is one i.e. divine yet thereare varieties of these Charisms (1 Cor 12: 1-11). Furthermore, Paul urges the Corinthiancommunity to excellence in the Charisms forbuilding up the Church (1 Cor 14: 12).

The Dogmatic Constitution on the Church,while maintaining the unity of the Church asone body, stresses on the varieties of Charismsand diversity of functions, and exhorts Christ’sfaithful to put these Charisms, both at theservice of the Church as well for the welfareof the Christian community.21

c) Koinōnía implies sharing in thesufferings of others

Writing to the Corinthian community, Paulcalls for koinōnía that empathizes with thesufferings of its members: ‘if one membersuffers, all suffer together with it’ (1 Cor 12:26). If a part of our body is infected, inflictedor affected with pain, it is not just that partwhich suffers but the whole body. So also, ithas to be in the Christian community.

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The document on the Church in theModern World, right at beginning drives homethis message: ‘The joy and hope, the griefand anguish of the men of our time, especiallyof those who are poor or afflicted in any way,are the joy and hope, the grief and anguishof the followers of Christ as well’.22

d) Koinōnía implies sharing in the Life ofChristIn the letter to the Colossians, we find: ‘As

you therefore have received Christ Jesus theLord, continue to live your lives in him, rootedand built up upon him ….’ (2: 6-7). St. Paullived up to this sort of koinōnía in a suprememanner for he could testify with greatcourage: ‘It is no longer I who live, but it isChrist who lives in me’ (cf. Gal 2: 20).

The Sacrament of Baptism gives us ashare in this type of koinōnía i.e. sharing inthe life of Christ. The baptismal rite itself haslot of symbolisms that spell out this sharing.When a white garment is given to thebaptized, the celebrant says: ‘you havebecome a new creation, and have clothedyourself in Christ’. And also when a lightedcandle is given, he says: ‘Receive the light ofChrist’ and further reminds the parents andgodparents that their child is enlightened byChrist and exhorts them to keep the flame offaith alive.23

e) Koinōnía implies sharing in themission of ChristDuring his earthly ministry, and specifically

before Ascension, Christ gave a mandate tohis chosen ones to go and preach: “Go intoall the world and proclaim the good news tothe whole creation” (Mk 16: 15); he also sentthem on his behalf to towns and places wherehe himself intended to go (Lk 10: 1). Thus,

Jesus gave them a share in his mission.The sharing in the mission of Christ is

brought out in a lucid manner, again in theBaptismal rite at the second anointing on thecrown of the head. Anointing with the Chrism,the celebrant says: ‘….. as Christ wasanointed Priest, Prophet and King, so may youlive as a member of his body’.24

f) Koinōnía implies sharing in the rightrelationshipIn the Old Testament, the Ten

Commandments, given as a sign of theCovenant, were also meant to safeguard theright relationship with the divine and thehuman (cf. Ex 20: 2ff). In the NewTestament, Christ beautifully sums up the Teninto Two, again holding on to the importantrelationship between God and man (cf. Mk12: 29-31). In the Pastoral letters, John clearlyhighlights the right relationship with God andthe human person: ‘those who say, “I loveGod,” and hate their brothers or sisters, areliars; for those who do not love a brother ora sister whom they have seen, cannot loveGod, whom they have not seen. Thecommandment we have from him is this:‘those who love God must love their brothersand sisters also’ (1 Jn 4: 20-21).

g) Koinōnía implies sharing in Unity.The Church in its very essence denotes

Communion which is seen in the term‘ekklesia’ (gathering or assembly). Wherethere are fractions, there cannot becommunion and where there is no communionwe cannot have the witnessing Church. Beingunited is the hallmark of the Church foundedby Christ and this dimension is very muchemphasized in the Scriptures which use a lotof images that signify communion or unity:

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the Sheepfold (cf. Jn 10: 10); the Vine andBranches (cf. Jn 15: 1-5); the Building (1 Cor3: 9); the Bride (Rev. 19: 7) and the Body (1Cor 12: 12ff).

Where there is dissension or discord therecannot be unity. Koinōnía invites us to a livea life of communion modeled in accordancewith the one that we see in the Triune God.By virtue of Baptism, we share in thefundamental equality of the children of God.The Ecumenical Decree states: ‘division inthe church openly contradicts the will ofChrist, scandalizes the world, and damagesthat most holy cause, the preaching of theGospel to every creature’ (no. 1).25 TheChurch in Goa also emphasizes this unitiveaspect in the vision of the Diocesan PastoralPlan 2002: ‘Set ablaze by a deep personal aswell as communitarian experience of God –the Father, the Son and The Holy Spirit – we,the Church in Goa, hand in hand with all ourssisters and brothers, move as a vibrantcommunity of love….’26

CONCLUSIONThe term koinōnía is considered as the

source and the summit of the very existenceof the Chruch. It is something to be practicedand something to be achieved

The term koinōnía has been widely used.It is relevant in the secular world as well asin the realm of the divine. The differentshades of meaning analysed in this paper onlyproves the inexhaustible richness that liesembedded in it.

Today, individualism, self-centeredness,lack of team-work, spectator-style rather thanparticipative style of functioning, abuse andover-use of technology, wounds in the churchdue to doctrinal or other differences, powerstruggles, denominational factions, etc, have

caused enough and more harm to theimportant dimension of Communion in theChurch.

Let us not limit koinōnía to the eating of‘a common meal’ or ‘sharing a table’ but letit march forward in reaching out to needs ofthe other. Let koinōnía not just be anexternal sign of coming together for mereSacramental celebrations, but as the fruit ofeffective participation in the celebration, let itbe made manifest in action at home and inthe society.

Koinōnía can become for us ‘fellowship’when we share with one another our commonexperiences for building up the Body of Christ

Koinōnía can become for us ‘participa-tion’ when accept and share in the good thatwe see in others

Koinōnía can become ‘contribution’ whenwe generously share both the material and thespiritual that is in us.

Endnotes:1 Cf. Friedrich Hauck, “Koinōnía….” in Theological

Dictionary of the New Testament Vol III, ed. GerhardKittel (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1999),789-790.

2 Cf. Ibid.3 Cf. William Barclay, “The Acts of the Apostles” in

The Daily Study Bible (Bangalore: TPI, 1987), 30.4 Cf. Communion [article on-line] (accessed on 21st

January 2014); available from http:// www. arlev. co. uk/fellowship.html; Internet.

5 Cf. Ibid.6 Cf. Hauck, “Koinōnia..”, 798-799.7 The verbal forms of hbr have diverse meanings;

generally speaking it means ‘to be bound or joinedtogether’; in the Piel form it means ‘to attach’, in Pual,it means ‘to be joined together’; in Hiphil, ‘to join orconnect’; in Hithpael, ‘to join oneself’. The noun formusually means ‘companion, fellow or associate’. (cf.Benjamin Davidson, The Analytical Hebrew and ChaldeeLexicon (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1995), 246

8 Cf. Hauck, “Koinōnía..”, 800.9 Ibid., 80110 The term berith comes from Hebrew karat meaning

‘to cut’ or ‘to carve’, and hence, implies permanencyin the covenantal relationship.

11 G. W. H. Lampe, “Communion” in The

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Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, ed. George ArthurButtrick (New York: Abingdon Press, 1962), 664

12 It is remarkable that the Jewish writer Philo in hiswork, The Life of Moses 1. 158 , speaks of therelationship between God and Moses and understands itas koinōnía.

13 It is a plural form of hbr.14 Cf. Hauck, “koinōnía”, 800.15 Cf. Walter Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the

New Testament and other Christian Literature (Chicago:University of Chicago Press, 1979), 438-439.

16 Cf. Kyle Pope, Fellowship in the Gospel – A Studyof the Greek word koinonia [article on-line] (accessedon 22nd January 2014); available from http://ancientroadpublications.com/Studies/BiblicalStudies/FellowshipintheGospel.html; Internet.

17 Cf. Hauck, “koinōnía”, 806.18 Cf. Ibid., 807.19 Cf. Herve Morisette, Thunder in the Rain

(Bangalore: St. Paul’s Press, 1991), 81.20 Cf. Filipe Neri Ferrâo, Gonvllik Chitt, 2013-2014

(Verna: New Age Printers, 2013), 25.21 Cf. “Lumen Gentium” in Vatican Council II, The

Conciliar and the Post Conciliar Documents, AustinFlannery, ed. (Mumbai: St. Pauls, 2004), 324.

22 Cf. “Gaudium et Spes” in Vatican Council II, TheConciliar and the Post Conciliar Documents, AustinFlannery, ed. (Mumbai: St. Pauls, 2004), 794.

23 Cf. “The Rite of Baptism for One Child” in RitualeParvum (Bangalore: NBCLC, 2003), nos. 30-31.

24 Ibid. no. 29.25 Cf. “Unitatis Redintegratio” in Vatican Council II,

The Conciliar and the Post Conciliar Documents, AustinFlannery, ed. (Mumbai: St. Pauls, 2004), 400.

26 Cf. “DPP 2002” in Synodal Documents,Archdiocese of Goa and Daman (Verna: New AgePrinters, 2002), 1.

“We declare to you what we have seen andheard so that you also may have fellowship(koinonían) with us; and truly our fellowship(koinonía) is with the Father and with his SonJesus Christ.”

(1 Jn 1: 3)

Bibliography

Berardino, Angelo Di, “Patterns of Koinonia inthe First Christian Centuries,” Concilium Vol. 1, No.3. (2001): 45-58.

Cosstick, Vicky, “Formation and the KoinoniaChurch,” The Way Vol. 30, No. 3. (1990): 188-198.

Elvey, Frank, “Koinonia for the People of theExodus,” The Way Vol 30, No. 3 (1990): 199-209.

Friedrich, Hauck, “Koinonia” TheologicalDictionary of the New Testament, Vol III, ed. GerhardKittel (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company,1999): 798-809.

Hunsinger, Deborah Van Deusen, “PracticingKoinōnía,” Theology Today Vol 66, No. 3 (2009): 346-367.

Johnson, Luke Timothy, “Koinonia: diversityand unity in early Christianity,” Theology Digest Vol.46, No. 4 (1999): 303-314.

Lampe, G. W. H., “Communion,” TheInterpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, ed. GeorgeButtrick Arthur (New York: Abingdon Press, 1962):664-665.

Neuner, Peter, “The Church as Koinonia: ACentral Theme of Vatican II,” The Way Vol 30, No. 3(1990): 176-182.

Watkins, Clare, “Objecting to Koinonia – TheQuestion of Christian Discipleship Today and WhyCommunion is not the Answer,” Louvain Studies Vol28, No. 4 (2003): 326-343.

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Pope Paul VI speaking to the Tribunal ofthe Sacred Roman Rota on 4th February 1967,drew attention to how important Communionwas to the Church, saying, “Magnae illiusCommunionnis, quam efficit Ecclesia.”1

Vincenzo Mosca says that if there is principlethat animates the whole ecclesiologicalconcept of the Second Vatican Council it canbe none other than Communion.2

Fredrich R. Mc Manus, a canonist whowas present at the council, drew attention tothe fact that the council made an eloquentchoice of the biblical images in no. 6 ofLumen Gentium and then the choice of theimage as “People of God” as the primary andgoverning nomenclature for the discussion ofmission, ministry and institutions.3 Hisaffirmation is strengthened by the fact thatJohn Paul II in his discourse at thepresentation of the code affirmed that theconcept of People of God was from the OldTestament. The concept of People of Godis on par with the designations such asCommunion, community, congregation,assembly, gathering etc. Indeed the Peopleof God is a gathering of different people, atthe same time it is a composed of people ofdifferent states of life united with the primacyof the Chair of St. Peter.4 In his Apostolicletter Novo Millenio ineunte, Pope JohnPaul II gave a call to make the Church ahome and school of Communion.5

Communion is a rich reality with severaldimensions. The Council uses the termCommunion in various senses. The

The Coresponsible Participation —Flowing from the Communion of People of God.

* Rev. Dr. Nelson Sequeira

Congregation for Doctrine of faith in itsdocument Communionis Notio, pointed to itsvertical and horizontal dimensions. Commu-nion in the vertical sense is the relation withGod and Communion in the horizontal senseis the relation with men.6 The said documentof the Congregation for Doctrine of Faithaims to gives three criteria for thecomprehension of what is understood byCommunion.* The concept of Communion in relation

to the other notions of ecclesiologylike, people of God, body of Christ,sacrament.

* The concept of Communion in relationto the Eucharist and the Episcopatepointing to the reciprocal relationshipbetween the Universal Church and theParticular Church.

* The concept of Communion amongbishops and that of the bishopstogether with the successor of Peter.7

Communion therefore speaks of a unionin the life of the Church where in there is asharing of faith, a relationship with theSacraments and a relationship with everymember of the Church to whichever state heor she may belong.

The Participation of the People of God inthe life of the Church

Lumen Gentium no. 10 and 11 speaksabout the common priesthood of all thefaithful. It uses the term “unum enim etalterum suo peculiari modo de uno Christi

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sacerdotio participant.” and then in no. 12speaks of the participation of the faithful inthe prophetic office of Christ using the words“ Populus Dei sanctus de munere quoqueprophetico Christi participat.” But no. 13of the same document speaking of theKingdom of Christ, falls short of using theword participat or participant. Even beforethe Second Vatican Council, Pope Pius XIused the term “participation in the apostolateof the Hierarchy”8 But his statement initiateda reflection and it was seen that there weremany responsibilities exercised by thehierarchy, like those which originated from thesacrament of orders,which could not beentrusted to the laity. The question arose asto whether the participation was in the officeor in the powers of the hierarchy. Hence PiusXII avoided the term participation andexplained it in terms mutuam consolationemand adiutrice Pastorum ac fidelium whichin English is translated as “co-operation” and“collaboration” respectively.9Neverthelessthere are certain offices that are exercised bythe hierarchy which are not necessarilyhierarchical. In such a case exercise in thisoffice would not mean cooperation in thehierarchical apostolate. E.g. the office of aNuntio. some offices in the Roman andDiocesan Curia or a Curia of an Institute ofConsecrated life. Pastor Bonus article 9speaks clearly in the case of theadministration of the ecclesiastical goods,itprovides that officials be taken from faithful,both clergy and laity.10

CollaborationBusiness management understands that

the key to efficiency and productivity in anyhealthy organization is empowerment therebyallowing the right persons to do the right

things and make the right decisions. Todayexperts in business management also realisethat it is impossible that the staff and leadersto be truly empowered when all the financialcontrol rests with one person in theaccounting office.11 As a matter of fact manyprinciples followed by corporate houses todayin business management have their roots inthe bible. I cannot miss the excellent exam-ple of collaboration found in the Gospelepisode of the miracle of the multiplicationof the bread. According to the synopticGospels, Jesus instructs the disciples dóteautoís umeis phagein “Give them to eatyourselves”12 The Gospel of John has Jesusasking Philip Póthen agorásomen artous inaphagosin auto “Where shall we find breadfor these to eat?”13 After the multipliedbread and fish are distributed and the disciplesare asked to gather the leftovers. The disciplesare asked to collaborate in the collection, thedistribution and also the outcome. It is to benoted in the Gospel according to Markchapter 6 v. 35 mentions oíMathetai whichmeans the disciples in contrast with oíapostoloi seen in v 30 of the same chapterwhich begins the narration of the miracle. Itappears that it is not only the twelve that areentrusted with the task. The Gospel accordingto Luke too makes the distinction of the samewords. This biblical passage could be anexample of collaboration of the followers ofJesus in the multiplication of bread.

Indeed the collaboration is not a newdiscovery at the Second Vatican Council, wehave examples of collaboration in the Acts ofApostles but somewhere down the agesClericalism set in.

CoresponsibilityThe Collaboration is realised in the

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activity of the individuals as well ascollectively either in groups or recognisedassociations. It is characterised by acoordination of the gifts of the membersthrough a hierarchical organisation.14

Consequently, the co-responsibility is impliedin every member of the Church.15 TheCouncil spoke of collaboration of the faithfulaccording to their state of life, but, as DePaolis notes, the Council did not use the termof co-responsibility, this term was a result ofpost-conciliar writings and it was officiallyused by the synod of bishops in 1985 and isconsidered as the interpretation of theCouncil.16

The coresponsibility of the laity has beenrepeatedly affirmed after the Synod of 1985.Pope John Paul II in his post synodalapostolic exhortation Christi fideles Laicispoke of the hierarchical and charismatic giftsof the members of the Church which madethem co responsible.17 He further affirmedthat the Fathers of the Second Vatican councilhad acknowledged that the Pastors knew thatthey were to recognise the services andcharisms of the laity and they together wouldcooperate in the common task.18

In his other post synodal apostolicexhortation Pastores dabo vobis again hereminded the Priests that their consciousnessof Communion leads to a need to awaken anddeepen the co responsibility in the commonmission.19

Addressing the Pontifical Council of theLaity on 30th October 1997, again he affirmedthat teachings of the Second Vatican Council:the Church has become more keenly awareof being a mystery of Communion and ofbeing missionary by nature; the dignity, co-responsibility and active role of lay people hasbeen better recognized and highlighted.20

Pope Benedict XVI in his address at theopening of the Pastoral convention of theDiocese of Rome on 26 May 2009 affirmedthe laity should not be viewed just as“collaborators” of the clergy but trulyrecognized as “co-responsible”, for theChurch’s being and action, thereby fosteringthe consolidation of a mature and committedlaity.21 At the same time affirming that this inno way reduces the responsibility of theParish Priest he invited the pastors to nurturethe commitment of the lay faithful in theirapostolic growth.22Again on his pastoral visitto LameziaTerme, Serra san Bruno, PopeBenedict on 9th October 2011 invited the layfaithful to use their skills and responsibilitiesto contribute the construction of the commongood in Communion with their bishops.23

Pope Francis again in his Apostolicexhortation Evangellii Gaudium, againreiterates that the Church is not a mereinstitution. The Church he says, as the agentof evangelization, is more than an organic andhierarchical institution; she is first andforemost a people advancing on its pilgrimway towards God24.

Every faithful who is baptised has afundamental right and duty to participatedirectly and actively in the life of the Churchaccording to one’s status.25 Based on themystery of communion within the church.Each member has to feel fully co responsiblein the mission of the Church and actaccording to his role. The co responsibilityis a fundamental right and duty of everyfaithful who is incorporated in the churchthrough baptism26. It is this teologico-juridicalunderstanding that has to guide the Church inthis communion.. As such every membershould understand the Church as his own andhave the concern that the mission of the

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Church is continuedEach of these pilgrims has a distinctive

role. The distinctive role is a basic right andobligation of the lay faithful arising from thedignity of personhood they enjoy in theChurch by their baptism. By which they areincorporated in Christ.27 It is quite clear thatthe laity exercise their role not only outsidethe Church but also within the Church.28

Co-responsibility denotes that the manysubjects have a capacity to act in a matter.The faithful bear responsibility as baptized inthe Church’s mission, therefore, they mustcontribute to the life of the Church accordingto their position. The co responsibility givesrise to different forms of participation. Thisis not just a general statement, the code,acknowledging the responsibility of all-faithful,intends to facilitate and regulate thisparticipation, hence it provides that “bodies”be established for this purpose of the Churchwithin the structures of shared responsibility. These structures in the Church must bedistinguished from being identified with otherinstitutions that at first glance may appearsimilar, such as associations of Christ’s faithfulbased on freedom of association (c. 215) orthe institutions that play leadership roles withjudicial office, or such institutions withcollegiate power. These structures are aimedfor consultation and assistance according totheir competence. The Communion in theChurch presupposes unity and diversity in thesubjects of consultation. They do haveequality but no uniformity. Because as saidearlier, through the working of the spirit thereare different gifts and given charisms, thatdetermine the distinct ministries and functionsand services which are exercised in theChurch.29. Based on the common vocationand on the mission of the Church, are founded

the relations of Communion between themembers of People of God and those who,by the Holy Spirit, are constituted Pastors inthe Church to be teachers of doctrine, thePriests of the sacred worship and ministersof governance of the community (c. 375 § 1).Because the ministries mean diversity, thecommon vocation of Christ’s faithful to unionwith God and each other to the salvation ofpeople is considered before the diversity ofgifts and ministries30

Let it be noted that the counciliardocuments never use the term co-responsibility.31 Nevertheless, the post-conciliar theological publications frequentlyspeak in those terms as practical applicationof the exercise of Communion. The term wasmade official by the Extraordinary Synod ofBishops in 1985, where it says:

“…..because the Church is aCommunion, there must be at all levelsof participation and shared responsi-bility”. This is a correct interpretation ofthe council when it says, “the extent ofknowledge, competence and prestigethey enjoy, they (the faithful) have theright, indeed the duty to make knowntheir views on what concerns the goodof the Church,”32

The Synod then immediately specifies;‘If necessary, do it through the organsestablished for this purpose by the Church,and always with truth, courage and prudence,with reverence and charity towards thosewho, by reason of their sacred officerepresent Christ33

Communion in the Code of Canon Law.This Communion of the People of God,

which rediscovers the co responsibility of thefaithful and the realisation of the role of the

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local Church, was to be necessarilyaccommodated in the revision of the Code.34

Pope Paul VI addressing the commission forrevision of the Code reminded them that theyare primarily to work with the spirit of theSecond Vatican Council, He expresslymentioned the pastoral care and the necessityof the People of God. 35The work of thecommission was to carefully follow all thephases and evolution of Vatican II in order tocapture its spirit so that its norms would bebased on the decisions, the directives and alsothe votes of the council.36

Not that the code was to be just thecanonical or juridical expression of theCouncil. The ecclesiology after the councilshifted from a juridical and apologetic viewto a Trinitarian Christ centric and pastoralorientation.37 The understanding of theChurch from a prospective of an Institutionalstructure was changed to a more ofcommunal life. Hence it was felt that thecode should be structured based on the threefunctions of the People of God. Andtherefore, it is evident the communal natureof the Church is expressed in theresponsibilities of the faithful38

The coresponsibility as seen in the CIC1983

Canon 96 of CIC ’83 points to the factthat through the sacrament of baptism one isincorporated in the Church and thereforeenters in the Communion in the Church assubject of rights and duties. Living thisCommunion he or she enjoys the equality ofthe baptised. However he or she exercisesthe role according one’s status.39

The book II of the Code of Canon Law1983 has the title of People of God whichspeaks of the differences of state People of

God, their rights and obligation and is followedby two other books, namely III and IV dealwith the functions of teaching andsanctification. There is no book on thefunction of Governance. Just like the councilthe code on its part does not speak of theparticipation in the kingly office40 There wasa suggestion that the Part II, on thehierarchical constitution of the Church beentitled De Munere Ecclesiae Regendi, butthe secretariat of the commission and someconsultors responded saying that the bookwas not dealing only with governance, besidesthere were other parts of the code dealingwith governance too.41

The Canon 129 §1 states that those whohave received the holy Orders have thefunction of Governance. As Velasio De Paolissays the administration of goods is an act ofgovernance, one would naturally ask in viewof the above, how can laity participate inadministration of goods? The canon 129 § 2speaks of lay persons cooperating in thefunction of governance according to thenorms of the law.Article 37 of LumenGentium speaks of the exercise ad intra ofthis power of governance. The canon 129§1affirms it is only those who have beenordained that have the power of Governance.The §2 however does not exclude the laity.The c. 129 § 1 states explicitly that they only“those who are have receive sacred ordersare capable of the power of governance. Thecanon does not use an exclusive language like“solus” like in the case of Canon 118 of theCode of Canon Law 1917, besides it adds theclause “ad normam praescriptorum iuris.What about the laity? Are they capable or notof an exercise of Governance? Further ifthey are able then to what extent? § 2 ofthe same canon seems to give the answer. It

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is well known that the term “cooperaripossunt” i.e. they can cooperate, wasinserted in the last phase of formulation of thiscanon. Right from the Lex Fundamentalis,the proposed formulation appeared as Canon96 was “partes habent” i.e. they have apart.42As such there are offices which do notrequire the reception of sacrament of orders.They are reserved to clerics solely byecclesiastical law it is enough that one is fullyincorporated in the Church, i.e. by baptismand confirmation. In such a case the layperson can also participate in such an office.

