Category: Jan-March 2023

By Raj Irudaya, SJ

(The Faith of the Outsider: Exclusion and Inclusion in the Biblical Story, Frank Antony Spina, Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2005)

Are the revelation and salvation of God confined only to the people of Israel or do they transcend geographical boundaries, time, races, languages and nations? Do the so-called outsiders have a role to play? If they do, how has God included them in the history of salvation? Frank Antony Spina has made a serious attempt in his book to address these questions that have been haunting us.

Because God chooses to intervene concretely in human history through the people of Israel, the biblical story is usually seen as a story of exclusion. The people of Israel are looked upon as insiders in the history of salvation and others as outsiders. But, in today’s world of inclusivity and multi-culturality, exclusion is seen as discordant, discriminatory and divisive. This is why Frank Antony Spina’s attempt to study exclusion and inclusion in the biblical story is a bold and relevant venture.

The Israelites, as chosen people, are not to be regarded as absolutely exclusive in the divine project of salvation. It is in and through them that God’s mission of salvation reaches out to all nations and peoples. God’s election of Israel, termed traditionally as exclusive, has actually an inclusive purpose.

With the help of his biblical research and scholarship, Spina, in this book, has highlighted the role and participation of the outsiders, whose edifying faith shows they are included in God’s plan of salvation. In order to challenge the conventional interpretation, he has studied the biblical characters of Esau, Tamar, Rahab, Naaman, Jonah, Ruth and the woman at the well and shows clearly how these outsiders, by their faith, get themselves included in God’s plan of salvation.

I wish to present in a nutshell F.A. Spina’s enlightening presentation of these biblical characters to highlight the inclusiveness of the biblical story.

Esau who becomes the Face of God

Esau is conventionally presented in unfavourable terms. He sells his familial birth right to Jacob, his younger brother, for bread and lentil stew (Gen 25:27-34). He is deprived of his ancestral blessing by the cunning tactics of Rebekah with the complicity of Jacob (Gen 27). Esau, the insider as the elder son of Isaac and Rebekah becomes the outsider, because of the loss of his birth right and ancestral blessing. This does not mean that Jacob is blessed and Esau is cursed. Spina shows how Esau is also blessed as he is given a country – Edom (Gen 36:1,8,19).

More importantly, the author presents Esau as the face of God. The inimical relationship between Esau and Jacob is resolved by the reconciliatory reunion of both the brothers (Gen 33). Instead of venting a vengeful rage against Jacob who had cunningly usurped Esau’s birth right and ancestral blessing, Esau accepts him graciously as his own brother. By his magnanimous, forgiving and accepting behaviour, Esau is declared as the face of God by Jacob himself: “…for truly to see your face is like seeing the face of God since you have received me with such favour” (33:10). Spina underscores how Esau, the outsider, has become the medium and message of the magnanimity, forgiveness and acceptance of God and thus the face of God.

Tamar who preserves Judah’s future

The story of Tamar’s affair with Judah (Gen 38) looks scandalous given today’s moral values. But Spina asserts that the story of Tamar, a Canaanite woman, and so an outsider, cannot be ignored as her name figures in the genealogy of Jesus as part of the generations of the ancestors who would precede the birth of Jesus, the Messiah and Saviour. In spite of the accepted custom of levirate marriage, Tamar was refused children through Selah, the third son of Judah. Spina says that if she had had children through Selah, it would jeopardize the progeny of Judah, through whose line of lineage, the Messiah would come. Tamar’s resolve to have a relationship with Judah for the sake of continuing his posterity goes beyond social convention. By doing so she risked her own life. But she plays her role in preserving Judah’s future and even Israel’s future. Spina says that God used Tamar to ensure the future of God’s people. Thus Tamar, an outsider, becomes an insider in the history of salvation.

Rahab who recalls Yahweh’s mighty deeds

Rahab, a Canaanite woman looked upon as a prostitute, plays a crucial role in saving the spies sent by Joshua to survey the promised land (Josh 2). Spina draws our attention to the faith of Rahab, who recalls Yahweh’s mighty ways of saving the people of Israel (2:8-12). By this she has transformed herself into an Israelite insider capable of making an exemplary Israelite statement of faith. As a favour to her effort to save the spies, she requests to spare her and her family from the destruction the Israelites would bring upon her land. She and her family were not only saved. Rahab eventually becomes part of Israel, as Rahab is included as an insider in the genealogy of Jesus.

If we enter respectfully into the faith experiences of others, we will be able to demolish the dividing wall between insiders and outsiders.

Amazing Faith of Naaman, an outsider

Naaman, a high-ranking Aramaean military officer and an outsider, is presented as proclaiming his singular belief in the Israelite God Yahweh after he is miraculously cured from dreadful leprosy (2 Kgs 5). Spina invites us to see how Naaman moves from his annoyance with Prophet Elisha when he commands him to bathe in the river Jordan to his open declaration of faith in the God of Israel (5:15,17). Spina also shows that religiously Naaman has become an Israelite as he has decided to worship Yahweh in his own country, though he remains socially a Syrian. The faith of Naaman, the outsider, is astounding.

God for All

Spina draws our attention also to Jonah, the prophet and an insider who tends to become an outsider by disobeying the command of God to go to Nineveh. It is not mere ethnicity as an Israelite that makes one an insider; but it is one’s faith and commitment to God, which makes one belong really to the people of God. At the preaching of Jonah, it is not merely one individual but the whole of the city of Nineveh repents and turns to the ways of the Lord. By this symbolic mission to Ninevites as outsiders, Spina asserts that God wants insiders and outsiders to be part of the same divinely constituted community.

Ruth who enters the genealogy of Jesus

Ruth, a Moabite woman and an outsider, is graced to become an insider in the community of the people of God and also is privileged to enter the genealogy of Jesus. The unfailing and astonishing love and commitment of Ruth, a non-Israelite, to Naomi, her Israelite mother-in-law fetch her God’s favour. God makes her become not only the wife of Boaz, an Israelite, but brings her into the genealogy of Jesus. Spina remarks that the outsiders promote Israel’s future and thus become part of God’s agenda of salvation.

This book invites us to revisit and reread the Bible and discover the unrecognized riches of the faith of the outsiders.

The Samaritan Woman’s gradual growth in faith

Spina demonstrates how the faith of the outsiders is highly commended by Jesus by highlighting some examples (Roman Centurion: Matt 8:5-13; Canaanite woman: Matt 15:21-28; Grateful Samaritan Lk 17:11-19).  He dwells upon the episode of the woman at the well (John 4:1-42) who is a Samaritan, marginalized and ostracized at all levels by the Jews, the insiders. The ground-breaking dialogue of Jesus with the Samaritan woman and her gradual growth in faith enable her to become the privileged medium of receiving divine revelations like living water as gift of God, right worship, Jesus as Prophet, Messiah and Saviour. Spina points to the faith movement of the Samaritan woman from the outsider to the insider, as she brings her whole village to recognize Jesus as Saviour of the world.

