Monday, August 29, 2022

Usque ad effusionem sanguinis

 
Mosaic in side altar. Chapel, Pontifical Urban College 
The new Cardinals are entrusted with the service of love: love for God, love for his Church, an absolute and unconditional love for his brothers and sisters, even unto shedding their blood, if necessary, as expressed in the words of placing the biretta and as indicated by the colour of their robes.

(Address of His Holiness Benedict XVI at the Ordinary Public Consistory for the creation of new Cardinals, February 18, 2012.)

On Saturday, August 27, Pope Francis created 20 new Cardinals, including two sons of India. Thanks to a personal connection with Archbishop Filipe Neri Antônio Sebastiâo Do Rosario Ferrão, Archbishop of Goa & Daman, I had a front seat invitation to the festivities. Because of a prior commitment, I wasn't able to arrive in Rome until the evening of Saturday and missed the (from the description of others who participated) rather chaotic ceremony of the Consistory itself, which was held inside a packed St. Peter's Basilica, in the blazing August Roman heat. The security lines, apparently, were long, and terribly organized and many weren't able to get inside the Basilica, despite holding tickets. 

On Sunday, I concelebrated at a Holy Mass of Thanksgiving for the two new Indian Cardinals, held at the Pontifical Urban College on the Gianicolo (right next to the Pontifical North American College, a frequent haunt during my seminary breaks, and subsequent visits to the Eternal City). The Mass was celebrated by the newly elevated Filipe Neri Cardinal Ferrão, and concelebrated by Anthony Cardinal Poola of Hyderabad, and three of the other four Indian Cardinals -- Oswald Cardinal Gracias of Bombay (who preached), George Cardinal Alencherry (Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church) and Baselios Cardinal Cleemis (Major Archbishop Catholicos of the Syro-Malankara Church). Telesphore Cardinal Toppo, Archbishop Emeritus of Ranchi, was unable to attend due to poor health. In addition, Archbishop Machado of Bangalore, and Bishop Vincenzo Viva, Diocesan Bishop of Albano and former Rector of the Urban College, also concelebrated. Two seminarians of the College, Deacon Bipin of Ranchi and Deacon Dawood of Lahore (Pakistan), served the Cardinal celebrant. 


(Cardinal Poola seems to be saying, "Gosh, you're tall, Father!")

The sacristy was a scrum of Indian priests from all over ... many Goans, of course, and Keralites, who dominate the Indian clergy worldwide, but also others from every other corner of India, manifesting the ethnic and cultural diversity of the Indian Church. I tend to tower over others, especially in gatherings of Indians, and this was no exception, though I did meet a Fr. Adrian from Goa was half a head taller! A Fr. Basilio, a professor at St. John's in Queens was one of a few Indian American clergy (he turned out to be a minor seminary classmate of Cardinal Ferráo, and gave a toast at the reception after Mass). Another priest knew of me via the current Administrator of the Diocese of Baroda in Gujarat (where my parents lived), Archbishop Stanislaw Fernandes, the Archbishop Emeritus of Gandhinagar. We spoke in Gujarati -- not a common language one hears in Indian sacristies. 

As in so many Roman sacristies, SILENTIUM was, with valiant hope, posted on a sign in one corner, and was universally ignored. 

The Mass was, of course, in English. (To those unfamiliar with India, this often comes as a surprise. India has no universally spoken national language. Hindi isn't spoken in the south, which is where the Church of India has a strong presence, nor in Goa, or the tribal northeastern states, the other bastions of Catholicism.). There were familiar Indian Catholic hymns, some Mass parts in Latin, and a recessional in Konkani, that was clearly well known. 

A reception followed, with the customary vote of thanks, and a large crowd taking photos and greeting the prelates. After some light antipasti (that had all the hallmarks of being assembled by Indian nuns -- cookies and savory snacks dominated), a full Indian buffet with a Keralite flavor followed. The two Deacons from Mass came and sat next to me. Deacon Dawood (who goes here by Davide, the Italian version of his name) was very kind, and even though he assured me that Pakistan would decimate India in the T20 match later in the day, we had a very interesting conversation (in English and Urdu) about the state of the Church in Pakistan, and his own vocation story. (India beat Pakistan by 5 wickets, as it turns out. I'll gloat tomorrow :))

There were no fans, and certainly no a/c, and much perspiration. 

Deacon Dawood then took us up to the roof the college for its famous view of St. Peter's Dome on one side and the Eternal City spreading to the horizon on the other. It was as good as, or even better, than the view from the rooftop of the next door North American College. 

With Deacon Dawood of Lahore


On the roof of the Urban College



The Republic of India has had diplomatic relations with the Holy Since 1948, and traditionally its Ambassador in Bern was accredited also to the Holy See. Since 2020, the Indian Ambassador in Vienna has been accredited to the Holy See. There is no Indian mission to the Holy See based in Rome (I thought it would have been easier to have a dual mission out of the Embassy to Italy ...) therefore there was no official function hosted by the Indian Government to honor the new Indian Cardinals. (Unlike the US Embassy to the Holy See, which hosted a reception on Friday in honor of the newly created Cardinal Archbishop of San Diego.). India is the second largest Catholic country in Asia ... however, the current Indian government's ideology isn't favorable to religious minorities.  

The discussion in the West about the College of Cardinals tends to skew on ideological lines, particularly questions of doctrine and liturgy. In the global South (the center of Catholicism, as far as the numbers of the faithful go), the liturgical questions that consume the internal Catholic conversation in the West are simply not on the radar, and rarely too, issues of doctrine and morality. Development, education, poverty, the family, as well minority concerns, such as interfaith dialogue and (for some) survival in the face of serious persecution or hostility tend to weigh more heavily. 

However, I dare say, the threat of modernist secularism isn't far away ... at least not in India. In urban, upwardly mobile India, traditional cultural Catholicism is facing similar challenges from Western influenced secularism, as in the West itself -- disengagement from the sacramental life, difficulties in passing on the faith, in the midst of a Catholic culture that is deeply clericalist. The challenges of the West aren't far behind in parts of the global South, and India. And responding to them requires a willingness to be witnesses -- martyrs -- maybe even to the shedding of blood. 


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