We draw attention to the clause adnormam iuris cooperari possunt. They cancooperate in the power of Governance againaccording to the norms laid down by thelaw. In fact there are cases where it isprovided lay people can also exercise thispower: The most apparent example seems tobe that the Bishop’s conference can permitthat lay persons be appointed as a judge inthe tribunal of the College Church (c. 1421,§ 2). Canon 137 §1 says that the executivefunctions can be delegated to the laity eitherfor an individual act or in general unless ofcourse the law expressly prohibits it. Like inthe case of administration, Canons 1281, 1291,1292, 1295 and 638 put a restriction on theacts extraordinary administration

One way they cooperate in the exerciseof the power of governance is by exercisingjudicial or executive power in the offices opento them in the universal law. Another waythey cooperate is by personal delegation.Canon 129§2 does not specify whether thesaid norms of law originate from universal orparticular law. The code of canon of law1983 in canon 228 and 1421§2 mentions thatthe members of the Institutes of Consecratedlife exercise the power of governance

whether lay or clerical as superiors ormembers of the chapter.43 In fact if they donot participate in the power of governancethey could not co-operate.44

By participation it does not mean that oneinvolves totally in what one undertakes. Itmeans that there are many who take part andeach one plays a partial role.45There could bea possibility of someone playing a bigger rolebut if one person assumes the total onus, thenthere would not be participation andCommunion of persons.46 It consists in thecooperation between the common priesthoodand the ministerial priesthood, which could betermed as organic cooperation with differentfunctions but which are complimentary.47Weneed to draw out attention to the titles one andtwo of the second book, viz, “De OmniumChristi fidelium Obligationibus et Iuribus”and “De Obligationibus Et IuribusChristifidelium Laicorum”, whichenunciated the rights and correlativeobligations as a reflection on the conciliarteachings. Canon 149 § 1 leaves it open fora lay person to be promoted to anecclesiastical office. Keeping the principle ofdiversity the Canon 150 restricts theconferring of an office that entails full careof souls to the laity viz. a task that belongsto potestas ordinis. Attention needs to bedrawn to the notion of ecclesiastical office asgiven by canon 145 §1 of CIC ’83 term theoffice is broader than just governance. In thecode the potestas iurisdictionis consists ofpotestas legislativa potestas executiva, andpotestas iudiciaria.48 In the administrationof goods the exercise of governance isthrough the executive function which is alsoknown as administration. It is to be exercisedaccording to the established norms49

According to Canon 212 § 2, all faithful

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have the right and duty to manifest the needsespecially the spiritual needs to their pastors.The § 3 of the same canon asserts the rightand obligation of the faithful to manifest theirmind to the sacred pastors with regard to thegood of the Church. Ghirlanda says that thishelp to the pastors by way of counsel, isparticipation in the function of governance.50

Canon 228 § 2 states that the Laypersonswho excel in necessary knowledge prudenceand uprightness are capable of assisting thepastors of the Church as experts or advisors,they can do so even in councils, in accordwith the norm of law. The Code sees thepossibility of participation of lay persons in avariety of collegiate bodies; diocesan pastoralcouncil;51 diocesan synod;52 diocesan financecouncil;53 finance officer54 parish pastoralcouncil;55 parish finance council; 56

Administrative and pastoral work of theChurch, as well as participation in councilsand synods, above all the Parish Priest isobliged to help all the faithful to exercise theirspecific role57

While discussing the question of theobedience of the Christ faithful to the Pastorsthe Secretary of the Code commission statedthat the faithful are not expected to submitthemselves blindly and passively but as trueChristians are to act responsibly for thecommon good.58

ConclusionThe coresponsibility gives rise to different

forms of participation. The consultative bodieswhich are representative bodies arecomprised as organs of participation. Theyexercised equality among the faithful and atthe same time the official exercises theresponsibility of Christ. Who guides theChurch. And conserves unity.

At the recent convention of the SmallChristian Communities held in Old Goa,Bishop Dabre was heard saying, “earlier theHierarchy told what is to be done, but nowthe people talk and we have to listen.” Thisis indeed the participative Church.

The Code does caution that the saidbodies have a consultative vote however thisterm consultative does not mean that the onewho consults listens and does what he likes.the communion of the faithful means allmembers of the parish enjoy equality anddignity and co responsibly share in the missionof building up the body of Christ, which is theChurch, even though they have a differentjuridical status.59 The faithful are advisors ofthe sacred pastors on the basis of thesacraments of baptism and confirmation.60.The decision of the pastors should be a fruitof the consultation. He can go against thedecision only counsel given goes against thedoctrine of the Church, when it is positivelyseen that the counsel could harm the interestsof the local or universal Church, or when heforesees a division in the community.

Endnotes:1Cf. PAUL VI, Alloc. Ad Tribunalis Sacrae

Romanae Rotae Decanum, Praelatos Aud itores,Officiales et Advocatos, novo Litibus Iudicandis ineunteanno, de protectione iustitiae perfectiore reddenda 4Feb. 1967 in AAS,69(1977)148

2Vincenzo MOSCA Il diritto missionario nelCIC: la dialetticatra universal e particolare in IusMissionale 1(2007)13

3Fredrich R. MC, MANUS, Laity in the ChurchLaw New Church New Focus in The Jurist 47(1987)15-16

4Lumen Gentium13.5 JOHN PAUL II, Lit. Ap. Novo millenio ineunte,

43 (6 January 2001) in AAS 93 (2001) 2966Communionnis Notio 3 28 May 1992 http://

www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/

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rc_con_cfaith_doc_28051992_Communionnis-notio_en.html visited on 2nd May 2011. Also seeVelasio DE PAOLIS, La Disciplina Ecclesiale alServizio della Communionne in Communion ne eDisciplina Ecclesiale Libreria EditriceVaticana, Cittàdel Vaticano 1991.pp 22-28

7CONGREGAZIONE PER LA DOTTRINADELLA FEDE <<Communionnis Notio>> Lettera eCommenti Libreria Editrice Vatican 1994. p.8

8PIUS XI, enc., Non abbiamo bisogno, 29 June1931 AAS 23(1931)285-312

9PIUS XII enc. Mistici Corporis Christi 15,17,44, 62,68, 69 87, 29 June 1943 in AAS 35 (1943)193 – 248.

10Cf. JOHN PAUL II, Ap. Const. Pastor Bonus,28 June 1988 AAS 80(1988)86111Cf. Todd LANE, A necessary evil? Why you

shouldn’t shun good financial accounting in yourChurch in Ministry Today January 2011, p. 29

12Mt. 14:16b, Mk 6: 37, Lk.9. 1313Jn 6:5c14Cf. F. GIANNINI, La Chiesa Particolare e gli

Organismi d i Participazione.in Apollinaris 56(1983)518

15 Léon –Joseph Cardinal SUENENS, Coresponsibility in the Church, translated by FrancisMartin, Burns &Oates, London, 1968, p.30.

16Cf. V. DE PAOLIS, La Disciplina Ecclesiale alServizio della Communionne in Communionn eDisciplina Ecclesiale Libreria EditriceVaticana, Città delVaticano 1991pp 22-28. See also M. RIVELLA Ifondqamenti della corresponsabilità ecclesiale in M.RIVELLA (ed). Partecipazione e Corresponsabilitànella Chiesa, I Consigli diocesani e parrocchiali,Ancora, Milano, 2000. p.11

17Christi fideles laici, 2118Christi fideles laici,32.19JOHN PAUL II Ap. Exhort. Pastores dabo

vobis, 74 25 Mar 1992 in AAS 84(1992) 78820JOHN PAUL II Alloc Ad Pontifici Consilii pro

laicis sodalis, 30th October 1997 in AAS 90(1998)59321 BENEDICT XVI, Alloc. Seguendo Una

Ormai, May 26 2009 in Insegnamentidi Benedetto XVIV, 1 (2009)903-904.

22idem23 Ref. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/

benedict_xvi/angelus/2011 /documents/hf_ben-xvi_ang_20111009_lamezia-terme_it.html visited on19th October 2011

24POPE FRANCIS, Ap. Exhort, EvangeliiGaudium, 112, 24 Nov 2013.

2525 Canon 21226See canon 208.27Apostolicam Actuositatem 328Cf. Apostolicam Actuositatem 329Ad gentes 4, Lumen Gentium 4a 12b, 13 c

Gaudium et spes. 32 d. Apostolicam Actuositatem 3d;CIC ’83 cann.204§1 208

30Cf. Alfredo SOARES, A comunhão naConstituição Hierárquica da Igreja, InvestigaçãoTeológico-canónica. Porto, 1992. p. 195

31 Cf. Agostino MONTAN Responsabilitàecclesiale corresponsabilità e rappresentanza, in PaoloGHERRI (ed), Responsabilità ecclesialecorresponsabilità e rappresentanza, Atti della Giornatacanonistica inter disciplinare, Lateran University Press,Citta del Vaticano, 2010. p.10

32Exeunte coetu secundo IIC 633Lumen Gentium. 2734Lumen Gentium, 8, 304, OT 16,80835Cf. PAUL VI, Alloc.Ad E. mos Patres

Cardinales et ad Consultores Pontificii ConsiliiCod iciIuris Canonici recognoscendo , 20November1965 in AAS 57(1965)988

36Brian FERME, Ius Condere: HistoricalReflections on the 1983 Code in Jurist 63(2003)189full article 171-192. Also see V. FAGIOLO, “VaticanoII e Codex Iuris Canonici” in teologioa e Dirittocanonico, Studi Giuridici XII Cittal del Vaticano,Libreria EditriceVaticana 1987 35-36.

37 Cf. A.V. ROMUALDEZ, Vatican II and theNew Laity in ACHUTEGUI P. S., Ecumenism andVatican II Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City,1972 p.76

38Cf. J. P. SCHOUPPE, Elementi di DirittoPatrimoniale Canonico Varese Giuffrè 20082 pp. 2-3

39Canon 204 § 140See Relatio in Communicationes 14(1982)148.41Communicationes 14(1982)15642Francis Marcus and Varghese Mammen describe

the formation of the Canon 129 in their DoctoralThesis. See Francis MARCUS, The meaning ofCooperation Palm 2010. And Varghese MAMMEN,The Laity and their Cooperation in ChurchGovernance, according to the Provisions of cceo andthe tradition of the Malankara Catholic Church, Rome,1996. Pp. 17-19.

43 CIC ’83 Canon 631§144Cf. J. BEYER, DalConcilio Al Codice, Il

NuovoCodice e le istanze del ConcilioVaticano II, EDB,Bologna, 1984. P. 57-58

45Cf. Alfred Leite SOARES Participação Numa

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Igreja constítuida hierarquicamente in Periodica 81(1993)159. He explains this by drawing attention tothe difference between totality which is the composedreality and the globality which is the participated.Which in ontologically is sum of participations.

46 Cf. A. FADA Il principio di corresponsabilitanella constituzione gerarchica della chiesa Lateran2004

47 Cf. Antonio SANCHEZ-GIL L’instituzioneparrochiale un approccio storico-giuridico-pastorale,in PONTIFICIUM CONSILIUM PRO LAICIS,Riscoprire il vero volto della Parrocchia, Libreriaeditrice vaticana 2005, p90-91

48Cf. Can. 135 §149CIC ’83 cc 135,§2,3 391 See G. GHIRLANDA

Il diritto nella misterio della Chiesa: compendio didirittoecclesiale

Pontificia Università Gregoriana; CiniselloBalsamo (MI) : San Paolo, 2006.p. 428

50Il dirittonellaChiesa, mistero di comunione:compendio di diritto ecclesiale Pontificia UniversitàGregoriana ; Cinisello Balsamo (MI) : San Paolo,2006.p. 99

51Cf. CIC ’83 Cann. 511 and 51252Cf. CIC ’83 Cann 460, and canon 463, § 1, n. 5

and § 2 By comparison, can. 358, of the 1917 codemade no provision for the laity to participate in adiocesan synod.

53 Cf. CIC ’83 can. 492 §154Cf. CIC ’83 Can. 494, §455Cf. CIC ’83 Can.536 §156Cf. CIC ’83 Can.53757Cf. CIC ’83 Can.529 §258Communicationes 17(1985)17459G. GHIRLANDA, Introduzione al Diritto

Ecclesiale Piemme Casale Monferrato (AL) 1993 p.126. Also see Can 127 §3

60See CIC ’83 cann. 204 §1 and 208

“Many people are good at talking aboutwhat they are doing, but in fact do little.Others do a lot but don’t talk about it;

they are the ones who make a communitylive.”

— Jean Vanier, Community And Growth

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IntroductionA whispered statement of Cardinal Claudio

Hummes, in the conclave, ‘Do not forget thepoor,’1 prompted the Pontiff-elect to choosethe name of ‘Francis,’ re-presencing St.Francisof Assisi, the champion of the living the Gospelof poor, humble and crucified Christ. PopeFrancis in much less than a year has spelt outhis vision of the church as poor. As a man ofmany ‘firsts’ Pope Francis could initiate arevivalism of Christian values in the church andthe society. No wonder recently, he has beenchosen as ‘person of the year’ in 2013 by afamous English magazine, Time. Popularity ofthe Bishop of Rome, grew not out of pompand glory, but by being simple and humble.Much media-hyped person he has become inthe world – a world leader whose every actionand word has been reported with greatsensation, admiration and surprises. Evencriticized as ‘Marxist,’ by conservatives, the‘Vicar of Christ,’ has categorically stated thatlove for the poor and to be poor come fromhis conviction in the Gospel of Christ. Christremains a model as a shepherd who embracesall, including those despised as sinners,neglected and socially excluded. Vision ofChurch as poor is Christocentr ic andEvangelical as it proclaiming the Gospel byliving.

Pope’s vision of Church as poor“How I would like a church that is poor

and for the poor,” the Pope told about 5,000journalists gathered for an audience with thePope after the election.2 ‘Church as poor’ is avery tricky phrase. Wondering the meaning of

‘CHURCH AS POOR’:Towards an inclusive community

* Dr. John Peter Vallabadoss, OFM Cap.

the vision each catholic Christian is confrontedwith a question of possibility of making this areality. Such wonder presupposes a grim realitythat the Church as community of Disciples ofChrist has wandered far away from the poorand built cities with secured and secluded forts.From magnificent high towers of power,money and institutionalism, Catholic Churchhas not of course, forgot the poor. Throughits worldwide charitable activities, reaching outto the needy, Church as pioneered itself in‘serving the poor.’ From our Indianperspective, where the Church has beenidentified for a long period with its charitable,educational and social works, ‘Church for thepoor’ is very easily understood and accepted.One can be showing concerns for the plightof the poor, gather together all its resourcesfor the welfare of the poor and work towardstheir socio-economic development. On thecontrary taking the plight of the poor on tooneself is a prophetic vision of the Pope andit calls for a radical revision of one’s own lifestyle.

One might argue that the alleviation ofpoverty is best done only by raising thestandard of living of those below poverty line.Socio-economic empowerment of the poor andthe marginalized is ensured when they areprovided sufficient opportunities and income tocome up in life. It means that the poor aregiven an upward mobility and social status withbetter employment, housing, healthcare, etc.Concern for the poor is conveniently definedin terms of removal of obstacles for the poorto come up in life. Ensuring that the poorparticipate in the life of an elite or at least lead

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a moderate and decent living, satisfied theservants of the poor. In other words,empowerment of the poor reaches its goalwhen the so called poor are raised to a levelof social status equivalent as that of their‘higher ups.’ Would the so called ‘higher ups’tolerate such an equalization in the society?Surely they would not. Ideologically therecould be an affirmative answer to the abovequestion. Betrayal behind the answer is thatthey strongly believe that it would never happenin the history of humankind. Sarcastically itcould be said that Christ must be true as quotedby the evangelist, ‘the poor would be alwayswith you.’ (Mt. 26:11; Mk 14:7; Jn 12:8)

Vision of Church as poor, visualizes a wayof life of the faithful in the Church that reflectsa life of the poor without pomp and glory,luxury and extravagancy. In a recent officialletters to newly elected Cardinals, the Popereportedly urges, “I ask you, please, to receivethis designation with a simple and humbleheart… And, while you must do so withpleasure and joy, ensure that this sentiment isfar from any expression of worldliness or fromany form of celebration contrary to theevangelical spirit of austerity, sobriety andpoverty.”3 Coming upon heavily on theconsideration of being termed as Cardinals tobe a promotion and elevation in the church, theleader of the church insists that being‘designated’ as Cardinal is towards service tothe folk of Christ with humility and simplicity.In a way Pope Francis nibs in the bud, theattitudes to power, status and prominence ofclergy in leadership positions, especially thewould-be Cardinals. Any tendency or activitywithout austerity and simplicity, becomescounter-sign to the Gospel way of life andcontrary to teachings of Christ.

With renewed efforts in imparting radicalGospel values, the Pope continues with hisrelentless focus on the kind of Church heenvisions; a community where the poor havethe only place of privilege and the role of

officials in the Church is as servants. PopeFrancis wants a renewal of Church’sengagement with the poor. He desires that theso called ‘higher ups’ incarnate themselves intothe poor settlements. Incarnation begins with‘self-emptying.’ Kenosis is a radical challenge,exposing one to situations of vulnerability,insecurity and uncertainty. “You must leaveroom for the Lord, not for our certainties; wemust be humble. Uncertainty is in every truediscernment that is open to findingconfirmation in spiritual consolation.” 4 IfChurch is to be poor, it has to self-empty itselfof its castles and citadels of power and money.Starting from the question of how Church’spersonnel spend on their exhibits of dress tomark a distinction of role in the church, thereseems to be a renewed thinking and action inPope’s admonition. “It was rightly describedby many as the epitome of ‘dress upCatholicism,’ now so condemned in word anddeed by Pope Francis. Despite the fashionmagazine Esquire choosing him as the bestdressed man of 2013, Pope Francis hasdeliberately ‘dressed down’… The message ofPope Francis is simple but also hard to live:learning the hard lessons of how we can sharethe mission of Jesus requires patience, humilityand a readiness for self-sacrificing service.”5

Church as Poor cannot afford to distance itselffrom the poor even in how its leaders appear.

Gospel radicalism - if this is not possible,we blaspheme against Christ. One could recalla quoted instance from life of St. Francis ofAssisi while seeking apostolic permission fromPope Innocent III in Lateran Basilica: a certainCardinal John of St.Paul in the papal courtchallenged the entire gathering by saying, ‘Ifwe reject this poor man’s request on such apretext, would we not be saying that theGospel is impracticable and so blasphemingChrist its author?”6 If living the Gospel ofChrist who incarnated himself to be poor,becomes impractical and impossible, we makeChrist an un-pragmatic idealist. Identifying

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oneself with the poor and living a life ofpoverty has been championed by many in theChurch, like St. Francis. Appeal of the presentPope to recommit ourselves in involving thepoor in the life of the Church and learning tobe poor, is a radical, challenging and propheticcall. In the year of golden jubilee of the VaticanII council these renewal attempts are awelcome sign. “Vatican II was a re-reading ofthe Gospel in light of contemporary culture,”says the pope. “Vatican II produced a renewalmovement that simply comes from the sameGospel. Its fruits are enormous… Yes, thereare hermeneutics of continuity anddiscontinuity, but one thing is clear: thedynamic of reading the Gospel, actualizing itsmessage for today… is absolutelyirreversible.”7 Possibility of living with the poorand as poor is there for all to see. Renewedexpression of this vision to be poor has afoundation in understanding Church as aninclusive community where poor have agreater role to play.

Towards Inclusive CommunityVision of ‘church to be poor ’ emerges

from deeper understanding of contemporaryecclesiology that the church is communion ofGod’s people. The concept of communion(koinonia), which appears with a certainprominence in the texts of the Second VaticanCouncil,8 is very suitable for expressing thecore of the mystery of the Church. LumenGentium (No.1) begins by declaring, in anintroductory paragraph, that the Church is, inChrist, a sign and instrument of communion.The concept of communion lies ‘at the heartof the Church’s self-understanding,’9 insofaras it is the mystery of the personal union ofeach human being with the divine Trinity andwith the rest of humankind, initiated with thefaith,10 and having begun as a reality in theChurch on earth, is directed towards itseschatological fulfilment (Phil 3: 20-21; Col 3:1-4; Lumen Gentium,1) in the heavenly

Church.11 “Communion always involves adouble dimension: the vertical (communionwith God) and the horizontal (communionamong people).”12

Christian faith proceeds from the concretehistorical experience of Trinity as acommunion of persons. We believe that humanbeings are created in the image and likeness ofGod and called to share in the Divine life.Human life on earth journeys towards a goalwhich is a reflection of the life of the Trinity- a life in communion with others.13 The faithfulform one body in Christ. “All people are calledto this union with Christ, who is the light ofthe world, from whom we go forth, throughwhom we live, and towards whom our wholelife is directed.”14 Excluding individuals orcertain groups of people becomes contrary tovery basis of church’s existence. Inclusivenessis at the heart of the Church’s existence andmission as we proclaim that salvation,sanctification of humanity is in community. InChristian anthropology, human self-realizationis never an individual affair; it is always in andthrough a community. As we are all part ofcommunity we discover ourselves only bymediating ourselves through the other. Thereason behind this is that we can existentiallylive and grow only with the help of others.15

In this connection, it is good to recall PopeFrancis: “And then a thing that is reallyimportant for me: community. I was alwayslooking for a community. I did not see myselfas a priest on my own. I need a community.And you can tell this by the fact that I am herein Santa Marta. At the time of the conclave Ilived in Room 207. (The rooms were assignedby drawing lots.) This room where we arenow was a guest room. I chose to live here,in Room 201, because when I took possessionof the papal apartment, inside myself Idistinctly heard a ‘no.’ The papal apartment inthe Apostolic Palace is not luxurious. It is old,tastefully decorated and large, but notluxurious… and I cannot live without people.

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I need to live my life with others.”16

‘Living with’ and ‘communicating with’the other is a necessity in contemporary eraof globalization and communication. Movingbeyond the boundaries of the church, Christiancommunity has to live and communicate with‘others’ in multi-cultural, multi-religioussituations of the world today. In a world whereeven smaller communities with their cherishedcivilizations, however insignificant they havebeen labelled, are affirmed to contribute tocommon human heritage, there is a greaterneed for preservation and promotion of everyone with focus on security and wellbeing ofwhole of human society.17 Church cannotafford to exclude them as ‘non-christian’ or‘non-catholic.’

ConclusionWould the church at large, Indian church

in particular be able to take the bitter pill ofChrist to be poor? The Pope who stronglycondemns tendencies of consumerism and‘profit-alone-motive’ marketism, chose neverto neglect the poor. Poor are the teachers ofhumility and contentment. Depicting contentedpeople with minimum required house, evenwith thatched roofing, which suits their climateand their environment, as poor and living in awretched condition is wrong. Even picturizingIndian villagers as under developed, althoughlacking certain amenities as urban people enjoy,is to be revisited. A renewed thinking andactivism are required to imbibe the spirit ofpoverty that Christ preached, “Blessed are thePoor.” (Lk 6:20) Call of the present Pope forthe Church to be poor has a concrete anddefinite reform motive to move towardsinclusive community. An authentic communityof Christ could never entertain exclusivenessin its social setup.

‘Walk the talk,’ is a usual jargon we hear,insisting on living the ideals one speaks of.Everyone who talks of high ideals and visionfor a society is expected first to follow those

principles and values in life. Such persons whodo not put into practice what they preach arescorned only as impractical and ideal ‘talkers.’They set goals for others to reach. They preachfor others to live, sounding nice to listen to,as they remain only as entertainers who showup on the stage and gain popularity for limitedtime. Pope Francis came across to the millionsof people as a person who first walked andthen talks. He just not only follows what hepreaches but he preaches what he practices.The world has identified a leader who leads byexample - a person who convinces others ofthe Gospel principles he believes in andpractices. Present generation which seeksconcreteness and experiential display of values,needs reinventing the Gospel of Christ in ourcontext. Church to be poor and inclusivecommunity would certainly bring the gospel tothis generation. As spontaneity is a virtue ofcharismatic figures, the bishop of Rome comesout so creatively and impressively, shunningaway rigid formalities and protocols for whichRoman Church has been famous for centuries.As St.Francis of Assisi was to the medievalchurch, Pope Francis is to contemporarysociety which naturally gets attracted to suchpersonalities to keep alive the flame of theGospel.

Endnotes1h t t p : / / n cr on l i n e .or g / bl ogs / fr a n ci s -

chronicles/pope-francis-i-would-love-church-poor (accessed on 16th Jan, 2014)

2h t t p : / / www. bbc. c o. uk / n ews / wor l d -europe-21812545, (accessed on 16 th May,2013)

3ht tp: //www.ucanindia. in/news/popes-words-of-warning-resonate-in-asia/23441/daily(Accessed on 15th Jan, 2014)

4 “A Big Heart Open to God: The exclusiveinterview with Pope Francis” 19 September2013, p.10 in www.thinkingfaith.org, accessedon 4th Oct, 2013.