The book invites us to… I enjoyed reading Spina’s book which is intuitive and enlightening in bringing to limelight the long-neglected theme of the faith of the outsider in the context of today’s inclusivity and multiculturality. Through his in-depth study he has emphasized that the mission of the God of Biblical history is inclusive in order to build a wider divine community of all peoples and nations. This book invites us to revisit and reread the Bible and discover the unrecognized riches of the faith of the outsiders. It calls us also to acknowledge and learn from the faith experience of outsiders who participate in their own unique ways in the salvation history. If we enter respectfully into the faith experiences of others, we will be able to demolish the dividing wall between insiders and outsiders and build the world community of God as Fratelli Tutti, to use the words of Pope Francis. It will help us see all humans as our brothers and sisters.

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– Purushothama Choudhary’s Krīstu bhakti

By Ravi Sekhar, SJ

I wonder how many Indian Christians in other regions of India have heard of this truly great man. Purushothama Choudhary was a great Christian poet-saint of the Telugu region of Pre-Independent India. Hailed as the ‘monarch of literature’ in literary circles, he can be considered as the earliest of all poet-saints of South India.

Youth: He hailed from a scholarly Hindu family and was well-versed in music and literature. He was born in 1803 in Ganjam district of Orissa which was predominantly a Telugu-speaking region. His ancestors, Bengali Brahmins, had migrated centuries ago from Bengal and settled in this region. As a Bengali Brahmin child, he was formed and brought up in orthodox Hindu faith, in the Vedic tradition.

K.W. Christopher writes: “Purushothama Choudhary’s childhood was filled with classical and Vedic learning. He became very proficient in Sanskrit, Telugu, Bangla and Utkala. From a very early age, he showed a great predilection for spirituality. Owing to his exceptional skill in singing he was employed as a court vidwān in Parlakimedi princely state.”

Search for Sadguru: After the death of his father, Purushothama engaged himself in a deep quest for spiritual fulfillment and true knowledge. The desire to attain true salvation through a Sadguru (the True Master) became almost an obsession. He tried different teachings, sects and cults, in the process became an avadhūta, an aghōri and even made an abortive attempt to run away to Varanasi. He made every possible effort to quench his spiritual thirst for a true guru but in vain.

Finally it was some tracts on Jesus and Christian faith that helped him discover his true guru in Jesus Christ. He, then, became an ardent follower of Christ, missionary and a mystic. With his rootedness in the bhakti tradition he scripted several scholarly hymns, operas and books on various Christian themes. His works can be compared – both in music and lyrics – to the works of the famed Sri Tyagaraja, Ramadasa and Annamayya, luminaries in the Hindu bhakti music. Since he was proficient in both literature and music, his compositions had both literary merit and musical depth.

Purushothama Choudhary was a great Christian poet-saint of the Telugu region of Pre-Independent India.

Death: Purushothama toured extensively upto Chennai in Tamil Nadu and Bellary in Karnataka to preach the Christ he loved. But he suffered greatly for believing in and preaching Christ. Once he was severely beaten up in Mylapore, Chennai. He died in 1890 at the age of 87.

Poems and songs: His poetry reads like the Old Testament psalms. He was a profound seeker and a passionate devotee. Similar to the ancient sages of India who meditated on the banks of rivers, in the forests and Himalayas in search of the Truth and true meaning of life, and the early Desert Fathers in the deserts of Egypt, Purushothama undertook an intense spiritual struggle to discover the deeper meaning of existence and to quench the inner thirst for the true divine guru. In his search for Sadguru, he travelled far and wide like a pilgrim and did not rest till he found one.

Being a true son of the Indian tradition, Purushothama wanted to seek his enlightenment through the eternal, divine Teacher. Finally he found his Sadguru in Jesus Christ and him alone.

In one of his kirtanas Purushothama states that what matters is the service of the lotus feet of Jesus, the Sadguru, the one who became God incarnate, died and rose for the sinners. This is what everyone who wants to obtain the delight of heavenly grace should know. Once he discovered his Sadguru in Jesus, his restlessness stopped and he became serene and tranquil. Through the little literature available to him on the life of Jesus – especially the gospel of Luke – he gained considerable knowledge of Christ and began to get rooted in Christ.

What happened afterward was something amazing. He grew deeper and deeper in Christ and everything else became worthless. It was like the experience of Paul who said, “I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.” (Phil. 3:8).

Although he faced rejection and humiliation from his relatives and villagers, who treated him as an outcast for renouncing his native faith, he remained firm. Purushothama expressed his love for Christ in several kīrtanās. The earliest kīrtana was an outburst of joy on receiving baptism. He felt as if he was overtaken by the Spirit and from this blissful moment his first Christian hymn took shape in Cuttack. He spelled out what transformation he had experienced at that moment. “I found a hiding place in my Jesus Christ. My soul ascended to my great Saviour. My ears heard the good news and then the foolish doctrines left me and fled. I got the virtuous Christian faith. My heart found the deep mystery; boundless solid sin emptied away. Jesus gave his life as a favour, and with his death destroyed heaps of my sins. Devious doctrines of caste and creed died, and diabolic demon chains loosened, and the exalted eternal peace of the Cross-bearer came to roost at the core of my being.”

With his rootedness in the bhakti tradition he scripted several scholarly hymns, operas and books on various Christian themes.

Many kīrtanās of Purushothama reveal that he was captivated by the person of Christ. Christ, for him, is at the same time a guru, teacher, saviour, redeemer, omniscient, omnipotent, eternal healer, ocean of compassion, the treasure of mercy, etc. Besides, he was convinced that only Jesus can bestow true knowledge of God and spiritual delight. He did not love Christ for getting from him something for himself. He did so in order to experience the power and comfort that come when you believe in him and worship him. He could not experience this anywhere else.

He acknowledged this in a kīrtana. “He made me stand under his protection; led me to the dawn of peaceful and pleasing fruits of His word, and comforted me; He subdued me with the goad of His word of light; cut short all my wild desires, hewed down my sin and took me to a haven; lent His ear to my laments, dismissed my distress, dragged me onto a rock and established my well-being and comforted my heart.”

