TWO MILLION EXIT FROM CATHOLIC CHURCH IN US

Two million faithful flee from the Catholic Church. The sex abuse scandals in the Catholic Church have caused a haemorrhage of faithful in the United States.news

It is bad time for the Catholic Church. The picture of the Catholic Church is being distorted by the child abuse. But Pope Benedict XVI has accepted and asked for forgiveness in name of the Catholic Church and has promised ‘Zero tolerance’ towards the abuser priest. Child abuse cannot be the only reason that people flee from the Catholic Church in United States because the child abuse is everywhere. It is there in the family and work place and so on... It is right for the Catholic Church to question itself and renew itself for the service of the people. 

Since the issue about the child abuse has projected big, we cannot take that is the only reason for the exit of the people. Exit of the Catholics from the Church is not new. And the Church cannot remain quiet and watching the exit of the people rather must introspect in to the exit of the Catholics and find out the problems. The church should take this opportunity to purify the church as it is rightly said by the Pope Benedict XVI that it is time for the purification of the Catholic Church. The new spirit should be blown in to the mission of the Catholic Church. The one of the reason may be a good approach and missionary character of the Baptist denomination which embraced the most of the Catholics who went of the Church this year. Likewise there may be problem concerning the ministers or the mood of ministry or service or the type of administration that tends people to leave the church. The root must be found out to resolve the perennial problem in the Church.

MARTYRS ARE NOT BURIED BUT SOWED

Sr. Valsa John is added in the list of victims (Pastor.Stein, Fr. Arul Doss and Sr. Rani Maria) who were fighting for the justice of the poor and innocent people in North India.see link. The martydam of these religious people have never had ceased the fight for justice but it has enkindled the fire.

India is a rich country where 80% of wealth is swindled and used by the 20% of the selfish people. The 80% of people consists of the middle class and people below poverty line. the people who live below poverty line are mere slaves to the landlords and fanatists, especially in North India. The christian missionaries, being the followers of the liberator the Christ,  teach these uneducated poor people of their rights and dignities. This awareness is given for the last decade in a constant manner. So now these poor people realize and question the landlords and swindlers. these landlords want to eradicate the cause of these protest of the innocent poor people. so they like to get rid of these educators. For this mission they employ the religion and anti conversion bill.

Actually these landlords want to retain their power in the villages. In order to retain power they need to destroy the followers of Jesus who teach the people about the human dignities and the liberation. Fr. Arul Doss, Sr. rani Maira and Australian missionary Pastor. Stein and his sons became the victim of these fanatists. their death has never ceased the missionary zeal of the South Indian to come to north India for Evangelization. Sr. Valsa John was also fighting for the poor people against the exploitation of the mining corporations in Pakur district, near the city of Dumka. It seems she is shot dead. The blood of a martyr is never in vein. it will bear hundred fold.

Human Life is Precious

Pope Benedict XVI praised the work of those involved in developing medical cures from adult stem cells in the conference held form Nov. 9-11, jointly organized by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture and the US-based Stem for Life Foundation which promotes adult stem cell research. see link

The Pope has rightly appreciated and also reminded, we human beings do not have the right to kill a human life for the sake of experiments. The medical experts make use of the poor living human beings. Whether they are poor or not the human life is the same. It cannot be sold or bought for money to make use for the new findings. Poor people may be ready to sell their life for the sake of the other members of the family but the medical experts who know the value of the human life being in the place of God the protector must realize and deny the temptation. In north India poor formers are ready to commit suicide. Some medical experts would like to utilize the poverty of the people. The advancement in science is for the human life to live better in this world. This cannot be achieved at the cost of any human life irrespectable of status of human being in the society.

God the creator has handed over the world to the human beings who are made in His likeness and image. So the human beings have the duty to safeguard all the beings entrusted to them. The police should not become a thief. If we do so we betray Him who has created us. What a happy surrounding will there be, when a child and mother are saved during the delivery time. The creator will have the pain of losing a creation. Human beings are also the creators in one or the other way. The church appreciates the science which generates the medicine for the survival of the human species rather than using the human life for the new findings. In this way the Catholic Church resembles Christ who is the savior of the world.

The New Evangelization for the Migrants

 

Pope Benedict XVI has called for new evangelization for the Migrants. More and more young people come out of their own country. They migrate with the fine intellectual capability of their own countries and live in places where in they are accepted. It is very difficult for the youngsters to safeguard the faith they have received in their own culture.

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/messages/migration/documents/hf_ben-xvi_mes_20110921_world-migrants-day_en.html

The God’s own people-Israelites were also Migrants. They suffered a lot in their journey to the Promised Land. God the father was with them to guide them and lead them towards the Promised Land. In the same way, the church tries to take care of the young emigrants in various aspects. The church not only speaks about the faith oriented topics but also it is bothered about the human lives in the world. The church is not a spectator where in the people struggle for the day to day lives. God insisted the people of Israel to have faith in Him even in their trials and tribulations. The church today also insists the same. The young migrants suffer a lot. But the church urges the young Catholics not to lose their faith in the mobility of life one part of the world to the other.

Usually the migrants lose their ancestral tradition when they pass on to the other place or the new place. Though it may be an opportunity for the innovative world to come, the lack of ancestral tradition will have the impact on the interpersonal relationship. The modernized world has already lost the value of love. It has become the world of materialism. The materialism has already led to the indifference to religion and God. So it is right time to call for the new evangelization for the migrants. Though the Israelites were the nomads, God the father never led them astray from Him. The young immigrants must be able to find out the providence of God in the new place. They must be able to find out the meaning of life in the light of faith of the Catholic Church.