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5 Ibid.6 Jacques Le Goff, Saint Francis of Assisi,

trans. Christine Rhone (London: Routledge,2004), 33.

7 “A Big Heart Open to God: The exclusiveinterview with Pope Francis” 19 September2013, p.9 in www.thinkingfaith.org, (accessedon 4th Oct, 2013).

8 Lumen Gentium, 4, 8, 13-15, 18, 21, 24-25; Dei Verbum, 10; Gaudium et spes, 32;Unitatis Redintegratio, 2-4, 14—15, 17-19, 22.

9 John Paul II, “Address to the Bishops ofthe United States of America,” 16 Sept 1987,no.1: Insegnamenti di Giovanni Paolo II, X,3 (1987), 553.

10 I Jn 1: 3: “that which we have seen andheard, we procalim also to you, so that youmay have fellowship with us; and ourfellowship is with the Father and with his SonJesus Christ.” Cf. also I Cor 1: 9; John PaulII, apostolic exhortation Christifideles Laici, 30Dec 1988, no. 19: AAS 81 (1989), 422-424;Synod of Bishops (1985), Relatio Finalis, II,

C), 1.11 Cong. for the Doctrine of the Faith,

Some aspects of the church as Communion,1992, 1, 3.

12 Ibid.13 Cf. Dialogue and Ecumenism,

‘Guidelines for Interreligious Dialogue,’ 2nd

Rev. Ed. (Delhi: CBCI Centre, 1989), n.28.14 Ibid., no. 3.15 Cf. Paul, C. M., (ed.). ‘Shepherds’ For

An Information Age. An Experimental andTraining Manual for the Education of Salesiansof Don Bosco in Media ad SocialCommunications (Mumbai: Boscom-India,2000), p.86.88-89

16 “A Big Heart Open to God: The exclusiveinterview with Pope Francis” 19 September2013, p.2 in www.thinkingfaith.org, (accessedon 4th Oct, 2013).

17 Crollius, R.A., “Religion and the Dialogueof Civilizations in an Era of Globalization”Dispense for Spiritualita Apostolica, GregorianUniversity, Rome (2002)

“We have all known the long lonelinessand we have learned that the onlysolution is love and that love comes

with community.”— Dorothy Day, The Long Loneliness:

The Autobiography of the Legendary Catholic Social Activist

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IntroductionThe Virgin Mary of the Gospels has

always been a person of communion. Popeslike Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI andFrancis have presented Mother Mary as thesupreme expression of human love, freedomand sacrifice in the co-operation of a humanperson with the plan of God. Her life has beena life of Communion. Her “Fiat” to theFather integrated her in the saving plan ofGod towards the humanity.

The Virgin Mary’s presence with Jesusis a presence of true ‘discipleship’. It is apresence which signifies a journey of faith.She integrates herself in the Paschal Mysteryof Jesus Christ. She became ‘the mostexcellent fruit of redemption’ (SC 103).

At the Annunciation, she conceived bythe power of the Holy Spirit . Marysurrendered herself to the Holy Spirit. Herwhole life was a life-in-the-Spirit.

Today, The Virgin Mary is a signpost forevery Christian. As at Cana, she says to eachone of us; “Do whatever he tells you.” (Jn2:5). Thus, after reflecting on her life, weshould ask for ourselves what her life impliesfor the Church and for each one of us. Whatare we supposed to imitate from her in orderto put into practise what the Holy Spiritwanted to communicate to us through her?

Mary in Communion with the Father:The whole scene of Annunciation is

Trinitarian. It is strikingly obvious that it hasa structure which amounts to reveal God asthree persons. The angel’s initial salutation,which calls the Virgin Mary, the one full ofgrace par excellence (kecharitomene),

Mary in CoMMunion with God* Rev. Fr. George Dias

brings her the greeting of the “Lord”,“Yahweh”, the Father, whom she knows asa Jewish believer. As she ponders what thisgreeting might mean, the angel responds toher that she will give birth to the “Son of theMost High” (Lk 1:32). “Rejoice” – whatreason does Mary have to rejoice in such aworld? The answer is: “The Lord is withyou”.

The Virgin Mary is called “full of grace”(Lk 1:28). The Greek word for grace ischaris. Thus, we see that, Mary, who is inthe state of grace, can rejoice with deep-goingjoy. “Full of grace” could also be translatedas: “You are full of the Holy Spirit; your lifeis intimately connected to God”. Here, theVirgin Mary is in “I-Thou” relationship withthe Father; a life of Communion.

The Virgin Mary accepts that this is anextraordinary greeting. Later, when the angelexplains it further saying that she will bear aSon, she affirmed her virginity: “How can thisbe? I do not “know” a man” (Lk 1:34). Maryfinally accepts this annunciation when theangel explains that the Holy Spirit would comeupon her and that with God nothing isimpossible. Mary is chosen by the Father togive birth to the Son through the Holy Spirit.

Mary is a wholly open human being, onewho has opened herself entirely, one who hasplaced herself in God’s hands boldly,limitlessly, and without fear of her own fate.It means that she lives wholly by and inrelation with the Father. She is a listener anda praying person, whose mind and soul arealive to the manifold ways in which the livingGod quietly calls her. She is one who praysand stretches forth wholly to meet God; she

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is therefore a lover, who has the breadth andmagnanimity of true love, but who has alsoits unerring powers of discernment and itsreadiness to suffer.

When she asks what is expected of her,the angel reveals to her that the Holy Spiritwill overshadow her. In reply, Mary declaresher readiness to let this be done to her, thehandmaid. Here, the Virgin Mary is thebeloved of Yahweh because; her faithtranscends that of Abraham in the OldTestament. She is identified with daughterZion; she is the daughter Zion in person. Inher is the fulfilled of the Immanuel prophecymade to king Ahaz in Isaiah 7:14.

Mary in Communion with the Son:The relationship that unites Mary to Jesus

Christ is certainly maternal in as much asMary is “the Mother of Jesus”, as it istestified by all the gospel writers (Mt 1:18;2:11; 12:46-49; Mk 3:35; Lk 2:33-34; Jn2:1.3.5.12; 6:42; 19:21-26). The gospel writersmostly describe everything that Mary did asbeing his Mother: She gave birth to herfirstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddlingclothes and laid him in a manger (Lk 2:7), shesaved him from the death from the hands ofKing Herod (Mt 2:13-15), she went to searchhim when he was lost in the temple ofJerusalem (Lk 2:48), she followed him in hispublic life (Lk 8:19-21), she was with him atCana (referred as the mother of Jesus) (Jn2:1) and was present at the foot of the cross,where she is called “woman” (Jn 19:25).

Mary, at the same time, is different fromthe other mothers because she is related toJesus in faith, who is the Messiah and the Sonof the Most High. In the gospel of Luke,Mary is presented as a model of the Church.As it is spoken by Luke, she is present in thewhole mystery of Christ because “she hasbelieved” (RM 12) and more so because “she

believed first” (RM 26). She is through him,with him and in him.

Right at the moment of Annunciation,Mary is the one who believed in the Saviourand in this sense she is the first Christianwho initiated the movement of faith in Christ.In the Old Testament, we have Abraham whohad only hoped to see the day of the Messiah,who would be his descendent (Jn 8:56), butthe Virgin Mary is the first one to believe inChrist and his salvific mission (Lk 1:32-33;2:34-35). Only in the mystery of Christ is hermystery fully made clear, for everything isrelated to Christ (MC 85).

Luke integrates Mary in the mission ofChrist when he speaks of her encounter withthe aged Simeon. This old man speaks to herin the following words; “Behold, this child isset for the rise and the fall of many in Israel,and for a sign that is spoken against (and asword will pierce through your own soulalso)”. This foreshadows the Son’s Passion,which will become her passion.

The disciples of Jesus know that theBlessed Virgin Mary had and continues tohave a very important role in the history ofsalvation in Christ. Their profession of faithleads the disciples to contemplate the figureand mission of the Mother of the Lord. Theynote that the figure of the Virgin, as found inthe Gospels, is that of a specific woman,someone who is close, in communion, toChrist and to them, who experiences joys andsorrow. They note the value of her‘presence’ in crucial moments of the life ofChrist and the qualities of her soul – humble,strong, generous, compassionate – and herconcern for the trials of contemporary menand women.

Mary in Communion with the HolySpirit:

The Immaculate Conception (Mary

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conceived in the womb of Ana without sin)was a moment of great importance in thehistory of salvation. In the first moment of herexistence, the Holy Spirit filled Mary withheavenly graces (cf. Lk 1:28). In the graceof the Immaculate Conception, the Holy Spiritformed Mary as a new creature in the wombof her parent (LG 56). The Spiritovershadowed Mary at the dawn of herexistence. She would have no need of holysigns; of being born “of water and Spirit” (cf.Jn 3: 5). Her Baptism was the presence ofthe Spirit within her, in the depths of her being.

In the scene of Annunciation (Lk 1:26-38), Mary receives a vocation from the HolySpirit in the history of Salvation. By thesanctifying action of the Holy Spirit, she hasvirginally conceived Jesus by the power of theHoly Spirit and is to give birth to him who isthe Son of the most high. It creates in her anew heart. She responds with her heart oflove and freedom. She opens herself to theinterpersonal dialogue of faith and freedom,of call and response, of love and obedience.Being transformed by the grace of God, theHoly Spirit would raise in her the New Adam.After accepting the divine call, the Son of theMost High is formed in her. She is elevatedto give birth to the divine Son in her. Thecoming of the Holy Spirit results in her divinematernity.

When we look at the action of the HolySpirit in the life of Mary, we see that the HolySpirit acts in the whole life of Mary. The HolySpirit fills her with the abundance of gracesand thus the angel Gabriel greeted her “hailfull of grace” (Lk 1:28). The Spirit helps herin surrendering her life to the will of theFather (Lk 1:38). She has conceived by thepower of the same Holy Spirit (Lk 1:31). Sheis acting under the guidance of the Holy Spirit,for the sake of the Messiah. It is the sameSpirit that sings in Mary the canticle of praise

to God, the redeemer (Lk 1:46-55). It is thesame Spirit that leads her to follow Jesus,making her the first disciple of faith even atCalvary (Jn 19:25).

This new awareness of the role of theSpirit and its relationship to Mary in the biblehas taken Mariology in a new direction. Maryis seen as the first realization of and the mosteminent “member” of the Church formed bythe Spirit. Her gift of the Spirit does not leaveher passive, but moves her to communion andaction.

ConclusionRight from the period of the Fathers of

the Church, efforts have been made topresent the Virgin Mary as a woman in“communion” with God. It has always beenone of the most beloved titles of the spiritualauthors along the tradition. Even though theyhad tried to express themselves, theseattributions at times lacked a lot of dogmaticbasis. The Trinitarian recovery of the SecondVatican Council has permitted new ways ofsearch to be opened that have demandedseveral hypotheses. The Council did notexclude Mary but dedicated a special chapterto this woman of Communion (LG VIII).

Bibliography:BROWN Raymond et al, Mary in the New

Testament, Paulist, NY 1978.DE FIORES Stefano, Maria Madre di Gesù:

Sintesi storico-salvifica, EDB, Bologna 1992.GAMBERO Luigi, Mary and the Fathers of the

Church: The Blessed Virgin Mary in the PatristicThought (Trans., Thomas Buffer) Ignatius, SanFrancisco 1999.

GAVENTA R. Beverly, Mary: Glimpses of theMother of Jesus, Carolina, Columbia 1995.

GRAEF Hilda, Mary: A History of Doctrine andDevotion, Sheed& Ward, London 1987.

TAMBASCO J. Anthony, What are they sayingabout Mary?Paulist, NY 1984.

VON BALTHASAR Hans Urs – RATZINGERJoseph, Mary; the Church at the Source (Trans.,Adrian Walker) Ignatius, San Francisco 2005.

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INTRODUCTION: Before Knitting…Pope Francis calling for unity exclaimed

“How much damage divisions amongChristians, being partisan, narrow interestscauses to the Church! Divisions among us, butalso divisions among the communities:evangelical Christians, orthodox Christians,Catholic Christians, but why divided? We musttry to bring about unity.” Unity, he exclaimed,“is beyond all conflict.”

Division within and outside, hinders thegrowth of the community. As we dedicate thisyear to Small Christian Communities (SCC)in our diocese and unity being at the heart of

community, I would like to draw aninspiration from St. Paul, who knowing theProblem appealed people of Corinthians ‘toknit together’. I hope this paper willchannelize to understand the worth and theway of uniting together.

SPLITING THE ‘KNIT TOGETHER’‘Knit Together’ is a metaphorical axiom

used by Paul in Eph 4:16. This expression isalso used by some biblical versions inCor1:10b. It can also mean to mend, toweave or to unite together.

‘Knit Together’ is a medical word usedof knitting together bones that have beenfractured, or joining together a joint that hasbeen dislocated1. In simple terms ‘KnitTogether’ means ‘be united’. Paul uses twointeresting phrases in 1Cor 1:10b: to make

KNIT TOGETHER…Understanding the Paul’s Way

* Sem. Roman Rodrigues

up their differences and to knit together:in the same mind and in the same opinion.

A CRACK IN THE CHURCH OFCORINTH (1Cor 1:10-17)

Editorial Theme: the title of thepericope i.e. ‘Division in the Church’ clearlyindicates the crack.

‘No Divisions among You’ (1Cor1:10b): Greek word for division is‘Schismata’- to split, to rend, to tear apart.‘Among you’ means in the Church and notoutside the church. Division in the Churchwas a threat. “Any kingdom divide againstitself will be ruined and a house dividedagainst itself will fall” (Lk 11:17).

The word ‘Quarrel’ (11b) — brings outthe seriousness of the division. The Churchwas arguing and splitting into groups,contending and quarrelling over something.

PAUL; KNITTING THE CRACK (Cor1:10-17)

Paul’s major concern in this letter is unityi.e. to heal the division and to display thechurch’s unity. And hence he begins the letterwith the question of division.

St. Paul an ardent advocate for unity-based on 1Cor 1:13 admonishes Christianswith powerful question. Is Christ divided? Andin Eph 4:6 exhorts the people of Ephesusabout unity in — one body, one spirit, onehope, one Lord, one faith, one Baptism, one

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God. Both can be encapsulated in the Pleafor unity.

Love language: “Love can do what thesword can’t do.” Paul doesn’t rebuke thepeople but appeals (parakalo - to call one’sside). Paul says, “I call you to my side...1 beg,plead, ask...Paul speaks love language (1Cor10). He calls brothers in just two verses (w10,11).

WHY KNIT? (Basis For Unity) (Eph 4:6)In his Epistle to the Ephesians, Paul

identifies the unity of the Church with theunity of “one body and one Spirit, just asyou were called to the one hope thatbelongs to your call, one Lord, one faith,one baptism, one God and Father of usall...” (Eph 4: 1-6).

The purpose of the call — ‘lead a lifeworthy of the calling...’ (v 1b) is unity. Paulsuggests Seven 1s so as to why we shouldstrive to maintain peace and unity of God’sspirit in the church:

1. One Body: oneness in the church isessential for the work of Christ. However thebrain may plan or intend to do something butif the body parts doesn’t harmonize with thebrain than everything may frustrate.

2. One Spirit: Greek pneuma meansbreath or Hebrew ruah. For a human beingto live, breath is necessary, so also the spiritis the life-giving breath of the body of thechurch2. It is the same spirit that is presentin all its members.

3. One Hope: we all are proceedingtowards one goal and have one Hope, i.e. thehope for eternity, the hope —that fills us witha desire to live together in peace and harmony.

4. One Lord: Greek kurios meansmaster. Phil 2:11 will say “Jesus Christ isLord.” This is the confessional statement

which recognises His dominion over theworld, in other words the sole authority isaccepted.

5. One Faith: the word pistis in Greekusage has two meanings: ‘trustful acceptanceof Christ’ and ‘saving faith’. But Paul’simplication of faith is ‘a common act ofcomplete surrender’ to the love of JesusChrist. Therefore, Christians are boundtogether.

6. One Baptism: Baptism was a publicconfession of faith3. For a person to enter intoa Roman army, he had to swear an oath.Similarly for a person to be a Christian he toohad to receive the baptism, which was theonly way. So all Christians were Christians byone Baptism.

7. One God: He is Father of all and acreator of all and hence supreme over all.And this expression of ‘father of all’ impliesLove.

HOW TO KNIT? (Virtues of Unity) (Eph4:2)

“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, begyou to lead a life worthy of the calling to whichyou have been called, with all lowliness andmeekness, with patience, forbearing oneanother in love, eager to maintain the unity ofthe Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph 4:2).The way to walk worthily implies three things:humility, gentleness and Patience.

Humility (tapeinophrosun): Christianhumility is based on the sight of self, the visionof Christ and the realization of God4. We cansummarize Paul’s attitude in his own words:“live in harmony with one another, do not behaughty, but associate with the lowly.5” Inother words be humble.

Gentleness (prautes): members of thecommunity should also posses this

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characteristic so as to build unity. Since thesepeople are God controlled and they are angryat the right time. An attitude of gentlenesswould resolve many a church conflict.Gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:23).

Patience (makrothumia): Patience isexercised in putting up with one another overa period of time. It restrains outbursts ofanger. It is developed by waiting and trustingGod. Patience comes through complete faithin God in all circumstances. Christians shouldhave patience towards their neighbours andmembers in the community thus preservingchurch unity.

KNITTING THE DAILY CRACKS* As members of the same body of Christ,

we need to assist other members of ourcommunity especially in SCCs, whichprovide many opportunities in building anunited community.

* Ecumenically speaking, the CatholicChurch can take a leading step in knittingup with the non-Catholic communitiesthrough one Christ, one Baptism, oneGospel, one Spirit, which unites both thecommunities.

* The three virtues: humility, gentlenessand patience, if put to work in our SCCs,I think the feeling of ‘superiority andinferiority’ among the members will shrink,which may help to build a just and unitedcommunity.

CONCLUSION: the final stitch…..“Father, just as you and I are one; so

also, let them be one.” Let this prayer ofJesus be ours today and let us work to buildand maintain the unity in and outside thechurch. Thus we may be able to surpass all

the difficulties that come on our way. For unityis strength and “Unity is beyond all conflict.”

Endnotes:1 Barclay William, The New Study Bible: The

Letters to the Corinthians (Theological Publication,Bangalore, 2010), 17.

2 Barclay William, The New Study Bible: TheLetters to the Ephesians (Theological Publication inIndia, Bangalore, 2010), 162.

3 Barclay William. The New Study Bible: TheLetters to the Galatians and Ephesians (TheologicalPublication in India, Bangalore, 2010), 163.

4 ibid, 158.5 Rom 12:16

Bibliography:-- Barclay, William. The New Study Bible: The

Letters to the Corin thians, TheologicalPublication in India, Bangalore, 2010.

-- Barclay, William. The New Study Bible: TheLetters to the Ephesians, Theological Publicationin India, Bangalore, 2010.

-- Brown Raymond E., Fitzmyer Joseph A.,Murphy Roland E.. The New Jerome BiblicalCommentary, Theological Publication in India,Bangalore, 1994.

-- Driver S. R., P lummer A., Briggs C.A., ACritical and Exegetical Commentary on theEpistle of St. Paul to Corinthians, Edinburgh, T& T. Clarke, 38 George Street.1967

-- Fernandes Macson. “Paul and unity of theChurch” in Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles, ed.Simiao Fernandes and Lino Florindo, Rachol andPilar Seminaries, Goa, 2008, 69-75

-- Long Thomas G., Peteren David L., The NewInterpreter’s Bible, Abingdon Press, Nashville,2001.

-- The Preacher’s Outline and Sermon Bible. Acts-Colossians. Secunderabad. Authentic Media,2005.

-- The Holy Bible-The New Revised StandardVersion Catholic Ed ition, TheologicalPublication, Bangalore, 2010.

-- Victorino Gemma M., A Key to the Letter to theCorinthians, Claretian Publication, 1993.

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I. IntroductionAt the very start of this Theo-politico

reflection on the role that the Small Christiancommunities can play or have to play in thepolitical arena, I would like to clarify andexplain the concept of an ‘EPC’. EPC isnothing else but the abbreviated form of‘Essential Public Community’. This conceptis grounded on the social teachings of theChurch as found in the Catechism of theCatholic Church about ‘Common Good’.

The Catechism of the Catholic Churchdefines Common Good as “the sum total ofsocial conditions which allow people to reachtheir fulfillment more fully and moreeasily.”1In the achievement of this CommonGood, the document lays more responsibilityand an obligation on the shoulders of thePolitical Authority. Many groups andindividuals strive to achieve this CommonGood in their own creative yet limitedperspectives and abilities but these effortstend to remain halfhearted and halfimplemented unless they are attuned or arein convergence with the political authority.Thus this word ‘Essential’ becomes anindelible mark of the political community.

Common Good is the good of the wholecommunity in totality and not the partial goodor development of only minuscule individuals,select families, or vested groups or systems.However, individual development is theessential criteria for moving forward tocommon or public development. As the goodof the individual is not at odds with thecommunitarian good or vice versa but both

SCCS and the EPC* Sem. Haston Fernandes

reciprocate.2 In doing or working for thiscommunitarian good or progress the wordPublic gets synonymous with the politicalsystem. Lastly, I analyze the word‘Community’. Humans are essentiallycommunitarian.3 We receive and give to eachother’s in order to attain full growth anddevelopment. The word community gives amore human and a pastoral dimension to thepolitical process rather than system or aninstitution, which convey a very machine anda formalistic orientation. A human politicalcommunity of saints as well as sinnersthereby shifting from the negative perceptionof politics of just producing results to positivesincere efforts and attempts.

In this analysis, I would focus not toexplain the concept of an EPC but see therole of SCCS in the political community or theEPC

II. Relation between the Church andthe Political Community

The document Gaudium ET Speshighlights that the Church is not to beidentified with any political community nor itis to be bound to any political system. TheChurch becomes in a political community asign and safeguard of the transcendentaldimension of the human person.4 The Churchand the Political authority are thoughautonomous and independent but both aredevoted to the personal vocation of man indifferent spheres. The Church despite itsindependent status seeks the cooperation ofthe political authority in order to achieve the

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welfare of all. This is because humans havenot only a temporal dimension to theirexistence but also integrity of eternal destiny.The Church by her preaching of the Gospeland the witness of her members encouragesthe political freedom and responsibility of thecitizen. However, a note of caution is addedabout the privileges that are often beinggranted by the political authority and asks usto give up these privileges, if they act as anobstacle or compromise to sincere witness. Topreach the Gospel and to voice out theimmoral actions of the state in respect to therights of the human persons, the Church hasfull freedom and uses means which are inaccordance with the Gospel and also with thewelfare of all men according to the diversityof times and circumstances.

III. Contribution of the SCCS tostrengthen the EPC

Recognizing the need felt for theparticipation of SCCs in the political discourseof our country, they being a leaven can beagents of political transformation or renewal.The SCCs using their divine yet humanresources can contribute three major elementsof themselves in order to achieve thetransformation of EPC.

1. Firstly the SCCs by involvingthemselves in the Essential PoliticalCommunity can contribute the very basic andfundamental aspect of Christian life and thatis ‘Faith’. In the murky world of politics, thenear total absence of faith or fading away ofthe faith dimension aggravates the situationgravelly. Faith in the divine can work wondersand help the active stakeholders to participatein the EPC as per the diktat of Faith andmorality.

2. The SCCs by drawing inspiration from

the Word of God can powerfully contribute‘Ethics’ to this area. SCC members arecalled to live their lives in conformity withthe life of Christ. For his political followershe is an example of or the ultimate normof morality. Christian members in the EPCby their very life -witness can movemembers of other faiths to live life worthyof the political call.

3. Lastly the SCCs can by their lifeexample contribute to the realization of thevirtue of ‘Service’. Jesus Christ said I cameto serve and not to be served. The membersof SCCs are bound to follow the call ofChrist to service and humility, which is amuch forgotten virtue. A realistic revival ofthis virtue can hasten the pace of politicaltransformation especially in our country.