Mystic par excellence: Purushothama had the habit of sitting for long hours in prayer and meditation. He used to sit on the bank of river Vamsadhara, at the border of Andhra and Orissa states, till late at night and sing the kīrtanās aloud. Often he sang the kīrtana in Anandabhairavi, meditating on the name of Jesus: “The name of Jesus is holy; Jesus is the eternal life; the abode of the heart of his servants and he is the destroyer of all the sins. The qualities of Jesus are a delight to our hearts; he drives away the pain of those who suffer and shows the sweet path to salvation. You, Oh, Christ, are the benediction of all the faithful devotees; you are a king who liberates: you are the almighty and powerful priest!”

His profound faith & devotion: Purushothama’s faith in God was rock-strong. He never lost that faith despite the many difficulties, challenges and sufferings he had to face. He described in several kīrtanās his profound faith in God. In one of them he asks, “Is there any greater privilege than to be delighted at heart? Doubts and comforts are changing day by day. With the strength of Christ’s treasure of compassion, all burdens will disappear; there will not be enemies on earth if you learn to be forgiving and friendly to Christ!”

Through deep meditation and contemplation, he grew in the bhakti of Jesus from the age of 35. Until his ripe old age, Purushothama remained passionate in his devotion to Christ.

Like St. Ignatius & St. Paul: In his deep faith and time spent in prayer, including mystical, contemplative prayer, in repenting his past and coming to love Christ passionately he resembles St. Ignatius. Both Ignatius and Purushothama were great krīstubhaktās, ardent lovers of Christ. While Ignatius prayed on the banks of the river Cardoner, Purushothama spent many nights on the banks of river Vamsadhara, in contemplative, mystical prayer. In his missionary zeal and constant travels to preach Christ, Purushothama resembles the great St. Paul.

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– The Preamble of the Indian Constitution

By Sahaya Philomin Raj, SJ

There were hundreds of debates held at the Constituent Assembly before this nation, the people of India, came to a consensus to accept and adopt our Constitution. The debates are still going on in this country at socio-political and cultural realms. The Judiciary, the guardian of the Constitution, are called to interpret it whenever a need arises.

Old India Vs New India:

The Constitution is a vision document to establish a new India in keeping with the dreams and aspirations of the people of India. They wanted to be freed from the old India which was bound by castes and different types of slavery. People were illiterate and did not have an adequate knowledge of India and its intricacies. Moreover, they were not aware of the avenues available for the independent nation to restore social justice, equality, freedom, fraternity and development for all its citizens. Though they had a lot of experiences and wisdom acquired through these experiences, they were unable to articulate all their aspirations. It was Dr Ambedkar, the “Mook Nayak” (The leader of the voiceless), who shouldered the responsibility of giving shape to the aspirations and dreams of the people of India. 

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It was Dr Ambedkar, the “Mook Nayak” (The leader of the voiceless), who shouldered the responsibility of giving shape to the aspirations and dreams of the people of India.

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The responsibility was given to the Constituent Assembly, which, in turn, constituted a drafting committee under the leadership of Dr Ambedkar who had a deep understanding of India with all its complexity. He, along with others, made this Constitution a remarkable document. It took almost two years of serious deliberations, debates and inputs before it was adopted by the Constituent Assembly.  

The priorities were:

To alleviate poverty and to feed the people

To build a new India where in all people would enjoy freedom, liberty, equality, justice, opportunity, fundamental rights 

To educate and to provide employment to ensure a decent life for all

To remove the disparity between the rich and the poor

To bring the people at the periphery to the mainstream

To protect and secure the nation from the external threats

To streamline the administration at all levels

Jawaharlal Nehru, articulated the very same aspirations and dreams in these words:

“The future beckons to us. Whither do we go and what shall be our endeavour? To bring freedom and opportunity to the common man, to the peasants and workers of India; to fight and end poverty and ignorance and disease; to build up a prosperous, democratic and progressive nation, and to create social, economic and political institutions which will ensure justice and fullness of life to every man and woman…. All of us, to whatever religion we may belong, are equally the children of India with equal rights, privileges and obligations. We cannot encourage communalism or narrow-mindedness, for no nation can be great whose people are narrow in thought or in action.”

The vitality:

The speciality of our Constitution is that it has been adopted in the name of the people and not in the name of God or any sacred text or in the name of some national leaders or some ideology. Hence, the Constitution is not of the government nor for the government, nor by the government. but of the people, by the people and for the people.

The great minds who drafted the Constitution have, at the outset, put it in a nutshell the vision in the form of the Preamble. The preamble spells out succinctly, how the people of India wanted to shape this country and what they wanted to achieve.

WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC 

These basic principles or doctrines are very crucial for each and every citizen to understand and to help realise the dreams. 

Sovereign: Sovereign means the sovereignty of the people. It means the People, the nation is independent, autonomous, free, self-determining and self-governing. People are not under pressure by any external or internal forces. It is finally the people of India who will decide and run the affairs of the government.

But the government cannot exploit or manipulate the concept of sovereignty to control and to enslave its own people using its agencies and power just because it has got a majority in the parliament. This is why the present efforts to silence the dissenting voices are against the very spirit of the Constitution.

Socialist: This means the collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods. This will be a system in which the resources and income are subject to social control. The wealth of the nation belongs to the people and not to the individuals or corporates. The people consciously decided to have India as a Socialist country, meaning that the government would always be careful in implementing the principle of distributive justice in all fields. A former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Mr. Annadurai’s famous dictum, “Tax the rich and enrich the poor” vividly indicates the principle of socialism. This is why the phenomenon of about 100 individuals owning half the wealth of the nation is against our Constitution. 

Secular: This means that the State has no religion; no mixing up of government affairs with religion. In other words, the government has no business in religious affairs except to protect and treat all the religions equally. The State’s role is to protect and to create space for everybody to exercise their respective religious rights. Thus, the State is envisioned to play the role of an organizer, facilitator and protector as far as religious activities are concerned. Citizens can profess, practice and propagate their faith. Religion and faith are personal and private affairs of each individual. Hence, voluntary conversion from one religion to another is a fundamental right of all citizens enshrined in the Constitution.

Conversion is not an issue affecting the minorities alone but it is taking away everyone’s right to religion. Preventing conversion is a violation of fundamental human rights. Therefore the Anti-Conversion laws, enacted by several northern States, are unconstitutional. By restricting conversions, they are taking away a fundamental right of the citizens.

Democratic: “Enjoy your freedom and exercise your rights and allow others to enjoy their freedom and to exercise their rights”. Also help one another to exercise their freedom and rights. Unity in Diversity is our richness. But uniformity (one Nation, one culture, one language, one religion, one election) is against humanity and against nature. Democracy is the most-celebrated principle in any civilized human society. Accepting, recognizing, appreciating, respecting and acknowledging the culture, religion, ethnicity, language, literature of one another are the highest human values in a democracy. Democracy thrives when pluralism is  encouraged and appreciated. It promotes devolution of power instead of accumulation.