IV. ConclusionOften the Political Community is shunned

aside due to the negativity associated to it.Recent scams and scandals have aggravatedthe negative outlook towards it. The SCCscan greatly contribute in bringing about atransformation, which is secular at the sametime spiritual in nature. Thus with the help ofSCCs, the political community will turn intoan EPC – Essential Political Community aninalienable part of man’s life and living.

Endnotes:1 CCC-Page-3752 Community of Justice and Peace, Theological

Anthropology pg. 27113 Ibid. pg. 25514 Gaudium et Spes pg. 865

References:Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1992.Gaudium et Spes, 1965.Jose Kuttianimattathil - Theological Anthropology,

A Christian Vision of Human Beings, 2009.

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1. INTRODUCTIONWe have marched into the year dedicated

to the Small Christian Communities in ourArchdiocese of Goa. This pastoral year hasgiven us a lot of incentives to ponder upon theways of strengthening our communities and tobuild up an active church. The 1st NationalConvention on Small Christian Communitiesheld in Goa in the month of November lastyear, was an ‘opening ceremony’ and also a‘closing ceremony’ for the year of Faith,proclaimed by our Pope Emeritus BenedictXVI. Many priests who attended thisconvention have voiced out their support tostrengthen their communities in their respectiveparishes. These community meetings, in a way,give our pastors an opportunity to go out, ‘totake on the smell of the sheep and the sheepare willing to hear them’ (Evangelii Gaudium,no. 24). There are lots of ideas that help us tohave an enriching ‘somudai’ (SCC) in the HolyBible. We can also trace great insights inphilosophers like Max Scheler, Martin Buber,Gabriel Marcel and Emmanuel Levinas. In thissmall paper, I will critically analyse these viewsabout communities expressed in the Bible andthe views of the above philosophers andultimately relate each philosophical idea withthe biblical message.

2. BIBLE: THE FOUNDATION STONE OF COMMUNITIES

Francoise-Marie Arouet, a famous Frenchphilosopher, who is better known by his penname Voltaire once spoke against the Bible, “Inone hundred years, the Bible will be an extinctbook.” But Voltaire died in 1778 and in 2014(236 years after his death), Bible is still the

THE BIBLICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL

UNION OF COMMUNION

* Sem. Sanford J. Rodrigues

bestseller in today’s modern world. “JesusChrist is the same yesterday and today andforever.” (Hebrews 13:8). Without doubt, Bibleis the foundation on which our lives are built,a constitution which helps us to live a happyand a holy life. St. Paul praises this great fountof wisdom, “O, the depth of the riches andwisdom and knowledge of God! Howunsearchable are His judgements and howinscrutable His ways” (Romans 11:33).

2.1. FOUNDATION OF COMMUNTIES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

I would like to quote a few lines of Fr. JohnPonnore from his article,The Diocesan Priestand the Community:

“According to the Christian revelation Godis a community. The biblically revealed divineproject of human salvation is a work of acommunity – the Father who created theuniverse and the crown of creation, the sonwho redeemed the fallen human race throughhis death and resurrection, and the Holy Spiritwho sanctifies the human race in the processof reuniting it with the creator God. The divineproject of redemption is a ‘team-work’, awork of the Triune God, a work of thecommunity.”1

When God created Adam, He thought hewould enjoy the companionship of the animals,of the plants, which were different fromAdam. Animals, plants, the sea-monsters, thestars, all these are the creations of God. Man,albeit a creation of God, is uniquely different.We read in the book of Genesis, “God createdhumankind in his image; in the image of Godhe created them,” (Gen 11:27a). As a uniquelydifferent being, man wanted ‘someone’,

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someone with whom he could talk to, withwhom he could relate. He wanted the ‘other’to live in a community. God acknowledgesman’s desire and creates Eve from the bodyof Adam. This shows that we are indeeddependent on the ‘other’.

Man sinned and God tried to destroy sin by“opening the fountains of the great deep andthe windows of the heaven.” (Gen 7:11). Itrained for 40 days and 40 nights during thetime of Noah. But God remembered thehumanity and saved as communities. He askedNoah “to take with him seven pairs of all cleananimals, the male and its mate; and seven pairsof the birds of the air also, male and female,to keep their kind alive on the face of all theearth,” (Gen 7: 2, 3) along with his sons andhis wife and his sons’ wives. ‘The God of theBible is the God of the community”.2

2.2. THE NEW TESTAMENT: AN EPITOME OF COMMUNITIES

The New Testament begins with anaccount of the genealogy of Jesus theMessiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham(cf. Mt 1:1-17) as told by St. Mathew. Thegenealogy is an embodiment of communities.The Old Testament told us stories about peopleliving in the communities, each tribe having itsown community. On the other hand, the NewTestament gives us lessons on how to live ina community. Jesus himself went aboutbuilding communities among people. Jesuslived in a community. He himself formed hiscommunity (cf. Mt 10:1-4). He taught them tobe “of one heart and soul” (Acts 4:32). Andafter teaching them to love, he sent them outtwo by two (cf. Lk 10:1-12). The core ofJesus’ message is ‘love’. If you can love yourneighbour then it isn’t difficult to serve him.It is also easy to work in a team. The sendingof the disciples two by two points towards aministry of ‘team-work’ so as to build up acommunity. There are many other examples ofhow we can live in a community. The notable

ones are those of St. Paul (cf. Acts 13:5;16:19; 14:7).So love and ‘team-work’ are likesugar and tea powder that can make anourishing tea.

3. THE COMMUNITARIAN PHILOSOPHERS

Here we will talk about four philosopherswho are well known for their ‘philosophy ofthe other’ or rather we can call their philosophythe ‘philosophy of communion’. They are MaxScheler (1874-1928), Martin Buber (1878-1965), Gabriel Marcel (1889-1973) andEmmanuel Levinas (1906-1995). Thesephilosophers describe human as a being-in-relationship, a being with others. Human is notonly an individual being, but also a being incommunion. In order to lead a meaningful andauthentic existence, one must establish a lovingand mutually reciprocal relationship with otherhuman beings.3

3.1. MAX SCHELER’S DIALOGUEMax Scheler was born in Munich, Germany,

August 22, 1874, to a Lutheran father and anOrthodox Jewish mother. As an adolescent, heturned to Catholicism, because of itsconception of love, although he becameincreasingly non-committal around 1921,committing himself to philosophicalanthropology,and strove to the philosophicalmethod of the founder of phenomenology,Edmund Husserl. In 1928, Heidegger praisedhim as “the strongest philosophical force inmodern Germany, nay, in contemporary Europeand in contemporary philosophy as such”. In1957, Karol Wojtyla, later Pope John Paul II,defended his doctoral thesis on “An evaluationof the possibility of constituting a Christianethics on the basis of the system of MaxScheler”.4

According to Max Scheler, the human beinglives first of all, and principally in others andnot in oneself. One lives more in thecommunity than in one’s own individual self.5

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He speaks about the concept of dialogue,especially a face-to-face dialogue. He sayswhen we dialogue with others, we enter intoa relationship with that individual. When wedialogue, we recognize the other, hislimitations, his strengths and this makes it easyto converse with the other. This takes placeespecially when we meet and interact withstrangers. Dialogue is the core of Scheler’sphilosophy.

3.2. BUBER’S SPHERE OF THE BETWEENMartin Buber was a prominent twentieth

century philosopher, religious thinker, politicalactivist and educator. Born in Austria, he spentmost of his life in Germany and Israel, writingin German and Hebrew. He is best known forhis 1923 book, Ich und Du (I and Thou) whichdistinguishes between ‘I-thou’ and ‘I-it’ modesof existence.6

For Buber, life is a relationship with othersfrom birth to death. His main focus is on the‘sphere of between’. We as humans haveprivacy in our life. There are certain thingswhich we feel are easy to share while thereare those that are to be shared with a selectedfew. In other words, there is a certain ‘privatespace’ for each one of us. According to Buber,the ‘sphere of between’ is not somethingpermanent but is created whenever two humanbeings meet. When we turn to the other, tocommunicate with them, we must enter intoa sphere beyond our own i.e. the ‘sphere ofbetween’. According to him, there are threespheres of between: (i) I-It: First one is relatedto the world and to the things (ii) I-Thou: Thisis related to humans – both to individuals andto many (iii) I-Eternal Thou: Third one isrelated to the absolute. Absolute is the AbsoluteBeing who makes possible every ‘I-Thou’relationships. We ‘exchange’ in language withman, ‘transmit’ below language with natureand ‘receive’ above language with spir it.Therefore, I-Thou’ relationships are theessence of Buber’s communities.7

3.3. MARCEL’S AVAILABILITY INCOMMUNITIES

Gabriel Marcel, a World War I non-combatant veteran, pursued the life of anintellectual, and enjoyed success as aplaywright, literary critic and concert pianist.He was trained in philosophy by HenriBergson8, among others. He was interested inidealism. After converting to Catholicism in1929, he became a noted opponent of atheisticexistentialism, and primarily that of Jean-PaulSartre. Marcel’s philosophy has been called the‘philosophy of communion’.

Gabriel Marcel develops Buber’s philosophyon relationships, particularly the humanrelationships. According to Marcel, to begenuine in our interpersonal relationships, wemust be totally and unreservedly be ‘available’to others. He says, “A really alive person is notmerely someone who has a taste for life, butsomebody who spreads that taste, showeringit, as it were, around him”.9He says that oneshould place oneself at the disposal of others.Authenticity of a person depends upon his/heravailability to others. If somebody is living aclosed life, making oneself unavailable toothers then he is living an inauthentic life. Aperson living an authentic life is the one whois ‘open’ to others in love and sharing.Availability is the theme of Marcel’s philosophyof communion. He says, “I can become myselfonly through the other, my friend”.10

3.4. LEVINAS’ RESPONSIBILITY FORTHE OTHER

Emmanuel Levinas was born in 1906 inLithuania. Most members of his family werekilled by the Nazi, apart from his wife anddaughter, who were protected by his friends.Later, he went to France to study philosophy.He was greatly influenced by Edmund Husserl,Martin Buber and Martin Heidegger. He evenplanned to write a book on Heidegger butabandoned it in disbelief at Heidegger’s actionto join the Nazis.11 He died in Paris in 1995.

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Humans are social beings. We live in asociety where we brush our shoulders withdifferent kinds of people. There are rich andpoor, educated and uneducated, influential andnon-influential. The ‘living together’ with theothers demands a response from us. Levinascalls this ‘proximity’.12 Thus, Levinas claimsthat proximity is responsibility or the ability torespond. It is an order for us to live ethicallywith the ‘other’. Each human being is a uniquecreation of God. And so there is unity indiversity among us. Rev. Dr. Victor Ferraoonce asked a question during a class, “Whatwould have happened if all the fingers of ourhand were of the same size?” It would havebeen an impossibility to grab things or to catchhold of anything. Levinas focuses on the otheras the one who cannot be reduced to oneself.This other can be anyone and everyone outsideus. One is held to bear the burden of others.13

The Levinasian ethics purely focuses on theotherness of the other and our responsibilitytowards the other.

4. THE BIBLICO-PHILOSOPHICALRELATIONSHIP

There is a mutual relationship between thebiblical and the philosophical understanding ofcommunity. Max Scheler’s dialogue, Buber’ssphere of between, Marcel’s availability andLevinas’ responsibility can be related to theother aspects of communities in the Holy Bible.

4.1 DIALOGUEPharisees were like a bunch of cops who

tried to catch Jesus red handed. They foundhappiness in condemning a person whothreatened their position. But Jesus as divineas his nature was tr ied to build up arelationship by having a dialogue. Just to noteone example: When Jesus goes with hisdisciples to the garden of Gethsemane to praybefore his suffering, the soldiers of thePharisees along with Judas stalk him. Jesusbegins a dialogue with them, “Who are you

looking for?” (Jn 18:4). Jesus stands as anexample before us and inspires us to clarify themisunderstandings among our neighboursthrough dialogue which can be verystrategically done during the SCC meetings.Max Scheler once said, “There is not enoughlove in the world to squander it on anythingbut human beings”.14

4.2 SPHERE OF BETWEENEveryone living in this world has his/her

own private space. If an unknown personenters into our private space, we tend to dislikehim/her. Buber spoke about these spheres ofbetween by classifying them into three kinds.Relating them to the Bible: (i) I-IT: - Jesus builtup this relationship with the nature. When hewas feeling troubled, he went to the mountainto spend some time in silence with the nature(who knows he might be even speaking to thetrees there). This relationship was so strongthat even the stormy waters of the sea gaveheed to his commands (cf. Mk 4:35-41). (ii)I-THOU:- Jesus was a man of relationships.He had friends and also enemies. He went onbuilding bridges throughout his life. (iii) I-ABSOLUTE THOU:- The presence of theabsolute cannot be denied in Jesus’ life. Fromhis birth till the ascension into heaven we findthe hand of God guiding and protecting him.

We have to build up the brokenrelationships, which make us difficult to enterinto the other’s sphere in our communities.

4.3 AVAILABILITYJesus made time for his flock even when

he was tired. Being available to them, he wasable to win them. He won their hearts, if nottheir intentions which were brainwashed bythe Pharisees. He made time for them.Speaking on the availability of priests, PopeFrancis writes in his apostolic exhortation thatpriests need to keep the doors of the churchopen for the people. “The church is called tobe the house of the father with the doors

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always wide open” (Evangelii Gaudium,no.47). Being available to our neighboursstrengthens our communities during SCCmeetings as it helps us to know our neighbourswhom we rarely meet during the daily busyschedule.

4.4 RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE OTHERLevinas quotes Dostoyevsky, the Russian

author, in his book Entre Nous, “We are allguilty for everything and everyone, and I morethan all the others”. 15 How was Jesusresponsible? Jesus after spending an entire daypreaching to the people about the treasures ofthe kingdom of God has compassion on themas they were hungry listening to him. He askshis disciples to feed them. But they don’t havea clue as to how to fulfill their need. UltimatelyJesus performs the miracle of the multiplicationof the loaves and feeds the five thousand (cf.Mk 6:30-43). This explains Jesus’responsibility for the other. SCC meeting is aplatform where we can taste the needs of ourneighbours. As responsible beings, we can helpthem in whatever way possible.

5. CONCLUSIONThere is a relationship between the Biblical

and the philosophical vision of communion.The philosophical vision of communion findsits roots in the Holy Bible. If we introspect thehistory of philosophy, we will see thetransformation from theocentric philosophy toanthropocentric. Philosophy, in some way orthe other, has helped us to know the true valueof man, the apex of God’s creation.Understanding the profound relationshipbetween the biblico-philosophical communion,it is an imperative focus to live as the firstChristians lived “with one mind and soul” (cf.Acts 4:32-37). I again quote Gabriel Marcel,“I can become myself only through the other,my friend.”

Endnotes:1 Rev. Fr. John Ponnore, “The Diocesan Priest

and the commu nity, ” Vid ya jyo t i Jo urna l o fTheological Reflection 77, no. 10 (October 2013):725-726

2 Ibid, 7263Metaphysical Nature of Finite Being (New

Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Open University,Bk.3, 2010), 21.

4Max Scheler, [article-on-line] (accessed 19 th

Jan uary, 201 4) available f rom h t tp: / /en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max Scheler; Internet

5Metaphysical Nature of Finite Being , 216Martin Buber, [article-on-line](accessed 19 th

Jan uary,201 4)availab le f rom h t tp :/ /www,iep.utm.edu/buber;Internet.

7 Ibid.8 Henri Bergson was a no ted Fren ch

philosopher of the early 20 th century. He believedthat we can know reality more through experienceand intuition than rationalism.

9Gabriel Marcel , [article-on-line] (accessed19 th J anua ry, 2014 ) available from h t tp: / /www.iep.utm.edu/marcel/;Internet.

10Metaphysical Nature of Finite Being, 2111 Sem. Fraser Fernandes, “Levinasian Ethics

and Faith”, Luceas, (2012-2013);8412 Anthony F. Beavers, Introducing Levinas to

Undergrad ua te Phi lo sophers [paper-on -line](accessed 19 th J anuary, 2014) available fromhtt p:/ / facu l ty.evansv ille . edu / t bz/PD Fs/undergradphil.pdf;Internet

13AlphonsoLin gis in t he t rans lato r ’sin troduct ion to Otherwise than Being , xxx i.Emmanuel Levinas, Otherwise than Being orBeyond Essence , translated by AlphonsoLingis(Boston: MartinusNijhoft Publishers, 1981)

14 Available from h ttp:/ / en .wikiquote.org/wiki/Max Scheler (accessed 19 th 2014); Internet.

15 Emmanuel Levinas, Entre Nous: Thinkingo f t he o th er (London : At h lone P re ss L td,2007),90

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Introduction‘A good time for women to gossip’ was

the reply by a youngster when inquired aboutthe SCCs. This disturbing remark somehowurged me to know what SCCs are. Everyoneof us have adequate knowledge of whatSCCs are. It may be through the Pastrol letterby our beloved Archbishop where he clearlyhas elaborated the meaning of SCCs and alsothe National Convention have enlightened uswith required knowledge of SCCs. Havingheard lot about SCCs I had the urge toexperience SCCs in my own village.

Historical BackgroundThe SCCs were introduced around 1990’s

by Fr. Asusanv D’Silva as the parish priestof Rachol with the aid of Br. Anthony. At thebeginning they took the initiative to educatethe communities about SCCs through variousmass media tools. By personally visiting eachhouse the importance of community living andrelationship between God, humans andneighbours was made known to people. Dueto good response from the communitiesgradually the 7 steps method was introducedby the then Parish Priest Fr. VisitasanvMonteiro. After electing leaders for particularwards and by educating them with requiredtraining, he surrendered the responsibility ofconducting the meetings to the trained leaders.Every month each ward had a meeting in andesignated house. The various responsibilitiesof the church were distributed according tothe wards. In the time of Parish Priest Fr.Agnelo Bonamis, the seminarians from theRachol Seminary were introduced to the

SCC’s in Rachol Parish* Sem. Aleston Vaz

SCCs as a part of formation for them fortheir future ministry. Fr. Roque da Costa, whois the current Parish Priest, has revived theleadership formation of the wards. Throughthe formation of CATs and PATs and hasalready made some strides in leadershipformation marking certain area to a particularperson within the SCCs. This has broughtabout delegation of leadership.

Working of SCCsAs SCCs are 24X7 and not limited to one

hour meeting, let us look for some of theenriching things or activities which builds thecommunity of Rachol.

The death of someone in the communitydisturbs not only the family, but also the wholeward. As community, they come together andpray not only on the funeral day but till the7th day at the house. In the month of Octoberpeople from the ward gather together nearany cross closer to them and pray the rosaryinterceding for their unity. For any celebrationpeople come forward to help each other inseveral possible ways e.g. wedding, baptism,birthday, Holy Communion, etc. DuringChristmas neighbours share their presence inpreparing sweets. So the joy of the celebrationis well maintained by the people. There issharing of joy with Hindus. Hindus alsobecome the part of any Catholic celebrationsand vice-versa. Also the birth of Christ iscelebrated in every ward through theorganised get-togethers where differentactivities take place like games, singing,dancing, eating, etc. Annual picnics also helpin building the unity among the people.

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Though at times neighbours are not in goodterms but still when any trouble comes ontheir way neighbours are first one for rescue.In some wards they pay visit to the old-agehomes and other less fortunate people. Attimes collect funds and give to the poor. Atsome places in the SCCs meetings, thecommunity problems are brought to the proand solution is provided by the othermembers. The possible help is also providedin case needed e.g. financial or material help.Obstacles

World is not heaven, so do SCCs are notperfect. There are thorns among the flowers.Some of the thorns are:- In some wards the participation is very

minimum. The few chosen peopleparticipate in the meetings. Especially theyouth show less interest attending theSCCs meeting.

- The pride and differences among people attimes disturbs the spirit of SCCs.

- No collaboration of members with theleaders sometimes bring about division inthe SCCs and demoralises the leader aswell as lack of motivating and enthusiasticleaders makes the community lethargic.

- Selfish nature at times blocks somemembers from being sensitive to the needsof others.

Need of the hour- Good Leaders: People demand enthusiastic

and motivating leaders who are willing towork for the Lord. Leaders who encourageand bring people together for differentactivities. A leader who knows everyoneand who does not distinguishes accordingto status.

- ‘Iness’ to ‘Otherness’: Today somehowthe self-centeredness is blocking us toaccept the others. There is a need to gobeyond the boundaries of Inness and look

the other as the part of Iness. Differencesof the other makes difficult for the personto accept him but realising that differenceor uniqueness is the joy of the communitythat can build an effective SCC.

- Sharing: Sharing can be understood in abroader sense. Sharing your talents, timeand sharing in the joy of others is deepestway of living a life of sharing. One shouldwork for sharing their talents for growthof community. Sharing in the joy of theothers. If someone achieves success inanyway instead of being jealous, sharingcan be done in the joy of others and alsoencouraging and motivating them for theirfuture.

- Attending SCC meeting: Concept about theSCCs is somehow misunderstood by manypeople. Proper education about the sevensteps should be provided. Youthparticipation should be encouraged bymaking the meetings in creative ways. Useof various tools which attracts youth wouldbe fascinating in order to make theparticipation effective.

ConclusionRachol does not only holds one’s eyes on

the external beauty but also the internal beautyby living a good community life. Unfortunatelytoday everybody desires for perfect thing forthemselves. Lack of perfection becomes areason of rejection of others. We cannot findthe perfection in the community which wedesire. In order to build the community weneed to accept the uniqueness of others whichwe see as weakness. Instead of looking forthe perfection let us be happy with thedifferences which unites the community. It isnot in changing other we can build community,but changing our own self. So let me giveinitiative.

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LECTIO BREVIS

This was the lecture given by Rev. Dr. Victor Ferrao, during theInauguration of the formative year 2013-2014 on 3rd July 2013….

— Editors

Edward Said’s magnum opus,Orientalism,1 has exposed the epistemicviolence of the West. In the same vein DipeshCharavorthy has laid bare how we Indianshave cultivated and exoticized Europe of ourimagination.2 While we can sympathize withthe noble projects of both Said andChakravorty, we cannot certainly accept thatthere is a single monadic, essentialist andsubstantive conceptualization of oreintalismor grant that there is a single imagination ofEurope. Both Said and Chakravorty admitthe complexities of their theoreticalframeworks. Yet one might trace thatmajority of the Indian intellectuals seem tofeed on the Anglo-germanic orientalism andhave almost forgotten that there are otherorientalisms that operate parallel to themainstream orietalism that they follow. Thismain stream orientalism has almostorientalized the intellectuals of India. Somehave become sucked into the project ofconstruction of the orient as mystical other

The Other Orientalism and the Challenge andOpportunities for the Church in Goa

* Rev. Dr. Victor Ferrao

of the rational Europe. This attempts havesuccinctly been psychoanalytically nuancedas the shadow side of the West by AshisNandy, which functions as the inversion ofthe West. Since enlightenment, the dominantrepresentation of Western culture seems tohave subordinated its own aspects of cultureand tradition that are viewed as Dionysian(those trends that have been viewed asirrational, poetic , uncivilized and feminine asopposed to the Apollonian). The projection ofthe mystical character on the orientlegitimated the domination as well ascolonization of the East by the West.

The subaltern studies collective andpostcolonial scholars like Gayatri Sipvak,Homi Bahaba, and others have produced asubstantive critique of orientalism and haveexposed the politics of knowledge thatproduced the asymmetrical power relationswithin the West and the East. But all thesestudies have mostly dealt with the Anglo-germanic shades of orientalism and have not

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considered the lusotopic orientalism. Thelusotopic orientalism cannot be reduced to amono-form of a stereotype. There isdefinitely dynamic pluralism into it.3 But thefact that it is forgotten by Indian intellectualsis certainly impoverishing our intellectualgaze. This lusotopic orientalism that wasexperienced by the Goans can definitely opennew windows to look at India. Goans havenot only experienced lusotopic orientalismbut have also have been swept by anindology soaked in Anglo-germanicorientalism. Hence, this study attempts to de-center the power relations involved in thehistory of ideas both as subject of analysisand disciplinary regime of institutionalizedknowledge. Hence, lusoptopic orientalism isan alternative orientalism that can illumineboth how we view India as well as Goa.Indeed, this project has the potency to explorehow the main stream orientalism that hasbecome the heritage of all and continues toaffect us and can be renewed from and forthe marginal locations like Goa.

Hence, we join the movement that isgreeted as Occidentalism.4 It is a counterfield of research that is developed in the orientto study the West from the Non-Westernpoint of view. The West in its quest toexpand its borders attempted to understandthe people of the East better in order todominate better. Thus, orientalism was bornas a western activity, an expression ofWestern Elan Vital , determining the powerof the relationship of the West and its other,between the Europe on one side and Asia,Africa and Latin America on the other side.Orientalism converts the West into a knowingsubject and the East into a known object. ButOccidentalism switches a change in the rolesof the East and the West as the East

becomes the knowing subject and the Westbecomes the known object. The Cogitoergo sum of the West becomes studio ergosum of the East.5 Among the different shadesof Occidentalism, one must prefer aconstructive Occidentalism that strives tobuild a sane inter-subjective relationshipbetween the East and the West.

Thus, Occidentalism is a de-colonialmovement. It is an attempt to shift thebalance of power within the politics ofknowledge. The Occidentalism that I haveproposed in this context is different from theone that is studied by the Ian Buruma andAvishai Margalit in their Book Occidentalism:The West in the Eyes of its Enemies whichtries to capture the hostile Islamist reactionto the West.6 Our use of the termOccidentalism is also not associated with theuse of same by Walter Mignolo, who uses itto refer to the universal cosmology ormonotopical modernity while opting for apluritopical pluriversality of worlds andknowledges otherwise. Mignolo succinctlyargues that modernity is inescapably conjoinedwith history and reality of what he callscoloniality. Coloniality does not just refers tothe Western covert colonial occupation, butalso to the overbearing West’s ongoingeconomic, political, and epistemologicaldomination throughout the world. He assertsthat coloniality is the dark side of modernity.Occidentalism for Mignolo is the location fromwhere the world was classified and ranked.7

What Mignolo calls occidentalism, is the pointof reference that produced orientalisms.

We have deliberately chosen the term‘other orientalism’ because it assists us tounderstand the intertwining of differentshades of orientalims that afflict our country.All these orientalisms might have different

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occidentalisms underpinning them. But weuse the word Occidentalism to mean thecritique of these different orientalisms. Withinthis critique, we place the importance ofPortuguese orientalism in a prime locationbecause it was historically first as well assignificantly different from the reigning Anglo-germanic orientalism. Though the term otherorientalism is already used by Flipa LowndesVicente in his book, Other orientalisms:India Between Florence and Bombay ,1860-1900, to mean Italian orientalism thatdeveloped in Mumbai8, I use it for itscontrastive force that can help us tounderstand Lusotopic orientalism that isforgotten by the Indian intelligencia. Our workdoes critically view our society in the light ofthis other orientalism but at the same timeattempts to explore the challenges andopportunities it offers in convergence to theBritish orientalism to the Church in Goa.

The Different Colonization of thePortuguese

Dutch Governor Antonio Van Diemen issaid to have stated in 1642 “ Most of thePortuguese in Asia look upon this region astheir fatherland, and think no more aboutPortugal”.9 With almost two centuries ofcolonial experience ahead of the British,expansion in Asia, the Portuguese haddeveloped their own framework to interpretthe cultures that they encountered.10 ThePortuguese exhibited a different relation tothe cultures they conquered. Alito Siqueirastates that this policy of the Portuguese waschristened as the doctrine of assimilados(assimilated ). 11 This means the Portuguesein Goa rather than seeing the difference laidthe emphasis on the absorption of Goa andthe Goans into the Portuguese culture and

identity. This led to the lusitanization of theGoans. For the Goans to be lusitanized meantto be like the Portuguese. This lusitanizationwas interpreted as de-nationalization of theGoans by Dr. Tristao Braganza Cunnha.12

The project of assimilation and lusitanizationwas successful because of the myth of theabsence of racial discrimination.13 Hence, theresults were different from what has beendescribed by Fanon in Black Skins andWhite Masks.14 Even in our Post-colonialtimes Portugal has exhibited a strangepossessiveness of the territories that it oncecolonized.

The Portuguese Imperative toOccidentalize

Siqueira states that there is a strongrelation of identity and territory among thePortuguese. That is why the Portuguesehaving come into what we now call IndianUnion much before the notions of evolutionand racisms where generated in a post-enlightenment era in Europe, choose toOccidentalize (lusitanize) rather thanorientalize the Indian as attempted by theBritish colonizer. That is why it is argued thatdifference in the forms of Portuguese and theBritish colonization lie in the differenthistorical periods their colonial enterpriseoperated.

We might understand the Portuguesecolonization, if we consider the workJohannes Fabian that attacked the hegemonic‘positivistic pragmatist’ philosophy of scienceand demonstrated that the temporal depictionof the other is stained by the ‘schizonic useof time’ . Fabian views it as the denial ofcoevalness’- a term that becomes the glossfor a situation , where the other ’shierarchically distancing localization

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suppresses the simultaneity and thecontemporaniety of an ethnographicencounter. 15Such a temporal distanciationbanishes the other to a stage of a lesserdevelopment. Fabian christens such a denialof coevalness as the ‘allochronism’ ofanthropology.16 Thus, in the context ofPortuguese colonial enterprise, we can tracea lesser degree of allochronism that theirBritish counter parts. This is the reason whythe Portuguese colonization that belonged tothe pre-enlightenment era primarily exhibitsthe imperative to Occidentalize and wheninfluenced by the enlightenment switches toa more forceful oreintalizing mode. ThePortuguese orientalism by an large reduceddifference into sameness. They viewed theother as a mirror of themselves. Yet it stillinferiorized the other because they relegatedthe other to a stage in their own past.Therefore, it is said that the Portugueseperceived in the indigenous people they hadconquered as reflecting their own ‘uncivilizedPast’ which they wanted to erase andtranscend. This is the reason why they tookupon them the civilizing mission. One mightsee conversions to Catholicism in the 16th andthe 17th century by religious fervor as well asthe imperative to occidatalize in this light. Yetthere was a clear hierarchy in the social orderinaugurated by the Portuguese where thewhite Portuguese were on the top, nextfollowed the Mesticos , third came the nativeChristians and lastly the ‘Hindus’17 and theMuslims.18 The Portuguese sociological andhistorical discourse appears excessivelyderogatory19 as it is soaked in theirorientalism.

Other Orientalism of the PortugueseAllochronism being less in degree, the

Portuguese orientalism is certainly distinctfrom the British, French, or Americanexperiences. It is established that thePortuguese hit the imagination of Europeabout the East as the 16 th and the 17 th

centuries circulated images from Portuguesetravel narrative representing the Asiansocieties in Europe.20 By the end of the 17th

century, discourses about Asia furnishingcertain ideas and views of its societies werealready relatively current across Europe.Fernao Lopes de Castanheda’s , Joa deBarros’ , and Gaspar Correia’s expansionchronicles that were written mainly in the firsthalf of the 16 th century depicted thePortuguese presence mainly in India and wereconcerned with the need to show howpowerful the emergent empire was. Indeed,we can discern a Portuguese imperial gazein the above works. Fernao Lopes deCastanheda , Gapar Correia and AfonsoAlbuquere himself write that the Portuguesecould control the natives without any recourseto violence because of the policy of inter-marriage/ Politica dos Casamentos(miscegenation) which was thought toeventually incorporate the Goans into thedominant Portuguese culture and societythrough a creation of a class of mixed bloodwho would be loyal to the state.21 Manytravelers uncritically accepted anddisseminated the image of harmonious Goa.This harmony is inscribed in the image ‘GoaDourada’ (Golden Goa). One can trace thispicture of Goa from Albuquerque toLinschoten, Thevenot , Giovanni FrancescoGemelli Carreri , Pietro della Valle, SamuelPurchas , Abbe Carre , and contemporaryhistorian like Hernani Cidade and JaimeCortesao. 22

This orientalism succeeded in constructing

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Goa as the other India. This means Goaemerged as a space of difference withinIndia. Indeed, Goa become the capital of thePortuguese possessions in the East. Duringthe liberation debate Portuguese dictatorSlazar argued that Goa was the province ofPortugal and Goans were Portuguese citizens.He further stated this province was inexistence for four fifty years and India as anation was of recent origin.23 Within thisstream of thought, we will have to agree thatIndia would not be a Hindu majoritoriancountry had it not been the Portuguese thatacted as a buffer against the Islamic forcesfrom the middle East.

Dynamic Cross-pollination of PortugueseOrientalism

Portuguese orientalism like otherorientalisms cannot be viewed from anessentialist, positivist, reductionist and overlyhomogenized framework. Such an approachoccludes the dynamic cross-pollination andhybridization of every shade of orientalism andresults from an academic myopia. It evolvedin relation and interaction with otherorientalism and their impact on the contextsin the colonies. Hence, it is important for usto discern the subtle dynamism that shapedPortuguese orientalism.

Orientalism as a Fusion of HorizonsKnowledge as the product of a detached,

dispassionate and neutral researcher is nolonger tenable. The notion of objective andvalue free knowledge has come underincreasingly critical scrutiny in the light ofdevelopments in Hermeneutics. FollowingMartin Heidegger , we have come to acceptthat understanding is the fundamental way ofbeing in the world.24 Hans George Gadamer

takes this insight further and teaches that onecannot avoid being involved in interpretationby virtue of one’s historical situated-ness(facticity of ones being-in-the world).Gadamer locates the ills that affect our questfor objectivity in enlightenment. He teachesthat enlightenment thought displays theprejudice against prejudice. He clearly pointsout that our understanding is condition by thepast (our tradition), as well as our presentcircumstances and agendas (prejudices). Theprejudice derives itself from what Gadamercalls ‘effective history’ that is our historicalsituated-ness that provide the basicframework that facilitates understanding.25

Our prejudice is never really purely individualsince it remains constrained by the pastinterpretations of our traditions. This is whywe cannot accuse Gadamer of crasssubjectivism or relativism.

This means one cannot understandanything without relating to ones being-in-theworld. There is no universal bird’s eye viewor God’s vantage point for anyone. Meaningresults from the fusion of horizons.26 Theinterpreter’s horizon is fused with the horizonof the author. There is no univocal meaning.In this sense, there is no univocal orientalism.Different orientalisms are born in theinteractions of diverse European traditionswith the Eastern traditions. Thus, for instance,the mis-identification of the ‘Hindu’ Goddessas exotic image of Mother Mary and thetemple as a Christian Church by Vasco deGamma clearly demonstrates how a fusionof horizons of two distinct traditions resultsin the emergence of Portuguese orientalism.27

Alito Sigueira and Alexander Henn greet thismoment as the emergence of early modernitywhere a Portuguese is confronted byotherness, which he in the beginning

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assimilates into sameness.

Portuguese Orientalism as IsogeticalFollowing Gadamer , we must admit that

meaning is isogetical in so far as it involvesan unconscious reading into the text. Thereis a degree of isogensis or reading into andtherefore prejudicing aspects of the encounterwith another tradition. But this isogensis isnever arbitrary. In this context, it seems moreappropriate to speak of what Gilbert Ryle andClifford Geertz call ‘thick description.’28

A‘thick description’ is one that contains highdegree of contextual richness-that is, anattention to the socio-cultural and historicalcircumstances which contribute to themeaning of an event.

This would mean that there is a continuousto and fro interaction that encounter of thePortuguese lusophonic tradition with Goanculture as well as indic culture at large thatsymbiotically produced what we call thePortuguese lusotopical orientalism. Thus,orientalism does not result from isolationismand never remains strictly monolithic. Allforms of Portuguese orientalisms were theresult of cross fertilization. Thus, it is animmersion of the lusotopical tradition thatemerged into a complex lusitanized traditionthat we might call Portuguese orientalism.Thus, like every other orientalism, thePortuguese orientalism is also construction ofthe orient that is at the narcissistic best in thecreation of a superior Europe.

Orientalizing Dynamics of thePortuguese Orientalism

Orientalizing the orient was not just theproject of European. It was also the orientalswho participated in the orientalizing the orient.There is no pure orient any more. What exists

is an orientalized orient. Hence, we must getout of occidentosis (the pathological attitudeto blame all ills on the west). The very factthat we in Goa tolerated the Portuguese rulefor 450 years compels us to realistically lookat our contribution to the construction of thecolonial relations. This will certainly save usfrom extremely crass Occidentalism(dehumanizing picture of the west as paintedby its enemies). Homi Baba teaches that theappropriation of the master discourse by thenative is a form of resistance that takes theshape of mimicry and parody of colonialauthority.29

Acceptance of Asymmetrical PowerRelations

Goan remained colonized for four hundredfifty years. The issue of the subjection of theGoans to the foreign rule for a long time isalso an important issue to contemplate.30 Howcould Goa tolerate the foreign rule for sucha long time? This acceptance of theasystmetrical power relation as normal andnatural also has a Goan contribution. Thework of Jacques Ranceire might give ussome insight into the question under ourconsideration. Ranciere teaches that thechild has a natural capacity to learn his mothertongue without a teacher. The childunderstand the distribution of the sensible inhis context. Hence, learning a mother tongueis a political act.31 Though a child insertsitself in the sign system of its context in arandom manner yet he learns to accept itsown place in the scheme of its context as helearns to speak it own mother tongue.

Now following the insights of Ranciere, wecan certainly understand how Goans learn toaccept an asymmetrical power relation and

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tolerated the colonial rule. This orietalizationof the Goan is described in the twentiethcentury as denationalization of Goans by Dr.Tristao de Braganza Cunha. This meansGoans also joined in the project oforientalization and ended up accepting theirsubjection without any question. Some evensaw it as a progressive step which becamethe foundation of ‘Goa Dourada’ Paradigm.Dr. Tristao de Braganza Cunha furtheraccuses the Church as doubly denationalizedbased on his own subjection to the Britishorientalism which led to evolution of theconcept of India as a nation. We can alsotrace similar indebtedness to British orientlismearlier in the work of Gerson de Cunha. Goaindica is born out of such a British orientalism.

The intrusion of few select Portuguesewords into the Mando that were composedduring the Portuguese era also indicates theorientalization of Goans. Selects words likefelicade, igrand, adeus, etc have come intoMando, showing how Konkani, the mothertongue of Goans was orientalized. But isinteresting that after the liberation newcomposition of Mando exhibits a purging ofPortuguese words. We can also similarly,trace a movement of cleansing of Portuguesewords from liturgy after liberation. Thus, wehave cummunao became kristprasad, padribecame Iadnik, altar became Vedi etc. Thissuggests that the dominant sections in Goaunder colonization lusofonized themselves andthen recycled or invented themselves throughBristish orientalism. The Indian Governmentcontinued the Portuguese education for sometime till liberation. It was the Goans whochoose English education against thePortuguese leading to closure of theinstitutions that imparted PortugueseEducation. This is nothing but exchange of

orientalisms. We can still find shades of thisexchange dynamism even today with regardsto the controversy that surrounds medium ofinstruction. Post-colonially, Goans seem tohave engaged in the politics of exchange ofBritish Orientalisms between the Hindus andthe Christians and both together share alusitanized orientalism that forgets that theMuslims have a legitimate share in the storyof Goa.

Double Orientalization of the Goans The orientalization of Goans is complex

and dynamically intertised and intertwinedwith the British orientalism as well as pre-Portuguese Goan culture.32 There has beento and fro intermingling of these orientalismsand hence one must agree that Goans aredoubly orientalized. There is a symbioticrelations between the orientalized India andthe lusitonized Goa. They seem to overlap andpenetrate each other. That is why Goansoccupy a special status among the orientalizedorientals. Hence, Goa has been always andstill remains other India.

It is not easy to articulate the complexityof the dynamic mobility and migration of thesetwo orientalisms. The evolution of caste andHinduism might demonstrate this dynamism.How they evolve, travel and re-inscribe bothin Goa and the rest of India that united into acountry under the British orientalism has to bestudied with attention. It is difficult to placean Archimedean point or a firm ground for theexchange of these orientalisms. Yet there iscertainly a complex interweaving of thedifferent threads and fibers of these twoorientalisms , though one might not find aperfect transfusion between the two.

Among the ideas in motion caste ,Hinduism, nationalism have evolved as result

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of inter-relations of the two orientalisms.Nicholas B. Dirks demonstrates that Caste aswe know it today is the product of Britishcolonization. Indeed, caste is not somethingthat survived unchanged from ancient timesinto our country. It is under the British that‘caste’ become a single term capable ofexpressing , organizing, and above all‘systematizing’ India’s diverse forms of socialidentity, community and organization.33 Casteorganization certainly became a culturaltechnology that served British colonization ofIndia. This means caste system of today islargely a product of British orientalism. Butthe Portuguese are credited to the use of theterm casta to refer to the social stratificationthey encountered in the 16th century whenthey colonized the then pockets of our country.It has been argued that Portuguese had arather broader idea of the social order theyconceptualized as casta. Dirks reports of atravel narrative of 16th century PortugueseDuarte Barbosa who speaks of the threefoldcaste hierarchy of the Kshatriyas, Brahmins,and the Sudras with the ksatriyas on top ofthe hierarchy.34 This narrative seem to havecredibility as legend of Parashurama35 isbased on the defeat of the Kshatriyas.36

Even D. D Kosambe seem to merge casteinto loosely viewed class in its origin. Thisperhaps explains why only three castes havesurvived among the Catholics in Goa evenagainst the spirit of Christianity till today.Some opine that the Vaishya got merged withKshatriyas among the Christians.37 This viewis contested by Pissurlenkar who teachesthat the Chardos originated from theconverted Marathas. 38 The work of Fr.Ignazio Arcamone’s , De SastanaPeninsula, a commentary on the Peninsulaof Salcete written in 1664 describes the

caste geography of Salcete The vocabulariesthat were developed in the College of Salcetealso give us an information of caste systemin Salcete. Caste is certainly one body politics,that like racism, refuses to die.

Scholars of repute like Rumila Thapardemonstrate that the evolution of monolithicHinduism reached its high point in the 19th

century.39 Hence, Hinduism as we know ittoday began to unify against the MughalEmpire and reached its climax in the 19 thecentury.40 I have argued else where that itis an epistemological error to reduce theseminal Hindu/pre-Hindu religions, cults orsects like Shaivism,41 Vashnavism42, Saktism43

and cults like Nathism44, Betal or Vetal,45

Malikarjun46, Sateri47 etc under Hinduismwhich reached a unified form by the 19th

century. Such a reductionism and ahistoricalapproach is a hindu-ology. We can also saythe same thing about the nationalism thatdeveloped in 20th century in our country. Itconstructed the view of our glorious past notas a logical fulfillment but in an evocativesense to build a sense of we-feeling amongour countrymen.

Challenges and Opportunities to theChurch in Goa

The other orientalism that we have studiedopens a new window on our country. It canhelp us understand our society particularly inGoa. We have shown how a clash oforientalisms has become an inevitable part ofour society in Goa. While we seek a responseto our realities it is important to discern thesevarious orientalisms that are operating andcome to understand the challenges they poseand opportunities they offer.

Challenge to Take Charge of our HistoryThe history of Goa and the history of Goan

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Christianity is not free from orientalism. Thecolonial historiography with its ‘GoaDourada’ Paradigm tends to convert the pre-Portuguese Goa into a tabula rasa. Thereactionary historiography that took shape inthe Post-colonial times with its paradigm GoaIndica, strives to present pre-Portuguese Goaas Konkan Kashi, the holy land of theHindus.48 Such a historiography viewscolonization and subsequent conversion onlyfrom the narrow religious point of view. Thus,in painting of the Pre-Portuguese Goa asHindu, there is a direct attempt to turn thehistorical facts about conversion against theChurch and the Christians of Today. Thispolitical motive of appropriating Goan historyis highly reductionist and distortionist in itsapproach. I have described these attempts asHindu-ology . In fact, even the Word Hindudoes not exist in the entire sixteenth centuryindo-Portuguese historiography.49

That is why the Christian in Goa have theimperative to lay their claim on their ownHistory. It is important to assert that we havenot come from Hinduism of today but the thenseminal beliefs, cults and practices that havebeen steadily assimilated into Hinduism oftoday. We may not call them religionsbecause religion itself is a Christian/ Westernterm and its applications to the worship andsacred practices of our people in India andGoa is nothing short of orientalism. But forlack of better word I use it with this caveat. The temples that were destroyed were notthe Hindu temples but of this smaller, differentand independent cults and religions of the thenseminal Hinduism which were often at warwith each other.50 Of course, there is noattempt to condone the wrong done by thecolonizers but only a sincere desire to nuanceour understanding and free our society from

some of the burdens of the past. Prior to the15th century, there was no conflict betweenthe Vaishnavaites and the Shaivites in Goa.But with the conversion of some of theVaishnavites to the Dvaita Philosophy ofMadhvachrya, the Saraswat community inGoa got divided into Vaishnavites (Madhavas)and Shaivites Smartas.51 In the absence ofthis critical discourse about the different pre-Hindu / seminal Hindu cults, the gap is filledby the reductionist, hinduo-ology.

Challenge to Respond to the De-historicized condition of Theology in ourCountry

There is a forgetting of history in ourtheologizing in India. There seems to be adiscomfort to deal with the colonial past thatwe have inherited. The colonial experience isconveniently bracketed by our Indiantheologians.52 But this theological vacuum isspeaking loudly and perhaps has become amajor hurdle to dialogue with the majority ofcountrymen. Hence, it is important to bringabout a response of faith to our colonialexperience. Felix Wilfred sees the distancingof the Indian theologians from the colonial pastis a way of delegitimizing it. He seescolonialism as an estrangement of West fromthe spirit of Christianity and asserts thatcolonialism cannot be reconciled withcompassion and humanism of Christianity.53

But the colonial cloud cannot be allowed todisfigure the face of Christ. In this noble task,we in Goa have a great opportunity as we areuniquely positioned to theologize in thecontext of our colonial experience.

We have a theology of inculturation. Butwe seem to forget our history. A society thatforgets its history is condemned to repeat itsmistakes as well as become victim of the

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political exploitation of history. In this task, wein Goa can generate an uniquely creativetheological response to the colonial experiencethat would illumine our country as well as theentire Asian continent. In this context, RacholSeminary has a special Imperative to work tooccupy the theological vacuum created by ourde-historicized theology. This theologicalimperative can be viewed within the call fornew evangelization given by the universalChurch. We have presented Jesus as ateacher, healer and social worker though thepower of our institutions. We can alreadynotice the collapse of our institutional poweras we find better and efficient competitors forour schools, hospitals and charity centers.Hence, a fresh theological energy might ignitenew ways of evangelizing ourselves and oursociety.

Therapeutic Dialogue with the HinduCommunity in Goa

The exchange of orientalisms that we havediscerned in this study is a sign of a woundedsociety. The Hindu community of today is stillhaunted by the loss of brotherhood due toconversion under colonization. Conversion isnot merely and exchange of Gods but aninterrogation of the tradition that oneexchanges for another. Hence, trauma of lossof brotherhood is being re-enacted in Goansociety. One community seems to haveforgotten while the second remembers thepain of separation. Yet the second communityforgets that it is not ahistorical and haschanged and evolved over period of time.Indeed, it is paradoxical that both thecommunities in Goa exhibit an amnesia thataffects both of them. This gap afflicts theGoan Society and is primarily responsiblefor the politics of identity that has been playedon the soil of Goa for the past fifty years.

The claims about forced conversions,demolishing of the Hindu temples abound inthe narratives of the post-colonialhistoriography mainly authored by the Hinduhistorians in our days. Though the templesthat were demolished were not Hindu but onethat belonged to different cults that haveunited into Hinduism of today, the Hinducommunity is certainly carrying the pain ofthe past. Similarly, the pain of conversion andseparation is real though the conversionstook place from the fragments of the religiouscults of 16th and 17th century which had theseeds of the Hinduism of today. This does notmean that Hinduism of today is completelyalien to the past of our land. Indeed, thereare continuities as well as complexities in theevolutionary pilgrimage of Hinduism. TheChristians too having forgotten their ownorigins and are wounded and continue to bevictims of the some kind of silent aggressionof their Hindu counterparts. They are frozenin the past by the Hindus of today and areviewed as clones of the colonizers. TheChristians share no awareness of their originwhile the Hindus appear to forget that theyhave evolved and changed over time as wellas like them, it is fact that Christians have alsochanged. This means the Christianity oftoday is not the same as the Christianity ofthe colonial times and same is true of the pre-Portuguese seminal Hinduism and theHinduism of today. I believe this awarenessof the forgetting of our history in Goa canheal our society Hence, I propose that thereis an inevitable need of dialogue that can healwounded memories in our Society.