Republic denotes an Independent Nation; a Sovereign state; a government headed not by a Monarch nor by a Dictator nor by an Authoritarian nor by the military chief but by a President who is elected through a democratic process according to the Constitution.

The preamble further visualizes:

to secure to all its citizens:

JUSTICE – social, economic and political;

Among these, Political Justice alone is said to have been realised, to some extent, in the form of ‘one vote, one value’. But where is Social Justice? All the citizens are entitled to be treated equally, with dignity and with due respect. No one should feel being excluded. Human rights of each and every one has to be secured and it should be the top priority of the government. But in reality, we have utterly failed to restore social justice to all our citizens.

Similarly, Economic Justice too remains a far cry. We have not made any progress in it. Rather the wealth of the nation is getting accumulated in the hands of a few. Employment, a secured job, basic needs, food, drinking water, sanitation, health facilities are still not available for two thirds of the population in India.

The preamble continues to visualise: 

LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;

EQUALITY of status and of opportunity;

and to promote among them all FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;

IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar commented on the usefulness of the Constitution, when he said, “I feel, however good a constitution may be, it is sure to turn out bad if those who are called to work it, happen to be a bad lot. However bad a Constitution may be, it may turn out to be good, if those who are called to work on it, happen to be a good lot.” So, “the working of a Constitution does not depend wholly upon the nature of the Constitution but on the people and the political parties they set up to carry out their wishes and their politics”. It is for all of us to protect the Constitution and to implement it in letter and spirit.

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By Fr. Jose Parappully, SDB

Mental wellbeing of priests and religious in todays’ socio-cultural and ecclesial context is a vast area to explore. In this brief article I make a few general statements and then focus on some steps we can take to enhance mental wellbeing and reduce the potential for mental illness. I avoid psychological jargon as far as possible, and use language that any reader can understand.

Priests and religious as a group enjoy some of the most significant contributors to mental health and well-being. Despite this, not a few of them suffer from various mental disorders. Many need increasing support in these stressful times to live healthier lives.

Mental Health

Mental health is not just absence of mental illness. It is a state of holistic wellbeing, in which the mind, body and spirit function harmoniously and enable a person to live joyfully and productively, finding meaning, purpose and satisfaction in life. It is a state that enables one to thrive, to flourish, to live life to the full.

This life to the full is characterised especially by healthy interpersonal relationships, undistorted cognitive processing (perception, interpretation, judgment etc.), balance between dependence and independence, feeling of competence and confidence, playfulness and joy, a sense of contentment, capacity to adapt, to change, and character virtues like love, hope, altruism, compassion, sensitivity, capacity to endure adversity, loss and suffering without being unduly distressed or disturbed, and resilience, that is, the capacity to bounce back from setbacks.

The World Health Organization defines mental health as “a state of well-being in which an individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.” (WHO, 2013). If we look carefully at this definition, mental health can co-exist with mental illness. Even those who suffer from the illness can still realise the goals of mental health, even if not as fully as he or she would be able to if the illness were absent. Among famous persons who accomplished much despite their mental illness are Isaac Newton, Ludwig van Beethoven, Abraham Lincoln, Vincent van Gogh, Winston Churchill and Virginia Woolf, to mention a few.

What contributes to mental health?

A Supportive Environment

Since the discovery a few years ago that the genes in the human body are far fewer than thought until then, the role of the environment in wellbeing is given more and more importance. It is not genetics that really matter but the environment. When environments are characterised by tension and conflict, lack of support and frustrating in terms of ministerial fulfilment, these take a heavy toll on mental health of priests and religious. These lead to ‘burnout’.

Burnout

Burnout is the end result of a process in which highly motivated and committed individuals lose their spirit. Herbert J. Freudenberger, who introduced the term to scientific literature, defined it as “a state of fatigue or frustration brought about by devotion to a cause, way of life, or relationships that failed to produce the expected reward.”

What contributes most to burnout is an unfriendly and frustrating community and ministerial environment.

Christina Maslach, the University of California at Berkeley social psychologist who has done extensive research on it, described burnout as “a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment that can occur among individuals who do ‘people work’ of some kind.” Priests and religious fit into this category of people and so are vulnerable to burnout.

What contributes most to burnout is an unfriendly and frustrating community and ministerial environment which prevents passionate and enthusiastic priests and religious functioning at their optimum level by stifling initiative and creativity. This leads to a feeling of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment and increased frustration and resentment which affect mental health and wellbeing.

Stress

Stress is related to burnout but it is different from it. Stresses of life lie at the root of mental illness; though genetic dispositions also contribute. For example, one may have a genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia. However, whether that potential will be actualised or not depends on the level of stress one might experience.

Levels of stress among priests and religious has risen considerably. Speaking of priests, Eugene Kennedy wrote they “are subject not only to pressures from the structures of the organised Church but from the irresistible dynamics of social change that play as fiercely on them as the noonday sun”(Kennedy, 2000). Each day they feel “the strain of their high-demand, low-reward style of life.” Fears and anxieties arising from current milieu of false allegations of sexual abuse and their consequences add to this daily strain.

Retirement from active ministry too can be very stressful for priests and religious. They now have much time on their hands, and may not know how to utilise it, or they may not be given or find opportunities to use them well. This can gradually erode meaningfulness and contentment, leading to loneliness and even depression and unhealthy ways to cope with them.

It is in the context of potential for burnout and increased stress that I suggest some measures to promote mental health and wellbeing.

Cherish Relationships

Mental health is supported and enhanced through healthy relationships. Neuro-scientists tell us that we are hardwired for relationships. When these are missing we become vulnerable to mental illness.

Good relationships have been found to enhance the quality of life, and promote health and happiness. These strengthen resilience, improve brain functioning and inoculate against mental and physical illness.  The conclusion of The Harvard Study of Adult Development, perhaps the most famous and the longest running longitudinal study (begun in 1938), states this categorically: “The good life is dependent on good relationships.”

Friendship

According to the philosopher Epicurus, one of the most vital contributors to health and happiness are our friends. This idea is today supported by much research. The support that friends provide makes a significant contribution to mental health. Pope Benedict of happy memory observed that “It is through our friendships that we grow and develop as humans.” When we are most in need, those who really stand by us are our friends.

Unfortunately, seminary training and religious formation have not promoted friendship, rather it has been seen as a danger to one’s vocation. Many priests and religious are bereft of the support of friends both during active ministry and in retirement.

Each day priests and religious feel “the strain of their high-demand, low-reward style of life.”

Since many priests live isolated in their presbyteries, having a support group of priest-peers with whom they can share their joys and griefs, as well as relax and have fun tougher, is a great help to maintaining mental health.

The danger today is that the lure of social media might seduce us to focus on “Facebook Friends” rather than cultivate real life friends.

Therapeutic Lifestyle

When we focus on enhancing mental health, what psychologist Roger Walsh (2011) calls “therapeutic lifestyles” really matter. These include: exercise, nutrition and diet, time in nature, recreation, religious or spiritual involvement, and service to others. Unhealthy lifestyle (neglect of these therapeutic lifestyles), contribute to multiple psychopathologies, or forms of mental illness. Even a minor change in these lifestyle factors can bring about major changes in mental and physical health.

Exercise

Exercise is especially significant in protecting from, coping with, recovering from, mental illness, especially depression. Exercise protects and nourishes the brain and the neural networks and reduces the risk of neurodegenerative disorders and cognitive impairments. It helps our body produce endorphins — the neurotransmitters in our brain that make us feel good.

Taking a few minutes each day to engage in exercise such as yoga, qigong, tai-chi, dance, simple aerobics and even just walking help stimulate and strengthen the immune system and protect and nourish mind.

Recreational activities such as games and esthetic interests such as art, music and dance also contribute significantly to mental health. These have been found to ward off and help recover especially from depression.

Time Spent in Nature

Time spent in nature is one of our most vital health resources.  It can promote improved cognitive functioning and overall well-being. It helps to ward off negative thoughts and anxiety. Quiet spaces in nature can still the disquiet within us. Gardening is one excellent way of being with nature.

The current explosion of multimedia flooding us with constant online stimuli, as we sit for long hours in front of radiation-emitting electronic devices, has a very negative impact on the brain and affect our mental wellbeing, resulting in what psychologist Roger Walsh calls “technopathologies.”

Diet

A large number of studies indicate the value of diet for mental health. Fish, vegetarian, fruit and nut and whole wheat diets can prevent or ameliorate psychopathologies across the life span. Omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamin B12 found in these foods have an impact on brain chemicals that affect mood and other brain functions, reduce incidence of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases and depression. Fatty junk food, on the other hand, we all know, is hostile to physical and mental health. But we may be reluctant to give it up.

Authenticity

These therapeutic life patterns described above are very effective means for promoting mental health and wellbeing.

However, what matters more than these for us priests and religious is authentic living, that is, a life style that respects our identity and commitments as priests and religious. Disparity between what we publicly profess and how we live in private is a roadmap for stress, which we know is at the root of most illnesses – both mental and physical. Hence a clear understanding of what a priestly or religious identify means and espousing a lifestyle that respects it is essential.

Meaningfulness

Finding meaningfulness in life is a powerful contributor to mental health. Maintaining meaning in our priestly and religious vocation and ministry is essential. When we experience setbacks and find ourselves in non-congenial environments it is easy to lose this meaning. Active involvement in meaningful ministry is a great help to find meaning and purpose in life.

Reaching out in Compassion

Research has found that reaching out to others in selfless service, engaging in acts of kindness and compassion, enhances personal wellbeing. The positive emotions that result from this boost our immune system and consequently enhance our mental and physical wellbeing.

Priestly and religious ministry is one of the most enriching ways of reaching out to help others. Hence, engaging in our ministry meaningfully, with sensitivity and compassion, enhances our mental health.

Religious and Spiritual Practices

Religious and spiritual practices, particularly prayer and meditation, have been found to be mental health enhancers. These sooth fear and anxiety, reduce depression, dissolve anger. Meditation enables us to remain calm and peaceful not only when we engage in it, but throughout the day. The overall effect is increase in our emotional wellbeing and overall life satisfaction.

Priests and religious are by their very vocation called to be experts in this area. Faithfulness to prayer and meditation and mindful celebration of the Sacraments, is good not only for the soul, but also for the mind and the body. 

Coping with Mental Illness

Despite our best efforts to stay healthy, mental illness can strike us, because genetics also cause it. If we are afflicted, a certain acceptance of the reality and taking the necessary measures that help us cope, if not recover, is important. Some of us priests and religious are very reluctant to visit a mental health professional. This has to change. 

Some suffering – including that is caused by mental illness – can be meaningful, potentially transformative, and even redemptive.

We are familiar with the term “wounded healers.” This concept provides hope and optimism. Even if we have been afflicted with mental illness, our own suffering can evoke in us empathy and compassion for fellow sufferers and can even become channels of healing and happiness to them.

What comes down from all that has been presented above is that in most cases when we live our priestly and religious life with authenticity and exercise our ministry with passion and enthusiasm, and adopt a therapeutic lifestyle we have enough resources to live a healthy mental life. At the same time, there are also factors beyond our control that can cause in us mental illness. Then we have to take the necessary steps to cope with it.

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(For more information on Mental Health and Wellbeing, please access my blogposts under “Psyche & Soul” at: http:sumedhabani.blogspot.com)

References:

Kennedy, E. (2000). Saving Fr. Ryan: Understanding the good priest. National Catholic Reporter, March 31

Walsh, R. (2011). Lifestyle and mental health. American Psychologist, 66(7), 579-592. World Health Organization (2013). Mental health action plan 2013-2020. Geneva: Author

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By Stanislaus Alla, SJ

Many thoughts sail across our hearts and minds but we struggle to find the right words or phrases to express them – words that are simple and clear, profound as well as thought-provoking. Here is a piece of advice, partly an appeal, that struck me at the first glance itself. ‘In this world, try to be both good and able. If you do not become able men, at least, try to be good men. The country has no use for able and bad men.’ Though not in a gender-sensitive language, it is well intended and applicable for all.

The advice is not given by a Novice Master or a Religious Superior to fellow religious or seminarians or priests. These words, precious and memorable, are part of the farewell address given by a principal to the students of a school in Myanmar (earlier Burma). Before leaving his motherland to become the Secretary General of the United Nations, U Thant spoke to the students from his heart, visualizing their role in nation building as ‘good and able’ people.

By now some of you may have recalled Abraham Lincoln’s famous letter, written to his son’s teacher. Lincoln is forthright: teach my son to be just, humble, dedicated, and to understand that it is ‘far more honourable to fail than to cheat’ and ‘never to put a price tag on his heart or soul.’ Here we get to see the heart of a father who desires his son to be honest, sincere, truthful, or, in one word, to grow up to be a person of ‘integrity.’ Lincoln and U Thant, separated by time but united by a steely resolve to shape humanity for the better, shared a vision: that their children, and all children by default, should grow up, first and foremost, to be good people, period.