Challenge to Theologize on the Shoresof Colva and Calangute

Goa is certainly other India. Its unique

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cultural otherness and natural beauty hasbecome a major tourist attraction afterliberation. Being insulated from the rest ofthe mainland for four hundred and fifty year,it seems to have fired the imagination of ourfellow Indians as an unspoiled virgin . It isalmost seen as a place outside time and hasbecome a hot spot for international tourists.The need to develop tourism infrastructurehas become the boon for the real estatebarons and five star hoteliers. All thisdevelopments have disrupted traditional GoanCulture which seems to survive in acommodified avtara. Besides , it has led tothe alienation of land from the traditionalowners as a result of high inflation. The drugtrade, the flesh trade, casino gambling, HIVinfection, Child, Abuse and Alcohol abuse isalready exposing the dark side of tourism inGoa. The enclave tourism that is showing itsugly face in Goa is de-goanizing Goa. Thefact that some of our Goan beaches today areknown by Russian names is enough to drivehome the de-goanizing dimension of the kindof tourism that we are promoting.

Therefore, the Church in Goa has aprofound imperative to respond in faith tophenomenon of tourism in Goa. We canalready see some steps initiated in thisdirection. The founding of the Center forResponsible Tourism, the consultation for thedevelopment Curriculum of theology oftourism are important steps in this direction.Ecumenical Coalition for the Third WorldTourism (ECOT) and some Protestant groupslike Serampore College in West Bengal arealready making great effort to develop atheology of tourism. The Great RacholSeminary cannot remain behind in thiseffort.54 Theological as well as pastoralformation of our seminarian to meet the

challenges of the pastoral care of tourism isboth urgent and inevitable.

Challenge to Theologize on the MiningDumps of Sanguem and Bicholim

The first reference to the presence ofmineral content in Goan soil dates back to the16th century. It is reported that a Dutchtraveler, John H. V. Linschoten has writtenthat in Goa there are stones containing iron.He also opines that scientists had indicatedthat gold and copper might be also found inthose stones.55 Fonseca in his book,Historical and Archeological Sketch ofGoa, in 1878 notes that Iron in Bage, Sattari,Pernem and in the province of Zamboulim.He also clarifies that since no adequatescientific exploration is done the above is nota total representation of the entire mineralpicture of Goa.56 The prospecting of iron andmanganese ore as early as 1905, throughregular iron ore export begun 1947 andreached its momentum in 1949. In 1905, fewFrench and German companies had carriedout iron and manganese ore prospecting inGoa. But with the outbreak of the first worldwar mining activity simply came to a halt onlyto begin in 1947. The 23 mining leases givenby the Portuguese Government werecontinued by free India. 57 The concessionsgiven by the Portuguese were converted intomining leases by the parliament of India in1987. 58

Today mining is mostly concentrated inthree talukas, namely Bicholim, Quepem andSanguem. The Center for Science andEnvironment says that about 400 miningleases were granted in Goa till 2002-2003covering 10.5 % of the total geographical areaof Goa.59 The excessive mining activities thatled to the faulting of all regulating green lawsled to the depletion of the forest cover and

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displaced wildlife. Selaulim and Bicholimrivers have become polluted and are chokedwith silt of mining rejects. Rivers Mondovi andZuari are said to be contaminated witharsenic.60 Mining has steadily made inroadsinto eco-sensitive zones like Goa’s wild lifesanctuaries. 61 The Shah Commissionappointed by the central Government exposedthe illegal mining in Goa leading to the BJPGovernment imposing a ban on mining whichwas upheld by the Supreme Court at thebehest of an NGO, Goa Foundation. This hasbrought a great debate on mining as manymining dependent people took to the streets.Within these complexities the Church has theresponsibility to bring the light of faith incontext of mining in Goa.62

Reaching out to the Goan DiasporaUntil 1961 Goans migrating to any part of

India had to cross international boundaries .Migration from Goa has a long history and isdocumented at least from the 16th century onwords.63 Thus, we have the Catholics Goansmigrating into Magalore from the 16th

century on words . There was and there isboth in migration as well as out migrationfrom Goa. The Hindus have also migratedout of Goa but their scale and pattern wasdifferent from the catholic migration. ThePortuguese Estado da India was originallyconceived as stretching to Cape Of GoodHope in Africa to far East. But in the courseof the four centuries due the competition withother European powers, the Estadoprogressively shrunk. These and otherreasons, particularly because of lack ofagricultural and industrial development inGoa, led to the economic deterioration of Goaand simultaneously there came up external jobopportunities outside Goa. In the absence of

indigenous people familiar with the westernconcepts of administration, Goans werepreferred in many colonies in Africa. Butmost of the migrants from Goa as well asother parts of India were unskilled labourersrecruited during the building of Railway. Inthe same way the development of internationalshipping opened possibilities of many Goanopting to become seamen. Today we have asizeable Goan Diaspora across the Globe.

The continuous migration of the Catholicsthrough Portuguese citizenship is anotherfactor along with the family planning that hasled to the downsizing of the catholic populationin Goa. Though the pattern of migration ishighly complex even in our days yet itrequires to be studied64 and pastoral strategiesneed to be devised to deal with the same.Today this migratory movement has produceda global Catholic Goan Diaspora. The largeCatholic migrant community certainly offersnew challenges as well as opportunities forthe Church to reach out in pastoral care toGoan Catholic Diaspora.

ConclusionOur study has shown how the lusoptopical

orientalism opens another widow on India aswell as Goa. We have come to realize thatGoa exhibits a kind of exchange oforientalisms in our post-colonial times. This isperhaps the cause by amnesia afflicting boththe Christians and the Hindus in Goa. TheChristians have no memory of theirconversion, while the Hindus have alsoforgotten that they have evolved and changedas we march into the 21st century. Hence,there is an urgent imperative to generate atherapeutic dialogue that can respond to thewounded memories that disturbs our societyin Goa. Moreover the otherness of Goa along

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with its natural beauty that is being exploitedto promote mass tourism needs a theologicalresponse. The Church in Goa has this greatopportunity develop a theology that wouldgenerate effective pastoral care of the peopleof God affected and afflicted by masstourism and mechanized mining. Themigration and the growing presence of a largeinternational Catholic Goan community offersprofound opportunity to devise new ways ofreaching out to them as well as get them tohelp the church projects at home.

Endnotes:1 Edward W. Said, Orientalism (New York: Vintage,

1979).2 Dipes Chakraborty, Provincializing Europe:

Postcolonial Thought and Historical Difference (NewJersey : Princeton University Press, 2000)

3 Afonso de Albuquerque declared with Pride thathe has converted Goa “the mother of the whole India”See Relatorio Annuario de Administacao do Concelhoda Illhas (Panjim ; Impressa National, 1904), p. 762.Life in Goa during the early period of the Portugueseconquest is described in the book, A Summa Orientalof Prince D. Afonso who came to Goa in 1511 asFactor of Drugs. See P.P. Shirodkar ‘Socio-CulturalLife in Goa During 16th Century” in Charles J. Borgesand Helmut Feldmann, Goa and Portugal: TheirCultural Links (New Delhi: Concept PublishingCompany, 1997), p. 24. Tome Pires also describedthe life and the People of Goa during the early periodof colonization. He also describes the practice of Satiand how women who refused to subject to it weredriven to become devadasis (Dancing temple girls)See Armando Cortesao, Ed., A Suma Oriental deTome Pires e o Livre de Francis Rodrigues (Coimbra:University of Comibra, 1978), p. 14. Brazilian AnaCristina Santos Parrieras says that Goa is more likeBrazil rather than the rest of India. see Fatima DaSilva Gracias ‘’ the Impact of Portuguese Culture onGoa: Myth or Reality, in Charles J . Borges andHelmut Feldmann, Goa and Portugal, p. 42. Similarly,the otherness of Goans form the rest of Indians isarticulated by Monahar Malgonkar and is attributedto the Portuguese colonizers. See Manahar Malgonkar,Inside Goa (Goa: 1982),p.18.

4 http://www.ispionline.it/it/documents/From%20Orientalism%20to%20Occidentalism.pdfaccessed on 8th Feb 2013.

5 http://www.ispionline.it/it/documents/From%20Orientalism%20to%20Occidentalism.pdfaccessed on 15th June 2013.

6 See Ian Buruma and A vishai Margalit,Occidentalism: the West in the Eyes of Its Enemies (NewDelhi : Penguin Books, 2004).

7 http://escholarship.ucop.edu/uc/item/1dj093nwaccessed on 8th June 8, 2013.

8 Flipa Lowndes Vicente, Other Orientalisms: IndiaBetween Florence and Bombay, 1860-1900 (NewDelhi: Orient Black Swan, 2012).

9 http://www.goanobserver.com/archive/27-11-2004/globalgoan.htm.accessed on May 4, 2013.

10 http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/483320?uid=3738256&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21101981288643accessed on May 4, 2013

11 http://www.lusotopie.sciencespobordeaux.fr/siqueira.pdf accessed on May 4, 2013.

12 http://www.lusotopie.sciencespobordeaux.fr/desai.pdf accessed on May 9, 2013.

13 Ibid14 Franz Fanon makes sociological study of

Psychology of racism using the theory ofpsychoanalysis. See Frantz Fanon, Black Skins andwhite Masks (London: Pluto Press, 1986). We cannotapply directly Fanons ideas to the Portugueseorientalism as it has its origin in the pre-enlightenmentPortugal.

15 See Johannes Fabian, Time and the Other : HowAnthropology Makes its Object (New York: ColumbiaUniversity Press, 2003), pp. xi-xi.

16 Ibid, p. 32.17 I use the term ‘Hindu’ in inverted commas

because there was no Hinduism of today in those dayswhat was there were different cults that today haveunited in to a monolithic pan Indian Hinduism. Whatwas there may be called seminal Hinduism that hasevolved into the shape it has acquired today.

18 See Bento Graciano D’souza; Goan Society inTransition: a Study in Social Change (Bombay:Popular Prakashan, 1975), p. 148.

19 Delio de Mendonca, Conversions and Citizenry:Goa under Portugal 1510-1610 (New Delhi: ConceptPublishing Company , 2008), p.41.

20 Ines Zupanov, Disputed Missions: JesuitExperiments and Brahmanical Knowledge inSeventeenth Century India (New York: UniversityPress, 2001) Also see John Correia-Afonso, Jesuit

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Letters and Indian History 1542-1773 (New York :Oxford University Press, 1969). This works attemptto expose what has been also termed as catholicorientalism.

21 Pearson, M. N. Merchants and Rulers inGujarat: The Response to the Portuguese in theSixteenth Century. New Delhi: Munshiram ManoharlalPublishers, 1976.Also see ———. The Portuguese inIndia. The New Cambridge History of India I.1.(Hyderabad: Orient Longman Limited, 1990).

2 2 h t t p : / / w w w . t h e f r e e l i b r a r y . c o m /Rupture+and+continuity+in+colonial+discourses%3a+the+racialized...-a0122767916 accessed on May5, 2013.

23 Salazar, Oliveira. “Goa and the Indian Union:The Portuguese View.” Foreign Affairs 34, no. 3(1956): 418–431.

24 See Richard Palmer, Hermeneutics: Interpretationin Scheiemacher, Dilthey, Heidegger and Gadamer(Evanston: North Western University Press, 1969), p.33.

25 Hans Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method (NewYork: Seabury Press, 1975), p. 267.

26 Ibid, p. 268.2 7 h t t p : / / w w w . o l d n e w s p u b l i s h i n g . c o m /

dagamma.htm, accessed on 9, May 2013.,28 Clifford Geetrz, The Interpretation of Cultures

(New York: Basic Books, 1973). p.6.29 Goody, The Logic of Writing and the

Organization of society (New York: CambridgeUniversity Press, 1986) p. 21.

30 Today we have some reactionary revolts toconversion drive like the one in Cuncolim in 1583 isbeing appropriated as the first freedom struggle. http:// w w w . m a n g a l o r e a n . c o m /news.php?newstype=broadcast&broadcastid=50760accessed on 1st July 1, 2013. The real revolt againstthe Portuguese rule took place in 1787. Unfortunately, this momentous period in Goa’s history is only in JH da Cunha Rivera’s, A Conjuracao de 1887em Goae Varias Causas desse Tempo, thanks to Dr CelsaPinto’s new book, Revolt of the Natives of Goa, 1787,the orientalized perspective on the event is challenged.See extract of the book published in “Panorama: theSunday Reading Journal”, The Navhind Times, SundayJune 30, 2013.

31 Charles Bingham and Gert J.J. Biesta, withJacques Ranciere, Jacques Ranciere: Education, truth,Emancipation (London: Continuum InternationalPublishing Group 2010), pp.53-59.

32 The primeval history of Goa is shaped by the

people like the Gavdas , Kunbis ( Kols, Mundas andOuraons) and the poor peasants who tilled the landand helped the advancement of the mode of agricultureproduction from the days of early humankind. Rockengravings of these ancients settlers in Goa are foundin Usgalimol in Sanguem Taluka and Mauxi in SatariTaluka in Goa by the Archeological Survey of India.Goa later was populated by the Dravidians and theAryans. It was ruled by various dynasties, somelocal and others from the neighbouring states ofMaharastra or Karnataka. Beginning with theMauryas, the Satvhanas, Chutus, Kshatrapas,Abiras, Kalachuris Bhojas, Kaikeyas, KonkanMauryas, Guptas, Sendrekas, Chalukyas of Badami,Rastrakuttas , Shilaharas, Kadambas, Hoysalas,Yadavas, of Devagiri, Delahi Sultans, Nawab ofHonavar, Bahamanis, Vijaynagar and the Adil Shahof Bijapur, held sway over the whole or parts ofGoa during their hay days. These ruled Goa asemperors or feudatories of other emperors. Somewere also independent rulers. see Fr Cosme JoseCosta, The Heritage of Govapuri : A Study of theArtifacts in and Around the Pilar Seminary Museum(Pilar: Pilar Publications, 2002), pp. 2-4. All theseru lers made their mark on Goa. Indeed, bothterritorially as well as socio-historically Goa is nottimeless and has evolved into what we now knowas Goa because of its pre-colonial past, colonial pastand the post colonial present. We can notice a stronginfluence of Marathi as well as Kannada on Goa.even the names of some villages in Salcete Talukabear Kannada linage. The villages of Benaulim,Babolim, Carambolim, Cortalim, Panelim, Talaulim,Navelim, Zamboaulim etc., have the Portuguesecorruption of the Kannada word halli as their suffixin the form of alim, olim or elim. Halli in Kannadameans Village. Kandu (Forest) and Kona (Bison),both Kannada words come to mean a forestabounding with bison. Hence we have Canacona. SeeP. D. Xavier, Goa a Social History (Panaji: RajhaunsVitaran, 2010), p. 5.

33 Nicholas B. Dirks Castes Of the Mind :Colonialism and the Making of Modern India (Delhi:Permanent Black, 20002), p.

34 Ibid, p.19.35 Historical chronicles and holy texts, such as the

Konkanakhya and the Skanda Purana, (were used toreconstruct the historical immigration and settlementof Brahmins in Goa) were used to recall themythology of Parashurama, the martial avatara of thegreat Hindu god Vishnu, who, according to the legend,

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once claimed the land of Goa from the sea by shootinghis seven arrows into the ocean. These effortseventually, found its condensation in the image of Goaas a “ Konkan Kashi ”, through which Hindunationalists, in the post-liberation time, attempted toequal the religious significance of the history of‘Hindu’ Goa with that of historical Benares. Todaythe legend of Parashurama and the origin of the landof Goa has been given a decent burial as newarchaeological research uncovered the stone age of Goa.See Victor Rangel-Rebeiro, Ed., Goa Apranta LandBeyond the End (Vasco de Gama: Goa Publications,2008), p. 13.

36 Anant Ramkrishna Sinai Dhume, The culturalHistory of Goa : From 10000 B. C.-1352 A. D (Panjim:Broadway Publisher 1986), p. 3.

37 A. B de Braganza Pereira, “O Sistema dasCastas”, O Oriente Portugues, 1920, 17 (1,2), p. 41.

38 P. Pissurlencar, “O Elemento Hindu da CastaChardo “, O Oriente Portugues, 1936, 12-13, PP.203-232.

39 Romila Thapar, “Imagined ReligiousCommunities? Ancient History and the Modern Searchfor a Hindu Identity ”, Modern Asian Stud ies(Cambridge, UK , 1989), XXIII (2), pp. 209-231., alsosee Romila Thapa, Cultural Pasts: Essays in EarlyIndian History (New Delhi: Oxford University Press,2010), pp.102-1054. Some scholars claim theHinduism was the product of a single categoryimposed by the British on the heterogeneouscollections of sects, doctrines and customs they foundamong the people of India. such an approach deniesthe agency of the people of India. I rather hold thatthe unification of Hinduism is a social processdynamically interacting with the historicalcircumstances of the day. This means monolithicHinduism emerged from a seminal Hindu (Pre-Hindu)scenario.

40 Scholars like David Lorenzen do not agree withthis position but says that Hinduism reached itorganizational uniformity between 1200-1500 and wasfirmly established in the 18th century. See David NLorenzen, “Who Invented Hinduism?”, Comparativestudies in Society and History, in Vol. 41, No. 4 (Oct., 1999), pp. 630-659.

41 Most scholars agree about the non-Vedic originof Shaivism. This is perhaps the reason why thepriests in the Shavite temples in Goa and the Deccanare usually non-Brahmin and are called Guruvas. Thewell known Shavite sacred places like Gudimallan(Andhra Pradesh), Trimbakeswar and Walkeshwar are

located respectively in tribal belt of the district ofNashik and Mumbai, in Maharashtra.

Aspects of Shiva as Mangesh and Nagesh havetheir origin in Goa. The Gavdas were closelyassociated with these deities in Goa. The Velips ofCanacona who worshiped Mallikarjun are also closelyassociated with Shiva. The worship of Shiva can betraced from about 5th century A D. Places that wereassociated with Lord Shiva are Harmal (Pedne Taluka),Haravale ( Bicholim Taluka), Sivoli (Bardez Taluka),Shivapur (Ponda taluka). It has been suggested thatShivapur is the present Shiroda. The Kadambadynasty was the strong patron of Shaivism. Shivawas worshiped as a family deity and was invoked asSaptakoteshwar by the Kadambas. It is said that thethree shrines of Shaivism (somnath) were built inBardez during the Kadamba era but were laterdestroyed by the Portuguese in the 16th century.Only three temples of Kadamba Period have survived.These were: Saptakoteshwar of Opa (Ponda Taluka)Curdi Mahadeva temple which is transplanted fromthe site of selaulim dam project by the ArcheologicalSurvey of India. Tambdi surla Mahadeva temple. TheKadambas had also built the Saptakoteshwar templein Diwar but was destroyed during the muslim invasionand was later re-built by the rulers of the Vijaynagaraempire. It is said that Shaivism had the largestfollowing in Goa. See V. R. Mitragotri, Socio Culturalhistory of Goa from Bhojas to Vijaynagar (Panjim:Institute Menezes Braganza, 1999), pp.108-112.

42 There is a suggestion that the Vaishnavaitetradition spread into Goa during the Satavahanas ruleover Goa. But the earliest evidence of Vaishnavismas far as Goa is concerned emerges from VadgaonMadhavpur in Belguam District . From Goa theearliest reference to worship of Vishnu in Goa arefound in the Bhoja copper plates of Devaraja whichare Paleographicaly dated to C. 400 A.D. Vishnu isinvoked as Narayana and hence many villages beartheir name from it. Thus, the village of Narve is saidto be the corruption of Narayana. Narayana isabbreviated as Naru and from it came Narve. In Naroa,Navelim and Bicholim there are Lakximi- Narayantemples. So also there are similar temples in Mopa,Sarmal and Virnoda of Pedne taluka. In the Tiswaditaluka there were five Narayana shrines, four inBardez and thirteen in Salcete. All these twenty twoshrines are said to be destroyed by the Portuguese inthe sixteenth century. In the Cola village of Canaconataluka, there is a temple of Narayana. Vishnu is alsoinvoked as Kesava. There are two shrines of Kesava

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in Priol (Ponda) and Loilem (Canacona). Vishnu isalso worshiped as Vamana and Trivikrama. TheSalcete Taluka had a shrine of Vamana and Trivikramain Loutolim and Raciam respectively . Another nameof Vishnu is Padmanabha and He is worshiped in thisname in Cuncoliem Ponda. A stones culpture ofPadmanabha was discovered in a debris of an ancientTemples of Vichundre in Sanguem Taluka. Damodoris another name of Vishnu. It is an epithet of Krishna.The ancient temple of Damodor was in Margao(Mathagram) and was destroyed by the Portuguese inthe 16th century and was reconstructed inJambavalim. Vishu is also invoked as Narasimha. InGoa, there were two shrines of Narasimha: Shankhavli(Sancole) in Salcete taluka and Daugim in TiswadiTaluka in Tiswadi taluka. Both these shrines weresaid to be destroyed by the Portuguese in the 16thcentury. There is a tradition that the devotees ofNarashima reconstructed the image of LakshmiNarasimha at the end of the 16 th centu ry andconsecrated it in Veling Ponda. The only recliningstone image of Vishnu known as Ananta is found inPriol Ponda that is why the Ponda region is calledAntruz. Parasu rama is the sixth of the tenincarnation of Vishnu. The legend of Parasurama isfamous in the whole of the West coast. In thePainguinim village of Canacona, there is a temple ofParasurama. There were two shrines of Rama in Goa.One that was in Pilgaon was destroyed by theMugals in the 17th century while the other shrine ofRama and Krishna was in Cuncolim village in Salceteand was also destroyed by the Portuguese in the16th century. During the last decade of the 15thcentury, some of the Sarasvats were converted tothe Davaita sect. Villages of Madakai and Vovoi havethe shrines of Ramapurush. A large stone plaque ofHanuman with no ornamentation was found inTelaulim and belongs to c. 1400 A. D. North Goaboasted of many temples of Laximi Narayan There isa temple of Mahalakshmi in Bandivade Ponda. TheMahalakshmi temple of Colva (Salcete) was destroyedby the Portuguese in the 16th century. Ibid, pp.98-108.

43 Shakti cult can also be traced in Goa. Somescholars say that the Gavdas and Velips worshipedthe Goddesses like Sateri, Bumika, Bauka and Kelbai.However the inscriptional evidence of the Shaktiworship in Goa is available only from the Boja periodonly. The Aravale inscription refres to Shiva asBhavanish, that is the Lord of Goddess Bhavani. TheChalukyas paid homage to Saptamatrikas. TheSilaharas and the Kadambhas of Goa were the devotees

of Mahalaximi of Kolhapur. In Goa we can traceMahalaximi temples in Netravali (Sanguem), Bandivade(Ponda), and Colva (Salcete). Mahishasuramardini issaid to have became the epitome of shakti worship inGoa and she is considered to be Sateri, Shantadurga ,Mahamaya , Ela (Parvati), Kamakshi , Arya Durgaand Nava–durga. Today there is no division betweenthe Vaishnavism and Shaivism in the shakti cult.Ibidpp.113-114.

44 Like Buddhism and Jainism, Nath cult was nota revolt against Vedic religion. It is reported that Nathcult is said to have spread in Goa by c. 1200 A. D.Nath Panthis were worshipers of various forms ofShiva. It is said Chandranath and Nagnath wereworshiped in Goa before Nath Panth arrive on thescene. It appears that the local deities were assimilatedinto Shaivism through the Nath Panth. In the similarfashion, Ravalnath and Ramnath who were Shaivitedeities got integrated into the Nath Panthi fold. NathPath was wide spread from the North to South. Theshrines of Adinath have been reported in Goa. TheNath Panth shrine of Mallinath on the island ofChudamani (Chorao Tiswadi). After its destruction inthe 16th century it was reconsecrated at Marcel inPonda taluka. There were two shrines of Nath Pathis;Matsyendranath and Gorakhnath. The abode of Nathyogis was called a Math (Monastry). Madgao wascalled mathgram on account of this Math and not onaccount of the Math of the Vaishnavite that belongedto the Devaita sect and one that was in the later 15th

century and shifted to Partagal after the establishmentof the Portuguese Power. Nath Panthis cut rock cavesin Diwar, Pilar in Tiswadi , Khandepar, Iswarbhat,Kodar in Ponda, Salulim canal caves, Dharbandodacaves in Sanguem, Aquem and Malangini in Salcete.See Ibid,114-117.