Countless number of parents may have conveyed this value to their children in the genre of bedside-stories and teachers may have passed on the same formally in the classrooms. In the Indian context, one also hears  – or used to hear – the elderly tell the youth: ‘son or beti, whatever you do or wherever you go, bring a ‘good-name’ to your parents (family, dear ones and the teachers) and don’t do anything that brings a bad name to them.’ Emotive and rustic, sharp and sensitive, ‘good-name’ is a highly loaded code word, and it directly speaks to the young hearts. They know that good-name is acquired over a long period of time, and it is easy to lose it but difficult to uphold and enhance it.

Lincoln’s letter to the teacher, U Thant’s exhortation to the students and the appeal of the elderly to bring a good-name to the dear ones, have one thing in common, the virtue of goodness! It is a quality that is extremely important and growing up to be good in one’s life is not optional. Also, there is an implicit (in U Thant’s advice it is explicit) prioritization between the two: goodness over ability, who you are over what you do, and being over doing.

Largely ‘goodness’ expresses itself and is to be noted in one’s being honest, sincere, truthful, kind, generous, magnanimous, respectful, thoughtful etc. Alternately, ‘ability’ represents and is reflected in one’s knowledge, skills, talents, and in being successful as a worker, thinker, organizer, manager or administrator. Such an expectation – expecting persons to grow up to be ‘good and able’ – has its own limitations but the point is to understand the significance of these two critically important dimensions.

Lincoln and U Thant, separated by time but united by a steely resolve to shape humanity for the better, shared a vision: that their children, and all children by default, should grow up, first and foremost, to be good people.

Both ‘good and able’ are valuable virtues and one is not opposed to the other. One can distinctly identify them and, ideally, they should go together, mutually sustaining and nourishing each other. It is expected that each person grows to be good while acquiring knowledge and skills and put to good use these God-given gifts. Also, one grows up to be ‘good and able’ concurrently, without first having to wait to grow up to be good before working on one’s abilities. 

One may wonder why discuss this topic at all since people normally wish others to grow up to be good and able, trusting that those responsible for the formation of the others are doing their job. Equally, debates can continue on the role of ‘nature and nurture’ and who (parents, teachers, friends, media etc) get to have a larger role in influencing one’s formation, but that is not the focus here either. While we continue to imagine that people are getting opportunities to learn to be good, it seems that, in reality, the ground is shifting fast, particularly in this post-modern and post-truth era.

In today’s world, success, almost at any cost, is the reigning mantra. Ambition has become a virtue (from being a vice: Thomas Aquinas’ Summa describes it so) and people aspire to be successful. Whatever the sector, people like to succeed as workers, managers, administrators, organizers or whatever. Well-wishers tell children and adults to be successful. This may take the form of advice, appeal, admonition or warning. The issue is: Will the same people who advise you to be successful will also remind you, with a similar intensity and force, that you have to grow up to be a good person, a person of integrity?

I am afraid that it is not the case. The road to success that leads to victory is what people largely seek. In this maddening rush to travel in the success-victory bogey, one needs to be intelligent and skillful, sharp and shrewd (even cunningness and compromise will be tolerated) simply to compete, survive and flourish. Success is fast turning from being a goal to the goal to the only goal. Not only that: at times people are ridiculed for being uncompromisingly truthful and sincere. And, if a person says that she will not cooperate with evil or tell a lie, others are likely to tell her, ‘You are trying to be good but how will you survive in this world?’ Implied here is the idea that utterly being good need not be a strength, and, it may even turn out to be a liability. How far we have moved away from Lincoln and U Thant and our own elders who exhorted us to be good!

There is an implicit prioritization between the two: GOODNESS over ability, who you ARE over what you do, and BEING over doing.

The life of the clergy and religious has gone through epochal changes in the last few decades, certainly so in India, and the bug of success-victory has stung them as well. Whether one is in the ecclesial or secular institution or in the informal and spiritual sector, similar parameters are used to assess: incomes and outputs, growth or decadence, gains or losses and, based on that, you will be called a success or a failure. The question is, is this the way, or the only way to evaluate our performance? Can we, who are called to work for the Kingdom, to bring Christ’s light and life into the lives of people, be assessed this way at all? The logic of being a disciple could defy this logic. When one works for the Kingdom, failures and defeats, struggles and sufferings come our way and they evade any easy assessment.

While it is good to work for success, committed disciples ought to free themselves from this trap of evaluating their apostolic activities exclusively this way. The well-known prayer, ‘Prophets of a Future Not Our Own’ attributed to Oscar Romero  – but actually composed by Bishop Ken Untener – reminds us that ‘We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.’ Several of the works initiated and undertaken by the clergy and religious in the past would have defied the normal human logic of success. Called to share the Good News, they moved about, being good and doing good, facing all odds. Success came decades or centuries later. Measuring a person’s life with the framework of ‘able’ or success is grossly insufficient, especially when we are dealing with those whom the Lord calls to be good – experiencing and reflecting divine goodness.

A few days before Christmas 2022, Harsh Mandar, a well-known human rights activist, gave a message to the Vidyajyoti Parivar at Delhi. The staff and students interacted with him for about half a day. More than the message he gave (which was very good) what impressed us the most was his goodness, his integrity. Students talked about it for days. They recognized Harsh Mandar as a person of values, a sincere and genuine man who can be trusted. Most likely, even his enemies would vouch for his integrity, because that is what he is. While both ‘good and able’ are important, able/success can go only so far but goodness can pierce through human thoughts and touch and nourish hearts and souls.

Father Stan Swamy illustrates this point very well. While he used his ‘abilities’ (knowledge and skills) successfully for the empowerment of the Adivasis, it is his ‘goodness’ – seen in his willingness to face struggles and sufferings and in being kind to fellow prisoners – that made him a remarkable person. His being ‘good’ shook the conscience of the nation even as he manifested Christ’s love and Kingdom values, even when they accused him falsely, put him in jail and let him die in the hospital.

Year 2023 provides us another opportunity to reset our priorities. Let us strive to recognize the distinction between ‘able’ and ‘good’ and try to bring ‘goodness’ back into the conversations, secular or religious. Blessed are you if others describe you as a good person or a person with integrity! Astonishingly, the Lord’s lenses are fitted to recognize only the ‘good and faithful’ servants and not the others, even though they might have been highly successful.

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says Fr. Jerome Stan D’Souza, SJ | Provincial of South Asia

in an exclusive email interview granted to Fr. Aloysius Irudayam, SJ for INI

Born on 9 May 1965, Fr Stany D’ Souza joined the Society of Jesus on 20 June 1984. On completion of fifteen years of formation he was ordained on 27 December 1999. 