45 The lower strata of the Goan Society worshipedspirits. They are namely Mharu, Joting, Devchar. Thechief of all spirits was called B(V)etal. The Tall imageof Vetal is called Betal and a shorter image is calledVetal. The temples of Betal lined the entire Coastallength of Goa from Paliem and Alorna in the North toBetul in the South. His main shrines are in Assolna,Chinchinim, Carmona, Colva, Utorda and Arossim .Chinchinim had two temples; in one he was honoredas Betal and in the other he was worshiped as Aguio-Betal (fiery Betal). In Bardez, he was regarded as thegramdevta or village God of Arjuna, Arpora, Calangute,Nagoa, Siolim, Saligao, Pilerne and Nerul. In Serul hewas upgraded to Mukidevata or Chief God. SeeAntonio Mascarenas, Goa From Pre-historic Times

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(Vasco, 1987), p.16. Betal later got associated withShaivism.

46 There is a shrine of Mallikarjun at Shristal nearCanacona in South Goa. This shrine is associated withthe backward community called Velips. Four monthsin a year one of the Velips acts as a priest and rest ofthe year Chitpavan Brahmins officiate as priests.Antonio Macarenhas in his book, Goa from Pre-historictimes, states that Malik Arjun is a Shaivite deity andwas associated with the kundbis tribe. See Ibid, p.20.

47 Sateri is a earth Goddess that was symbolicallyworshiped at the ant hill in Goa. She became agramdevi. Sateri of Pilerne is called Pilernkarin in Naroa,in Fatorpa she is honored as Fatorpin and exiledKunkolkarin of the neighbouring village is in separateshrine. Kutorkarin of Kurtorim is unforgotten in Avedemof Quepem Taluka. As time passed Sateri gotSanskrtized with Durga and became Shanta-durga. See.R. Mitragotri, Socio Cultural history of Goa fromBhojas to Vijaynagar, pp.135-137.

48 Many of the God’s worshiped in ancient Goa donot belong to the main stream Hindu pantheon butappear to be steadily accommodated within it throughthe passage of time. Besides there seem to be an erasureof some elements of history. Thus for instance, Todaythere is a interest in the formidable ‘Sangma’ dynastythat is said to have originated in Sanguem Goa whosekingdom reached up to Hospet in Karnataka. Thissamgam dynasty had its origin among the chieftains ofthe ‘gavlli’ community of Sanguem. The five brotherswho founded the Sangma dynasty established Anagodin Karnataka as their capital and christened theirkingdom as vijaynagara. The Sangma bothers belongedthe Kurubal cult that worshiped Goats. http://royalprobity.blogspot.in/2012/01/vijayanagara-kingdom-and-goas-sangam.html accessed on 24th Jan 2014.

49 See Delio de Mendonca, Conversions andCitizenry:Goa under Portugal 1510-1610, p.41. DavidLorenzen goes further to state that the word Hinduismbecame common in English only n the second quarterof the 19th century. See David N Lorenzen, “ WhoInvented Hinduism?” P. 632.

50 See Noel Sheth , “Conflict and Reconciliationbetween Hindu Deities Vishnu and Shiva” in KuruvillaPandikattu and Andreas Vonach, Eds., Religion, Societyand Economics : Eastern and Western Perspectives inDialogue, European University Series 23, Theology, Vol.758 ( Frankfurt am Main; Peter Lang, 2003).

51 See R. Mitragotri, Socio Cultural history of Goafrom Bhojas to Vijaynagar, p. 108.

52 See Victor Ferrao, “Hermeneutics of Authenticity

and Edward Said” in George Panthanmackel, Ed.,Authentic existence, a Philosophical Probe (Bangalore :Asia Trading Co-operation, 2012), p 381.

53 See Felix Wilfred, From the Dusty Soil: ContextualRe-interpretation of Christianity (Madras: Departmentof Christian Studies, 1995), pp. 2-3.

54 Some seminarians of Rachol did a special studyof the enclave tourism of the Israeli Tourists in Goaand published in the Book, Claiming the Right to sayNo. See ————— Claiming the Right to Say No:A Study on Israeli Tourists Behavior and Patterns(Panjim: Council for Social Justice and Peace, 2009).Also Fr Donato’s paper on the ethics of Tourism,presented in a National Seminar in moral theology, atDe Nobile College Pune in Oct. 2012 is anotherattempt to build a theological response to Tourism. SeeDonato Rodrigues,, “Ethics and Tourism: the EthicalChallenges of Tourism in Goa” Mimeograph notes ,Oct. 2012.

5 5 h t t p : / / w w w . d i g i t a l g o a . c o m /eg_disp.php?cid=25&typ=eg, accessed on 26th June 26,2013.

56 Ibid.57 http://www.cseindia.org/node/386 accessed on 29

June 2013.58 http://www.vanashakti.in/Goa.pdf accessed on 29

June 2013.59 http://www.cseindia.org/node/386 accessed on 29

June 2013. Also see http://www.vanashakti.in/Goa.pdfaccessed on 29 June 2013.

60 http://old.cseindia.org/programme/industry/mining/1district_goa.htm accessed on 29 June 2013.

61 Ibid62 I made the first attempt in my Book, Being a

Goan Christian. See Victor Ferrao, Being a GoanChristian: the Politics of Identity, Rift and Synthesis(Panjim: Broadway Publishers, 2011). The Pastoralletter of the Archbishop of Goa on the occasion of thegolden jubilee of liberation of Goa in 2011 is also avery important starting point to developing atheological response to mining in Goa.

63 T. R. De Souza , Medieval Goa: Socio-EconomicHistory (New Delhi; Concept Publishing Co, 1979),pp.54-55.

64 There already few studies about Goan Diaspora.See Stella Mascarenhas, Colonialism, Migration andthe International Catholic Goan Community (Saligao:Goa 1556, 2011), Also See Selma Carvalho, Into theDiaspora wilderness: Goa’s Untold Stories from BritishEmpire to the New World (Panjim: BroadwayPublications, 2010).

Lectio Brevis

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Religio-Cultural Conditions

IntroductionGalileo Galilei, an astronomer, physicist,

mathematician, and inventor, is one of themost famous scientists of all time. He wasborn in Pisa, Italy. At first, Galileo enrolled inthe University of Pisa to earn a medicaldegree, but he switched his focus tomathematics. Galileo was a proponent of theheliocentric theory of the universe, whichwas an unpopular theory at the time becauseit was disapproved of by the Roman CatholicChurch and believed to be false by themajority of people. Galileo stood trial forheresy in 1633 after he published his book,Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief WorldSystem, which discussed the theory ofheliocentrism. Because the heliocentric modelwas in direct contrast with the Church’s view,Galileo was forced to withdraw many of histheories and spent the last years of his lifeunder house arrest. Galileo’s works werebanned from being reprinted until 1718, whichwas over 60 years after his death. While hewas under house arrest, Galileo went blind buthe continued to invent and theorize.

Views and Theories of UniverseA) Heliocentric View

Astronomy until the 1400s was dominatedby the idea that Earth stood at the centre ofthe universe; this was called the Ptolemaicsystem, after Claudius Ptolemy, a Romanastronomer who worked circa 150 CE. He isconsidered the last of the great ancientastronomers, and he took the astronomical

GALILEO BETWEEN THE CHURCHAND THE WORLD OF SCIENCE

* Sem. Stevan Crasto

systems developed by the ancient Greeks,such as Pythagoras and Aristotle. TheseGreeks argued that the planets1, the moon, thesun, and the stars circled the Earth. Therewere, however, problems with the notion thatthe planets orbited the Earth as did the sunand moon; their behaviour through theheavens is not one of constant motion but ofjerky motion, sometimes in one direction,sometimes in another. This phenomenon isknown as retrograde motion, and occurs onlyamong the planets with orbits exterior toEarth’s — Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and theother outer planets discovered since the1700s.

The man that we credit today with theheliocentric system (with the Sun at thecentre of the solar system) is NicolasCopernicus, a Polish canon of the late 15thand early 16th centuries. What Copernicus didwith his theory was place all objects — Earth,sun, moon, the planets — in orbit, not of thesun or the earth, but around an unseen pointin space. This created an incredibly messysystem, for Ptolemy’s system required fortyflycycles to account for all observed motions,while the Copernican system required forty-eight flycycles since the Earth now orbitedthe point on its own system of flycycles.

Galileo didn’t so much refashion theCopernican system into the currentheliocentric model so much as hemisinterpreted it. If anyone deserves the truecredit for the heliocentric system, it wouldJohannes Kepler and not Galileo; Kepler

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fashioned the three laws of planetary motion,based on the assumption that the sun sat atthe centre of the solar system and the planetscarved out ellipses around the Sun. Galileo’srole in these events is his use of the telescope,until this time used only for land observations,in the study of the heavens; he made thediscovery of the Galilean satellites of Jupiter(Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto). It wasfor the discovery that he was placed on trial,as these bodies, which clearly did not orbit theearth, altered the unchanging nature of theheavens. Now, the discovery of the Galileansatellites is seen as confirming the Copernicansystem, though at the time it was seen as agreat heresy, and Galileo was forced to recanthis discovery. If Galileo did anything counter-intuitive, it was his use of the telescope toobserve the heavens, not creating theheliocentric model. While he did argue for it,he also tried to make the heliocentric modelfit under the Christian doctrinal beliefsregarding the heavens.B) Controversy over Heliocentrism

Biblical references text stating that “theworld is firmly established, it cannot bemoved.”2 In the same manner, Psalm 104:53.Further, Ecclesiastes1:5 states that “And thesun rises and sets and returns to itsplace.”Galileo defended heliocentrism, andclaimed it was not contrary to those Scripturepassages. He took Augustine’s position onScripture: not to take every passage literally,particularly when the scripture in question isa book of poetry and songs, not a book ofinstructions or history. He believed that thewriters of the Scripture merely wrote fromthe perspective of the terrestrial world, fromthat vantage point that the sun does rise andset. Another way to put this is that the writerswould have been writing from aphenomenological point of view, or style. SoGalileo claimed that science did not contradictScripture, as Scripture was discussing adifferent kind of “movement” of the earth,and not rotations.

By 1616 the attacks on the ideas ofCopernicus had reached a head, and Galileowent to Rome to try to persuade CatholicChurch authorities not to ban Copernicus’

ideas. Galileo revived his project of writing abook on the subject, encouraged by theelection of Cardinal Maffeo Barberini asPope Urban VIII in 1623. Barberini was afriend and admirer of Galileo, and had opposedthe condemnation of Galileo in 1616. Thebook4was published in 1632, with formalauthorization from the Inquisition and papalpermission. Pope Urban VIII had personallyasked Galileo to give arguments for andagainst heliocentrism in the book, and to becareful not to advocate heliocentrism. Hemade another request, that his own views onthe matter be included in Galileo’s book. Onlythe latter of those requests was fulfilled byGalileo. Whether unknowingly or deliberately,Simplicio, the defender of the AristotelianGeocentric view in Dialogue Concerning theTwo Chief World Systems, was often caughtin his own errors and sometimes came acrossas a fool. Unfortunately for his relationshipwith the Pope, Galileo put the words of UrbanVIII into the mouth of Simplicio. However, thePope did not take the suspected public ridiculelightly, nor the Copernican advocacy.

Galileo had alienated one of his biggestand most powerful supporters, the Pope, andwas called to Rome to defend his writings.InSeptember 1632, Galileo was ordered to cometo Rome to stand trial. He finally arrived inFebruary 1633 and was brought beforeinquisitor Vincenzo Maculani to be charged.Throughout his trial Galileo steadfastlymaintained that since 1616 he had faithfullykept his promise not to hold any of thecondemned opinions, and initially he deniedeven defending them. In view of Galileo’srather implausible denial that he had ever heldCopernican ideas after 1616 or ever intendedto defend them in the Dialogue, his finalinterrogation, in July 1633, concluded with hisbeing threatened with torture if he did not tellthe truth, but he maintained his denial despitethe impeding threats. The sentence of theInquisition was delivered on June 22. And hewas sentenced to house arrest.

DiscoveriesJupiter

On 7 January 1610, Galileo observed with


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his telescope what he described at the timeas “three fixed stars, totally invisibleby theirsmallness”, all close to Jupiter, and lying on astraight line through it. Observations onsubsequent nights showed that the positionsof these “stars” relative to Jupiter werechanging in a way that would have beeninexplicable if they had really been fixedstars. On 10 January, Galileo noted that oneof them had disappeared, an observationwhich he attributed to its being hidden behindJupiter. Within a few days, he concluded thatthey were orbiting Jupiter:He had discoveredthree of Jupiter’s four largest satellites(moons). He discovered the fourth on 13January. Galileo named the group of four theMedicean stars, in honour of his futurepatron, Cosimo II de’ Medici, Grand Duke ofTuscany, and Cosimo’s three brothers.Laterastronomers, however, renamed themGalilean satellites in honour of theirdiscoverer. These satellites are now called Io,Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

His observations of the satellites of Jupitercaused a revolution in astronomy thatreverberates to this day: a planet with smallerplanets orbiting it did not conform to theprinciples of Aristotelian Cosmology, whichheld that all heavenly bodies should circle theEarth,and many astronomers and philosophersinitially refused to believe that Galileo couldhave discovered such a thing.Hisobservations were confirmed by theobservatory of Christopher Clavius and hereceived a hero’s welcome when he visitedRome in 1611.Galileo continued to observe thesatellites over the next eighteen months, andby mid-1611, he had obtained remarkablyaccurate estimates for their periods—a featwhich Kepler had believed impossible.Sunspots

Galileo was one of the first Europeans toobserve sunspots, although Kepler hadunwittingly observed one in 1607, but mistookit for a transit of Mercury. He alsoreinterpreted a sunspot observation from thetime of Charlemagne, which formerly hadbeen attributed (impossibly) to a transit ofMercury. The very existence of sunspotsshowed another difficulty with the unchanging

perfection of the heavens as posited inorthodox Aristotelian celestial physics. And theannual variations in sunspots’ motions,discovered by Francesco Sizzi and others in1612–1613, provided a powerful argumentagainst both the Ptolemaic system and thegeoheliocentric system of TychoBrahe.Adispute over priority in the discovery ofsunspots, and in their interpretation, led Galileoto a long and bitter feud with the JesuitChristophScheiner; in fact, there is little doubtthat both of them were beaten by DavidFabricius and his son Johannes. Scheinerquickly adopted Kepler’s 1615 proposal of themodern telescope design, which gave largermagnification at the cost of inverted images;Galileo apparently never changed to Kepler’sdesign.Moon

Prior to Galileo’s construction of hisversion of a telescope, Thomas Harriot, anEnglish mathematician and explorer, hadalready used what he dubbed a “perspectivetube” to observe the moon. Reporting hisobservations, Harriot noted only “strangespottednesse” in the waning of the crescent.Galileo, due in part to his artistic trainingandthe knowledge of chiaroscuro, had understoodthe patterns of light and shadow were in facttopological markers. While not being the onlyone to observe the moon through a telescope,Galileo was the first to deduce the cause ofthe uneven waning as light occlusion fromlunar mountains and craters. In his study healso made topological charts, estimating theheights of the mountains. The moon was notwhat was long thought to have been atranslucent and perfect sphere, as Aristotleclaimed, and hardly the first “planet”, an“eternal pearl to magnificently ascend into theheavenly empyrian”, as put forth by Dante.Milky Way and stars

Galileo observed the Milky Way,previously believed to be nebulous, and foundit to be a multitude of stars packed so denselythat they appeared from Earth to be clouds.He located many other stars too distant to bevisible with the naked eye. He observed thedouble star Mizar in Ursa Major in 1617.Inthe Starry Messenger, Galileo reported that


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stars appeared as mere blazes of light,essentially unaltered in appearance by thetelescope, and contrasted them to planets,which the telescope revealed to be discs. Butshortly thereafter, in his letters on sunspots,he reported that the telescope revealed theshapes of both stars and planets to be “quiteround”. From that point forward, hecontinued to report that telescopes showedthe roundness of stars, and that stars seenthrough the telescope measured a fewseconds of arc in diameter.He also devised amethod for measuring the apparent size of astar without a telescope.

Philosophical ImplicationThe early traditions held the view that the

Earth was the centre of the universe and thushuman beings claimed to have a central andimportant place in universe. As the Churchtaught that man was the crown of creation itwas believed that everything was made formen. However, when the geo-centric viewwas being dismissed and the heliocentric viewwas being accepted, human beings werelosing their place of pride and importance.Earth became just an ordinary planet likeothers. The religious beliefs came to bechallenged and thus people began to feel thatreligion was fooling the people with all sortsof imaginations. Thus, there came a riftbetween science and religion as sciencedepended on observation and phenomenalrealities. This led to the growth of tensionbetween science and religion. This conflictalso caused political tensions in the state asthe church held political rule. People wereconfused and did not know which view tohold. Thus arose secularism and humanism inthe medieval renaissance period and sciencebegan to dominate. Slowly this led to rise ofatheism and religion was more and morechallenged.

Conclusion.Today the most accepted view of the

universe is the heliocentric view of Galileo andthe studies that he made on the planets havebeen useful to the present generations.Though Galileo tried to measure the size of

Galileo Galilei(1564-1642

the planets he did not realise that his methodwould be insufficient. With the invention ofhighly advanced telescopes now it is possibleto determine the not only the size of planetsbut also observe them more closely. Hisdiscovery of the Milky Way invoked a desireto know it further and thus we have humansgoing into the space and doing research oncosmic secrets. We want know more andmore of what is there outside the earth andbeyond whether earth is the only planetholding life or not. Thus the discoveries ofGalileo were important. The church realisedhow wrong it was to punish such a great manand thus Pope John Paul II begged forgivenessfor such a crime and injustice from the churchtowards Galileo.

Endnotes:1 Which at this time were known only as far as

Saturn.2 Psalm 93:1, 96:10, and 1 Chronicles 16:303 “the Lord set the earth on its foundations; it can

never be moved.’’4 Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World

Systems

References:- Article online (accessed on 7th January 2014)from

file:///G:/Galile Galileo Wikipedia,the freeencyclopedia.htm

- Article online (accessed on 7th January 2014)fromfile:///G:/Galileo Facts.htm

- Fantoli, Annibale (2003). Galileo: ForCopernicanism and the Church (third English ed.).Vatican Observatory Publications. ISBN 88-209-7427-4

- Wisan, Winifred Lovell (1984). “Galileo and theProcess of Scientific Creation”. Isis75 (2): 269–286.doi:10.1086/353480.

Religio-Cultural ConditionsReligio-Cultural Conditions

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IntroductionWe can know God in many ways. Jean

Danielou in his book ‘God – and the waysof knowing’ 1 brings out six different notionsof God. He speaks of God of the religions,God of the Philosophers, God of the Faith, theGod of Jesus Christ, the God of the Churchand the God of the Mystics. In this paper weshall focus on ‘the God of the Philosophers’and seek to raise a fundamental questionwhether such a view of God allows anymeaningful relationship with humanity, that is,we wish to ask – Is the God of philosophers– The Most Perfect, The Highest Good ofPlato, The Unmoved Mover of Aristole, is aGod of communion?

In this paper we shall dwell on theBrahman of Sankara, the Being of Spinozaand the Absolute mind of Hegel and illustratethe fundamental incapacity of relationship inthe God of the philosophers.

The Brahman of Sankara 2

The Advaita Vedantaof Sankara is one of themost popular philosophyof India. It is alsoknown as ‘maya-veda’meaning the theory ofillusion. God according toSankara, can beconceived from twodifferent points of view.If we look at God from the ordinary practicalstandpoint from which the world is believedto be real, God may be regarded as a cause,

God of Philosophers* Sem. Melito D’Costa

the Creator, the Sustainer and the Destroyerof the world. He appears to possess all thesequalities. God in this aspect is called SagunaBrahman or Ishvara. He is the object ofworship.

Brahman from the higher ortranscendental point of view, paramarthika-dristi, cannot be described by qualities whichrelate to the world. Brahman in this aspect isdevoid of all qualities. It is this absolutelytranscendental aspect that Sankara calls theBrahman. Brahman cannot be described at alland it is, therefore, called indeterminate,characterless or Nirguna. Sankara’sconception of God, as Parabrahman orNirguna Brahman differs from the God orReligion, that is, God conceived as an objectof worship, distinct from the worshippers andendowed with the highest attributes.

Thus Sankara’s Brahman is not a personalGod but an absolute and nirguna philosopher’sGod with whom common people can have norelation with.

The Being of Spinoza 3

‘The Ethics’ is a work of ethicalphilosophy by Spinoza. It’s ultimate aim is toaid us in the attainment of happiness, whichis to be found in the intellectual love of God.For Spinoza God is the infinite, necessarilyexisting (that is, uncaused), unique substanceof the universe. There is only one substancein the universe; it is God; and everything elseis in God. “Whatever is, is in God, and nothingcan be or be conceived without God.” Thosethings are ‘in’ God (or, more precisely, in


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God’s attributes)are what Spinozacalls modes.

Spinoza wasexcommunicatedfrom the Jewishcommunity as hedefined God as“God existing inonly a philoso-

phical sense.” Spinoza was against theanthropomorphizing of the divine being. In thescholium, he writes against those who feigna God, like man, consisting of a body and amind, and subject to passions.

According to the traditional Judeo-Christian conception of divinity, God is atranscendent creator, a being who causes aworld distinct from himself to come into beingby creating it out of nothing. God producesthat world by a spontaneous act of free willand could just as easily have not createdanything outside him. By contrast, Spinoza’sGod is the cause of all things because allthings follow causally and necessarily from theDivine nature. The existence of the world ismathematically necessary. It is impossible thatGod should exist but not the world. This doesnot mean that God does not cause the worldto come into being freely, since nothingoutside of God constrains him to bring it intoexistence. Spinoza advocates that in naturethere is nothing contingent, but all things havebeen determined from the necessity of thedivine Nature to exist and produce an effectin a certain way.

Spinoza’s Being is an impersonal beingwho cannot be related with. We can onlybelieve that we are ‘in’ God as Spinoza putsit, thus there is no personal relationship.

The Absolute Mind of Hegel 4

Compared to other Philosophers, it isdifficult and harder to understand Hegel. Hediffers from Paramenides and Spinoza inconceiving the whole, not as a simplesubstance, but as a complex substance likean organism. Hegel calls, ‘The Whole’ in allits complexity as ‘The Absolute’.

The Absolute is not a Being separatefrom the world, nature or even individualpersons, thus not making a sharp distinctionbetween appearance and reality as in Plato’sPhilosophy. In Hegel’sview, nothing isunrelated and whateverwe experience asseparate things, willupon careful reflection,lead us to the otherthings to which they arerelated, until at last, itwill end in theknowledge of the Absolute. The Absolute isnot the unity of separate things. He neveraccepted Spinoza’s view that, everything isone. But, Hegel describes the Absolute as adynamic process, as an organism having partsbut nevertheless, unified into a complexsystem. Therefore, the Absolute is not anentity which is separate from the world asKant’s noumena, but it is in the world in aspecial way.

Hegel’s Absolute mind is a complexsystem which is beyond the grasp of commonpeople.

ConclusionWe have dwelt on just three of the

notions of God given by three philosophers.The God of the philosophers is abstract andno personal relationship is possible. The God


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of the philosophers is so self-absorbed in hisperfection that everything is assimilated in himand there cannot be anything distinct fromhim. Thus, to know God is not to hold Him inthe intellect but on the contrary to rediscoverone-self as measured by Him. We have similarabstract notions of God, like God is theunmoved mover, God is the Efficient cause,God is the Unproduced Producer, God is theUncaused Cause and many others. Finallywhat philosophy can assert of God is that Heis pre-eminently the being in whom the realityof all things is exhausted. Reason does notgive us a God with whom we can relate butcan we throw away reason from the schemeof things? No, reason is necessary inexercising the knowledge of God. Nothing ismore dangerous than to claim that a certainreligion has outdistanced reason; it can onlylead to fanaticism, illuminism; it is lost in ajungle of superstition. Above all, it runs a risk

of being an idle solution. It claims to findmystery where there may only be ignorance.

A God whom reason dominates would beneither a personal God nor a transcendentGod. It is by affirming at the same time thatHe exists and that he surpasses reason, thatreason itself knows Him to be God indeed. Amore perfect knowledge of Him would onlybe His free gift5.

Endnotes:1 Jean Dan Ielou, God – and the way of knowing

(Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1957), 52.2 S. Chatterjee and D. Datta, An Introduction to

Indian Philosophy (Kolkata: Calcutta UniversityPress, 2004), 387.