Presently he is the President of Jesuit Conference of South Asia (JCSA). Prior to this he was the Provincial of Karnataka Jesuit province, and the rector of several Jesuit institutions in Bengaluru. He was the director of St Joseph’s College of Business Administration and St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru. Earlier he had taught at St Aloysius College, Mangaluru.

Fr Stany has a degree in philosophy and theology, besides a master’s degree and Ph.D in Kannada. He has a few scholarly articles and a book to his credit. As POSA (Provincial of South Asia), he oversees the administration of important Jesuit training institutes.

The Hindutva politics is spreading fast in India. The BJP rules many States. The Opposition parties, which are mostly restricted to one or two States, can never come together. In this scenario, what is your prognosis about the Jesuits’ role and ministries in India in the next 10 years?

The politics of polarization is at its peak today. The worrisome factor is that one finds a big number of women, youth and children among their staunch followers, who do not hesitate to instigate fear, wreak violence and create havoc.  It only shows how deeply the communal poison has spread. 

What can the Society of Jesus do in this situation? In her article, ‘Good riddance, 2022’, columnist Tavleen Singh highlighted only one good event in the year 2022, that was the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, and the gestures and messages of Mr Rahul Gandhi, which made many join hands with him.  I think the time has come for us, Jesuits, to rise and raise our voices, join our hands with all people of goodwill within and beyond the Church, and network and collaborate with all the peacemakers.

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As regards ministries, we need to promote peace and justice, tolerance and dialogue in all our ministries. We need to continue to read and reflect on the Indian Constitution, which ushered in values like secularism, democracy, liberalism and pluralism. We need to teach our students and all beneficiaries of our ministries social analysis which analyzes social pathologies and searches for action plans. We need to intensify our work for the Dalits, tribals and other marginalized groups in and through all our ministries, especially the social action ministry, and strengthen our collaboration with civil society movements.

The ‘idea of India’ of these forces is opposed to the India envisioned by the Indian Constitution in its Preamble. What do you think of the Jesuits’ intellectual contribution in this ideological battle between the communal and secular forces? Are you satisfied we are doing enough?

Of course, the Society has been doing its bit by way of constituting a think tank, which has been guiding the JCSA with strategies to float counter narratives. In addition to seminars and workshops, we have been conducting programmes on the awareness of the Constitution, organizing inter-religious prayer meetings, dialogue sessions, establishing peace clubs and so on.

However, what we do is not enough. We cannot afford to be naïve about the ideology of religious fundamentalism, majoritarian autocracy and crony capitalism. A deep intellectual understanding of this ideology is necessary. I think we need to make a comprehensive study of this ideology and their strategies, as they are primarily anti-poor and against the marginalized groups. In this context our theological and philosophical articulation should go beyond the ecclesial boundaries and address the larger public.

We must shed our minority mindset and defensive posturing, and highlight our contributions to nation-building. We must also pay greater attention to legal literacy, especially civil laws regarding land, finances, running institutions, and follow the legal protocols to protect our people and our works.

This question is about formation of Jesuits. On the one hand, the two previously much talked-about formation perspectives, namely, ‘Formation in and for mission’ and ‘Inculturated formation’ are losing ground or are becoming obsolete these days. On the other hand, mammoth changes are taking place in India. Are we seized with this situation and accordingly taking innovative steps to shape formation that would be relevant and meaningful to the people of our times?

Our formation — primarily based on discernment and promoting depth — can be an effective tool at any time. All the same, in and around the ‘Stan Moment’, we floated two processes in our formation: Intellectual or Learned approach to our Ministries and Socially Oriented Formation. These are aimed at fostering depth in our interventions in favour of the marginalized people. We not only brought out a booklet on the former but organized input sessions for the formators at various levels as well.

In addition, we have stressed indigenization of our faith and mission. Along with classical Indology, I have told our faculties to introduce other streams of Indian thought in our formation houses so that our men are able to ground themselves in South Asian soil and are able to interact with people of other faiths.

I think our formation needs to add one more thing: along with theology and philosophy, we need to use social sciences to understand the changing character of the context in which we are living and help our formees to ‘smell the sheep’ enough with many contacts and outreach programmes.

Along with this, JCSA (February 2023) has decided to reflect on the early formation so that we may understand the situation and find ways to improve it. It is indeed a laudable initiative.

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We keep worrying about the fast decline in the number of vocations to Jesuit Brotherhood. Mere statements about the prophetic value and meaning of Brotherhood do not seem to be effective. Therefore, should we not bring about radical changes in the Constitution of the Society of Jesus that would give a prominent role to Brothers in the life and works of the Society, say, a share for the brothers in the authority structure, a share for them in the professional character of the apostolic works, etc. Even though this matter concerns the Society’s Constitution, what is your personal view on this matter?

In the early years of the Society, as many as 25% of Jesuits were Brothers. Hence, the fast-depleting numbers of Brothers in the Society is a real concern and a wound on the Body of the Society. Already in 1978 Fr Pedro Arrupe maintained that the brothers’ contribution, “both to community life and that of the apostolate, is irreplaceable. The extinction of this grade of Brothers would be a great loss, a mutilation with grave consequences for the body of the Society and for its apostolate.”

Hence, it is crucial that we actively work for the nurturing of vocations to the Brotherhood. For this, for example, along with the iconic figure of Brothers like Alphonsus Rodríguez and Francisco Gárate, who achieved sanctity in domestic tasks, we also should make known the lives of others like James Kisai, Dominic Collins, Nicholas Owen, and our own brothers Peter, Saul Abril and others who laboured with dedication and generosity in the external ministries of the Society. This will contribute to a more comprehensive image of the brother’s vocation and can attract new vocations.

We need also to showcase the integration and participation of Brothers in the life and apostolic mission of the Society. Their formation has improved. They have been given responsibilities in important works and apostolic activities. They have been appointed to positions such as community and province consultors. Incidentally, you may be aware that Pope Francis has now made it possible for a non-ordained religious to be the superior in a clerical order. Hence, we need to present a comprehensive picture of brother’s vocation and mission and aggressively promote the vocation of Brothers to the Society.

Fortunately, men still hear the invitation to serve as Jesuit Brothers. The men entering the Society of Jesus in recent years are intentional in their vocation. They choose the Brotherhood. However, we need to make concerted efforts to present a unified vocation, truly and fully what it should be, so that many join us as Brothers to make the society beautiful and help her give signal service to the Church and the world.

In the context of the falling number of vocations in certain Jesuit Assistancies, have any radical measures been contemplated at the level of the Jesuit Conferences globally, like sharing of Jesuit personnel and promoting their competence and capacities in a big way so as to maintain Jesuit identity and presence? What about South Asia? Do all provinces have adequate number of vocations?