3 George Edayal, “The Ethics,” Modern WesternPhilosophy (December 2010): 19.

4 Dr. Y. S. Gowramma, “The concept of Absolute,”Modern Western Philosophy (December 2010): 31.

5 Jacques Martain, Approaches de Dieu (Seattle:University of Washington Press, 1952), 66.

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of thecontinent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by thesea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as wellas if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were: any man’sdeath diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, andtherefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tollsfor thee.”

¯ John Donne, No Man Is An Island


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1. INTRODUCTIONEvery person in the world believes in asupernatural being or God. Everyonefollows and practices a religion which hasits own beliefs and rituals. It is, therefore,worth knowing that every religion beginswith a Religious Experience by thefounder of the religion. Every ReligiousExperience is a unique event anddifferent from the other. In this paper Ihave made an attempt to understandReligious Experience in four majorreligions; Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam andChristianity. So also I have attempted toexplain mysticism and the mysticmovements in these religions.

2. RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE2.1 DefinitionTo define religious experience we need toknow the meaning of religion andexperience. It is difficult to define whatreligion is and to put it in fixed words.However the etymology is derived fromthe Latin word ‘religare’ meaning to bindtogether. Religion truly binds a group ofpeople together under certain sets ofbeliefs and customs. Experience is alasting memory of an event that makesan impact on our lives. Thus we coulddefine religious experience in thesefollowing words: “Religious experiencescan be characterized generally asexperiences that seem to the personhaving them to be of some objectivereality and to have some religious import.

Religious Experiences and Mysticism* Sem. Mathew Almeida

That reality can be an individual, a stateof affairs, a fact, or even an absence,depending on the religious tradition theexperience is a part of. A wide variety ofkinds of experience fall under the generalrubric of religious experience.”1

2.2 Religious experiences in differentreligionsDifferent religions have different foundersand they have their own religiousexperience. Let us briefly look at someof them.

2.2.a HinduismThough Hinduism does not have aparticular founder, we are aware of thedifferent schools and sects of Hinduism.Thus the religious experience differsaccording to the sects or schools ofthought. For the Advaita Vedantinsfounded by Sankara the realization ofBrahman is the religious experience. Thisexperience is fulfilled when one realizesthat he is Brahman (tatvam asi)2. Inrealizing that oneself is God and this worldis an illusion is the point of one’sliberation. Most of the Advaitins believethat Siva is Brahman. The Visistadvaitaschool founded by Ramanuja, God is aseparate independent soul and human soulis a dependent on Brahman. The realityis one but having duality due to theindependent Brahmin and dependanthuman soul. Most of the followers of thisschool believe that Visnu is Brahman.


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These people thus believe in theincarnations of Visnu; the famous ofthese incarnations is Rama and Krisna.

2.2.b BuddhismGautama was depressed and was insearch of answers about this life and theworld. Thus he renounced the wholeworld and set under a piple tree tomeditate. After a long time he is believedto get enlightened that this world is just aprison and that the body causes sufferingto the soul. Therefore, he felt thatmeditation is the best way to liberation.This was a religious experience for himand he began preaching this path to allthose around him.

2.2.c IslamMohammed was a simple trader. Thepeople around him were polytheists andidol worshippers. as it is said that anangel( Gabriel) of All’lah appeared to himand gave him the Qura’an.3 It is said thathe was lifted in the sky from Jerusalemby the angel Gabriel and thus he wasgiven the Qura’an. This is the religiousexperience of Mohammed that made himestablish the Islamic religion.

2.2.d ChristianityThough the story of Christianity is wellknown to everyone it is worth recallinghow Christianity was established and howit survived the long persecution of 300years under the Roman Empire. Jesus ofNazareth son of a Jewish carpenterbegan preaching repentance andperforming miracles. He was arrestedand crucified on charges of claiminghimself as Son of God and the king of the

Jews. He had a band of twelve followerswho were afraid. Three days after thedeath of Jesus they suddenly came outand began preaching that Jesus is risenfrom the dead and they stuck on to thisbelief even in the midst of severepersecution.So we have seen the different religiousexperiences in some of the major worldreligions. This experience led o thespread of the beliefs by those who hadit.

3. MYSTICAL EXPERIENCE ANDMYSTICISM3.1 DefinitionMystical experiences tend to beexperiences felt or experienced beyondthe realms of ordinary consciousness.Occasionally they are referred to asstates of altered consciousness (AlteredStates of Consciousness). Such statesmay involve ineffable awareness of time,space, and physical reality. Mysticalexperiences often defy physicaldescription, and can best be only hintedat.4 It is yet another part of religiousexperience that keeps the religion alive.It is the deepest form of religiousexperience.

3.2 Views of William James onMysticismWilliam James would say that mysticismis the highest religious experience. Inmysticism a person receives directexperience of God. He gives the fourmarks of mystical experience.5

a) Ineffability- At this mark the subjectsays that it defies expression, that noadequate report of its contents can be


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given in words. It follows from it thatits quality must be directlyexperienced; it cannot be imparted ortransferred to others. In thispeculiarity mystical states are morelike states of feeling that like states ofintellect.

b) Noetic quality- Although so similar tostates of feeling, mystical states seemto those who experience them to bealso staes of knowledge. They arestates of insight into depths of truthunplumbed by the discursive intellect.They are illuminations, revealations,full of significance and importance, allinarticulate though the remain; and asa rule they carry with them a curioussense of authority for afterlife.

c) Transiency-Mystical states cannot besustained for long. Except in rareinstances, half an hour, or at most anhour or two, seems to be the limitbeyond which the fade into the lightof common day. Often, when faded,their quality can but imperfectly bereproduced in memory; but when they

recur it is recognized; and from onerecurrence to another it is susceptibleof continuous development in what isfelt as inner richness and importance.

d) Passivity- Although the oncoming ofmystical states may be facilitates bypreliminary voluntary operations, as byfixing the attention, or going throughcertain bodily performances, or inother ways which manuals ofmysticism prescribe; yet when thecharacteristic sort of consciousnessonce has set in, the mystic feels as ifhis own will were in abeyance andindeed sometimes as if he weregrasped and held by a superior power.

3.3 Mysticism in the major religionsWe shall now see how the major religionsmentioned above look at mysticism .

3.3.a HinduismAs mentioned above the religiousexperience differs according to theschools of thought and sects in Hinduismand therefore it is difficult to bring themon one line. However there is the mostfamous Hindu mystic movement calledthe Bhakti movement started by Mirabai,a devotee of Vishnu, who denied to haveany relationship with men and tookKrishna, one of the incarnations ofVishnu, as her husband. She went onsinging to Krishna. She also claimed tohave visions of Krishna. Bhaktimovement stressed more on devotion togod then to perform many rituals.

3.3.b BuddhismThough Buddhism in its origin wasAtheistic, that is, there was no belief in


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God. However, as Buddhism developed,it started to consider Buddha as God andthe concept of Boddhisatva developed inthe reformed sect of Buddhism called theMahayana6. Boddhisatva is person whois enlightened and receives the mysticalexperience of Buddha, however he delayshis Nirvana in order to help other peopleto reach the knowledge of Nirvana andattain liberation. Thus he is called theenlightened soul.

3.3.c IslamIn Islam the Sufi movement is well knownmystical movement. Sufism is the namecommonly given to the mystical traditionin Islam that arose from Shiite belief. Ithas been marked by extensive borrowingfrom other mystical religious practices-Christianity, Buddhist and Neoplatonic7-and by the great literary flowering itinspired. Many of the most famousPersian poets( eg. Jami and Rumi) wereSufis, as were some of Islam’s mostimportant philosophers (eg. al-Ghazali andibn al-Arabi).

3.3.d ChristianityChristianity is well known for manymystics. Some of them are St Teresa ofChild Jesus, St John of the Cross andPadre Pio. In Christianity, these saints arebelieved to have either got visions of Jesusor Virgin Mary. Some are claimed tohave experienced immense suffering andpain and some have been stigmatized dueto these pains. Some of the mystics havewritten down their mystical journeys andwhat they experienced, however, at onepoint they say that this experience isinexpressible.

4. CRTICAL APPARAISALAs some thinkers have questioned theauthenticity of mystical experiences, letus look at some of the criticisms laiddown against this concept.If mystical experience is directexperience of God, then why does itdiffer from one person to another?Meaning, why does one experienceKrishna and someone else experienceJesus? Some critics have concludedsaying that since all mystics do notexperience God as he is, such anexperience must be mediated. But somecritics have gone to the extent ofsaying that such an experience is justa result of suppressed emotions anddesires. The psychologists suggest thatsince the person undergoes persecutionand oppression he creates a path forhimself in spirituality to release thesenegative feelings8. Therefore, whatevervisions or feelings they undergo is justhallucination. Thus there is really nomystical experience so called.

5. CONCLUSIONReligious experience is unique anddifferent to every religion. Thus todaythinkers talk in terms of religiouspluralism. Mystical experiences provideas boosts for the survival of the religion.In response to the criticisms, manyreligions, especially, Christianity (TheCatholic Church in this regard) startedinvestigating such experiences andfollowed certain steps to test whetherthey are authentic or not. According to thepersonal opinion of many people, they feltthat if God exists and if some people doget mystical experience, then it should


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give some signs, in other words if thereis a spiritual reality it has to bemanifested in some way in the physicalreality too. Thus the concept of miraclesor wondrous signs comes in. If at allmystical experiences are true. They haveto be tested and checked. However, anexperience is personal to oneself and noone can change one’s conviction andbelief. Hence we can see how, across allreligions, there is a transcendent drive inall of us in search of communion with thetranscendent.

Endnotes:1Information available on internet;

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ,“Religious Experience,” ( accessed on 14January 2014), available from http://plato .stanford .edu/entr ies /re ligious-experience/

2 Satishchandra Chatterjee andDhirendramohan Datta, An Introduction ToIndian Philosophy, (Kolkata: CalcuttaUniversity, 2004), pg 387-392.

3 Information taken from, Islam, articleonline (accessed on 14 January 2014)available from http://www.greenstar.org/Islam/

4 Information online, Mysticism, articleonline (accessed on 12 January 2014)available from http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/m/mystical_experiences.html

5 Baruch A.B.Rody, Reading In ThePhilosophy Of Religion , (New Jersy:Englewood Cliffs, 1974), pg 478-479.

6 William .G.Oxloby, World Religions,

(Canada: Oxford University Press, 2002) pg128.

7 The Reader’s Adviser, PhilosophyAnd World Religions: Islam, vol 4 ( New York:R.R.Bowker Company, 1988) pg 429 and433.

8 Evelyn Underhill, Mysticism, (NewYork: Meridia Books, 1974) pg 44-45.

References:Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,

“Religious Experience,” ( accessed on 14January 2014), available from http://plato .stanford .edu/entr ies /re ligious-experience/

Islam, article online (accessed on 14January 2014) available from http://www.greenstar.org/Islam/

Mysticism, article online (accessed on 12January 2014) available from http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/m/mystical_experiences.html

A.B.Rody, Baruch, Reading In ThePhilosophy Of Religion , (New Jersy:Englewood Cliffs, 1974).

Chatterjee, Satishchandra, andDhirendramohan Datta, An Introduction ToIndian Philosophy, (Kolkata: CalcuttaUniversity, 2004).

G.Oxloby, William, World Religions,(Canada: Oxford University Press, 2002)

The Reader’s Adviser, Philosophy AndWorld Religions: Islam, vol 4 ( New York:R.R.Bowker Company, 1988)

Underhill, Evelyn, Mysticism, (New York:Meridia Books, 1974)


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IntroductionSix or seven hundred years ago, the Goan

coast and its hinterland were scattered withscores of richly carved stone templesbelonging to many cults and religions. Onlyone, though, came through the Muslimonslaught and religious bigotry of thePortuguese era unscathed. Erected in thetwelfth or thirteenth century, the tinyMahadeva temple at Tambdi Surla owes itssurvival to its remote location in a tranquilclearing deep in the forest at the foot of theWestern Ghats, which enfold the site in asheer wall of impenetrable vegetation. Theriver Surla flows nearby. It is the most ancienttemple in whole of Goa and was built in thetwelfth century by Hemadri, the minister ofthe Yadava King Ramachandra. The Jainstyle construction has led to debates about theorigin of the temple, since the KadambaDynasty ruled Goa between the tenth andfourteenth centuries. The temple is built in aplace which is quite, inaccessible and awayfrom the main settlements of the time. Thesize of the temple is quite small as comparedto the size of the average Goan temple. Thisalso reveals about the size of some of thetemples that were destroyed by the Muslimsand the Portuguese. The top part of thetemple has never been completed. The small,beautifully carved and perfectly proportionalblack basalt temple is dedicated to Lord Shivaand is reminiscent of the temples of Aiholein neighbouring Karnataka. It is considered tobe the only specimen of Kadamba – Yadavaarchitecture in basalt stone preserved andavailable in Goa.

Mahadeva Temple, Tambdi Surla* Sem. Clive Diniz

LocationThe temple is near a small village called

Tambdi Surla, located 13km east ofBolcornem village, in the northeast region ofthe Bhagwan Mahaveer Sanctuary andMollem National Park. Mahadev temple isapproximately 65km from capital city ofPanaji. It is accessible from the north viaminor roads 22km south from the main townof Valpoi in Sattari taluka. The temple is atthe foot of Anmod Ghat, which connects Goato the state of Karnataka.

HistoryThe temple was built by Hemadri, the

minister of the Yadava King Ramachandra.The Jain Style construction has led to debatesabout the origins of the temple, since theKadamba Dynasty ruled Goa between thetwelfth and fourteenth centuries. The templeis built in Hemadpanthi style from grey blacktalc chlorite schist soap stone, carried acrossthe mountains from the Deccan Plateau andcarved craftsmen. Its weather resistantproperties make the handwork adorning thewalls of temple still seem fresh. It isconsidered to be the only specimen ofKadamba-Yadava architecture preserved andavailable in Goa. The temple survived theinvasions and the Goa inquisition due to itsremote location in deep forest at the foot ofWestern Ghats.

Religious significanceFacing East – so that the rays of the rising

sun light its deity at dawn. The temple iscomposed of a Mandapa, or pillared porch,with three stepped entrances, a small


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antaralhaya (vestibule) and garbhagriha(shrine) surmounted by a three-tieredsanctuary tower, or shikhara. The tower’s topsection has collapsed, giving the temple arather stumpy appearance, but the carving onits upper sections is still in good shape. Thereare beautiful bas-reliefs that project from thesides. Punctuating the four cardinal points,these depict the Gods of the Hindu trinity,Shiva (north), Vishnu (west) and Brahma(south), with their respective consorts featuredin the panels above. There are very beautifulbands of delicate carving that pattern the sidesof the porch, capped with an oddlyincongruous roof of plain grey sloping slabs.

After a purifying dip in the river Surlaimmediately east of the temple, theworshippers would proceed to the mainmandapa, or porch, for darshan, the ritualviewing of the deity. In its centre stands aheadless Nandi bull, Shiva’s vahana, orvehicle, surrounded by four matchingcolumns, one of whose bases bears a reliefof an elephant trampling a horse – thought tosymbolize the military might of KadambaDynasty. The building’s finest single piece ofstonework, however, has to be the intricatelotus motif carved out of the mandapa’sceiling. Flanked by four accessory deities thatinclude a damaged dancing Goddess (left) andan elephant headed Ganesh (right), thepierced-stone screen surrounding the door ofthe vestibule comes a close second. Theshrine itself houses a stone shivalingam,mounted on a pedestal.

Local Beliefs and WorshipThe local legend has it that a huge King

Cobra is in permanent residence in the dimlylit interior. According to the folklore, thetemple has an unfinished look as thePandavas of Mahabharata built it in a hurryin a single night. The festival of Mahashivratriis celebrated with pomp and gaiety, at the

temple by local people residing in thesurrounding villages. Hundreds of devoteesassemble here during the festival ofMahashivratri in the month of February/March.

Keeping Intact The Hindu CulturalHeritage

In the temple “Agamic Puja” with allrituals is being conducted demonstrating thatthe much-adorned ancient Saivism has not lostits vitality, nor has bartered away its gloryduring the foreign rule. The Mahadev templeat Tambdi Surla where ancient traditions arefollowed serves as an example to this. The12th century temple boasts of some finerelief’s on the ‘Shikhara’ (spine) depicting aplethora of Gods and Goddesses.

ConclusionWe have somewhat able to piece together

a continuous politico-religious history of theMahadev Temple of Tambdi Surla from thereligious significance and artefacts datingback probably to the 12th century. The littleMahadeva Temple is a witness to rich culturalheritage to a great extent, the heritage ofKadambas of Goa (1020 – 1345). Rightthrough the Muslim and Portugueseconquests, the history continues down to thepresent day Goa state of the Indian Union.

We conclude that the Mahadev Templehas seen the footprints of the Neolithic manand the saffron robes of the Buddhist monks.It has witnessed the rise and fall of empires,dynasties, invasion and destructions . To addto this it has heard the chants of the monks,and witnessed local religious festivals. Theglory and architectural wonder of this templehas come through the rigorous period of timeto tell the world the value of its intricatehandiwork as poignant memorial to the Goa’slost religious Architectural Legacy. Thetemple is a masterpiece of past and continuesto mesmerize everyone even today.


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Introduction:Goa is a beautiful, multi-cultural and multi-

religious state of India. Although being thesmallest state of a vast country it hascontributed a lot towards the culture, traditionsand folklore of it. Goa by itself is a rich state.And its richness lies in every nook and cornerof it. Every town, every village of Goa hassomething unique, something special to give.They echo the historical events that took placein the distant past. They showcase differentmonuments which are standing from the timeimmemorial. Going back to the history,specially that of its religions, we find anumber of deities which were of greatimportance in those days. They belonged tothe different sects which existed then. Historyfully clarifies that they never belonged to anyone religion. Historical evidences show thatboth male as well as female deities wereworshipped. Most of the villages of Goa werenamed after these deities. Places like Siolim,Shiroda were named after Lord Shiva. Placeslike Betul, Betalbatim were named afterBetal.

Betalbatim is a village located towards thewest in the Salcete taluka. A village situatedon the coastal belt of Goa. It was once aplace where a deity named Betal wasworshipped. He was called the grama devataof this beautiful and small village. Being avillager of this place which was once believedto be looked after by this deity which is nowstanding as a historical monument in theArcheological survey of Indian museum atOld Goa I have just tried to find a little moreabout it. While we have the theme of this year

Betal of Betalbatim* Aestrony Costa

Luceas is Church as a Communion, I Attemptto study hoe communion has been alwayspresent in Goa, since ancient times with thespecial reference to Betal cult in Betalbatim.

Vetal or Betal ?It is indeed very difficult to name this

deity which was being worshipped from thetime immemorial and is continued to beworshipped even today. The austric tribescalled Gaudas were the worshippers of thisdeity. The term Vetal is considered to be ofAustric origin and is thus a loan word inSanskrit. The Sanskrit dictionary clearlymentions that Vetal is a non-Sanskrit word.This Austric term consists of two wordsBet: bent stick and La: dig. Australoidsbrought the word Betal to Sanskrit and withthe passage of time it has become Vetal.But some still claim that they aredifferent.The tradition of Hadkon village inPonda says that the taller image of Vetalis called Betal and the shorter ones arecalled Vetal. But both the images havesimilar features and they differ only inheight. This tradition is considered to benon-historical as the interchange of Ba toVa is quite common in Indian Languages.It is also found that during the Vedic periodalong with non-Aryan Deities many non-Sanskrit words were also absorbed in VedicSanskrit. It is important to note thatindependent shrines of Betal with Betal inages have not been reported from many partsof India except Goa and South Sindhudurg.Betal was thought to be a destroyer of stormsand promoter of trade and commerce and is


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said to be patronized in Goa by merchantsduring the Kadamba period.

Non-historical Etymology of Betal:There were a quite a number of people whomade attempts to find the actual meaning ofthe word Betal. Only some are taken intoconsideration. Even these are not consideredto be historical ones. Following three aresome of them:1. There is an attempt made to associate the

origin of the word to the Portuguesenavigator Bartholomew and the navigatorbecame Betal as both the names start withthe letter ‘B’.

2. The Rig Vedic word for plough Langulahas austirc origin.Langula means bentstick or a digging stick which meansBetla.Langula is associated with fertilityjust like the word linga. It may be notedthat in Vetal sculptures phallus is shown inprominence indicating the fertility.

3. There is a view of the Sumerian origin ofthe word Vetal. According to this view theword Betal consists of Bel and tal whichmeans a warrior in Sumerian Language.

Description of the Betal sculpture ofBetalbatim:

The stone sculpture of Betal fromBetalbatrim is presently at display in theArcheological Survey of Indian Museum atOld Goa. The head and hands of thissculpture are broken. The ribs are shownprojecting and the image has unemaciatedbelly. He wears a necklace of Naga(cobra)and the head of the naga is shown aspendant. This association of Betal with naga(cobra) led some to interpret Betal as Shivabut it has been shown that it is associated withbelief that Betal is Patalvasi (the resident of

the world below the earth which is the abodeof the nagas. He wears a long necklace ofskulls (rundamala) which riches below theknees. A scorpion is shown horizontally on theabdomen. The waist band (Kantibanda) isshown excessively broad and looks like a belt.On each side below this waist-belt a bell issuspended to a chain. The legs of thissculpture are cylindrical. Its thigh bones andknee-caps are not visible.

Functions of the Deity:Betal is considered as the chief ghost and

an Devchar. He is also a grama devata andtherefore guardian of the village. He movesthroughout the village at night and keeps vigilon the property of the devotees.

Cult of Vetal:Like all the other deities vetal also had a

cult associated to it by the people of that time.There was a wide variety in the worship ofVetal. It has evolved over time. Let us havea glance at the rituals that were performedduring those days.

Vetal Worship and Offerings:Occcasionally devotees of Vetal offer

cocks, goats and buffaloes to him. In Pernem,Sanguem and Sattari talukas a hunted animalwas offered to Vetal and was later sharedamong the devotees.Vetal was worshipped onevery Tuesday. In addition to Tuesday, the15th day of every dark forthnight (KrishnaPaksha) was for the worship of Vetal. Hebeing the grama devata i.e. the guardian ofthe village, he would roam throughout thevillage during the night and so his sandalswould get worn out. So the devotees wouldtake a vow and offer him sandals. Annualfairs were celebrated in many of the temples


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of Betal. These festivities commenced fromAsvina(September-October) and continuedupto Phalguna (March –April).

Priests:Priests for Vetal worship were mostly

non-Brahmins. This was so because noelaborate mantras were necessary for theworship of Vetal. Hence, there was no needof a Brahmin priest well versed in scripture.The priests for Betal worship were mostlyGuravs, Ghadi, jalmi and Ravals. Although ata certain stage in 1200 AD the Betal cult wasSanskritized in Goa, still his popularity as avillage deity of the non-bramins did notdiminish. Hence, even when a ChitpavanBrahmins were acting as priest in a Betaltemple the Ghadi or the Jalmi still remainedindespensible one of the rituals performedduring the Jatra (fari) was self-torture like firewalking or hook swinging taken up voluntarilyby the devotees. It was a way of pleasing thedeity and it was believed that the deity

thereby would protect the devotee from allkinds of calamities.

Conclusion:This short study attempts to manifest how

a local deity Betal kept the people together.In fact it gave its name to villages likeBetalbatim and Betul, strengthening the bondsof ‘we feeling’ among the villagers. Today,Betalbatim does not exhibit a Betal cult, butthe villagers are still bound by the oneness ofthe ‘we feeling’ generated by the Betal cultof their ancestor. Unfortunately with growthof tourism, materialism and secularism hasbegun to erode these profound bonds in ourvillage. It may hope that the land ofBetalbatim rediscovers its bondedness toeach other through their new faith in JesusChrist, the new betal of our village.

Reference:1. Socio Cultural History of Goa: From

Bhojas to Vijayanagar

“The United States is the wealthiest nation in the history of theworld, yet its inhabitants are strikingly unhappy. Accordingly, wepresent to the rest of mankind, on a planet rife with suffering andtragedy, the spectacle of a clown civilization. Sustained on a clowndiet rich in sugar and fat, we have developed a clown physiognomy.We dress like clowns. We move about a landscape filled with cartoonbuildings in clownmobiles, absorbed in clownish activities. We fill ouridle hours enjoying the canned antics of professional clowns... Death,when we acknowledge it, is just another pratfall on the boob tube.Bang! You’re dead!”

¯ James Howard Kunstler