The falling number of vocations is a fact. Fr General is very much aware of this issue. Hence, he wrote to the whole Society to take up the vocation promotion work seriously. He exhorted us not only to make it a culture in the Society but also to combine it with youth work. As a result, there has been a lot of emphasis on vocation promotion, collaboration and networking in the Society.

In South Asia, one can observe the following changes: many provinces have appointed a full-time vocation promoter. Thanks to their efforts, many provinces have increased the number of vocations. In addition, JCSA also took a few concrete decisions: to allow the vocation promoter of one province to attend the vocation camps of another province, to address the candidates and pre-novices of other provinces and to share the candidates to the needy provinces. I think this is a welcome direction. Along with sharing personnel, we need also find ways to map the competencies of our men and initiate processes of capacity building so that they become more efficient and effective in Lord’s vineyard.

The structures of governance in the Society have remained the same to a large extent. Do we need changes? Is there real eagerness within Assistancies to network and collaborate within zones? 

Surely there needs to be a change in the governance. Although there has not been much change structurally, thanks to General Congregation 36, d. 2, no. 3, which emphasized discernment, collaboration and networking as key features of governance and important perspectives on our contemporary way of proceeding, there have been a lot of changes in decision making processes in the Society. The spiritual conversation, which we use in most of our meetings and discerning processes, has helped many to participate and share their reflected opinions in discernment in common freely. In this way, most of our decisions have become communal and collective.

Moreover, the idea of Conference is also a novel idea. It is working quite well. As a community for discernment, a means for collaboration, a space to facilitate networking and solidarity and a platform for exercising co-responsibility, it has been an effective instrument to serve our mission. The Conferences have initiated a process of collaboration and networking. e.g., JCSA and JCAM, JCSA and JCAP have very good collaboration.

In the context of South Asia, it has helped the major superiors not only to discern inter-provincial and supra-provincial issues and needs like Lok Manch, Migrant Assistance and Information Network, Solidarity in Formation and Apostolic Needs but also some important needs like higher education of the provinces and regions. I think we need to protect and promote this new form of governance.

In the spirit of the vow of poverty, our apostolic institutions, educational or otherwise, are God-given resources entrusted to our care for the sake of His mission. Therefore, all our lay partners, especially women, have great stakes in administering them in partnership with Jesuits. But what is the role and extent of lay, especially women’s, partnership in the policy-making and administration of our apostolic institutions? Are there any reliable data available on the progress individual provinces have made in lay partnership?

Even before we examined the vow of poverty, there was collaboration in practice in the Society. The lay collaborators were working with and for us. Some Conferences explored the breadth and depth more seriously. As members of boards, they made the collaborators part of the decision-making processes.

However, in South Asia, we have been slow in collaboration in its broadest sense. We do not count the laity as equal partners in our mission. Even when we offer them significant positions, we deprive them of decision-making powers.

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Hence, the examen of the Vow of Poverty is a grace to the Society. It revealed to us that Jesus, poor and humble, is at the center, and that all the resources of the Society are for His mission. This is a very comprehensive vision, which has brought some conversion among us. So, we need to not only take care of the resources but also put them to best use especially for the poor. Here, we need consistency in our conversion to take it forward specially to understand that all apostolates are of Missio Dei and all of us are partners. It will take some time to become a reality.

The Synod on a Synodal Church is a path-breaking initiative of Pope Francis for the future understanding and praxis of the Universal Church. Given that our Jesuit (Vidya Jyoti) or Jesuit-run (Papal Atheneum) theologates fall under your administrative domain as POSA, what has been the Jesuit contribution to the synodal understanding and practice of the Indian Church of the future?

Some of our professors gave leadership to synodal processes in the dioceses and at the CBCI level. Both the faculties of VJ and JD conducted many educative programmes and seminars for the laity, church personnel and the formees. They preached recollections, wrote articles and published books. It was a great contribution. Thanks to their efforts many are aware of this great initiative of Pope Francis.

However, synodal Church is not a cerebral concept. It is a path-breaking process, requiring the conversion of the heart and mind. We need to practise it everywhere and make the Church a discerning, collaborative and networking, co-responsible body.

When critical voices are silenced, can we Jesuits, along with the Catholic and Christian laity and other secular voices, do something in the field of media?

I was wonderstruck at the achievement of ‘Loyola Education Network for Social Communications’ (LENS), the Madurai Province media venture, situated in Loyola ITI, Madurai. LENS, a 7-year-old institute, has a long list of achievements. It has initiated a series of training programmes: Monthly Media Education Forums, Creative Writing Skills & Cartoon Workshops, Film Festivals & Appreciation. Furthermore, it has established a Monthly Media Publication Series, ‘SILAMBAM’ and a YouTube channel called Loyola TV Madurai online channel, which has been telecasting videos on themes like motivation, leadership, the Jesuit life and mission for the last two and a half years. LENS has to its credit 5.91 K subscriptions and 13,24,551 views.

If a small enterprise like LENS can do so much, we as the Catholic Church can do much more. There are several small efforts like this. We need to identify and support them. We need not invest much and create elephantine structures. All that we need to do is to come together, pool our ideas and support endeavours like these within and outside the Church. We need to encourage and enthuse creative and critical minds. Once again, the need for collaboration and networking.

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Friends,

Here is the new issue of INI, dated Jan-March 2023.

By the time you read this, it will be one year since Russia invaded Ukraine. On 24 February last year, when Russia launched an unprovoked war against its neighbour, the world reacted in shock and horror, as we believed that no ruler today will wage a war for territorial expansion. The two world wars had shown what a war could do to humanity.

We also believed that Ukraine, totally unprepared for war, and no match to its powerful neighbour, will soon fall, and become a part of the Russian empire that Vladimir Putin dreams of. But, after a year, the two countries are still locked in a protracted war that seems will never end. As they head into the war’s second year, what can we expect?

Writing in the Conversation (20 February 2023), Matthew Sussex, an expert on Russian affairs, says that this year, 2023, will be crucial. It “will test the resolve of all the main protagonists and their supporters, including Ukraine’s ability to repel Russian onslaughts and recapture territory, the extent to which Vladimir Putin can command domestic obedience, and even of China’s intentions, as it mulls supplying Moscow with weapons”.

“The past year has taught us much: about how the weak can resist the powerful; about the dangers of peace at any price; and about the hubris of believing autocrats can be bought off with inducements.”

“But perhaps most importantly it has taught us to question our assumptions about war. Now, one year into a conflict in Europe that many thought impossible, we are likely about to rediscover just how world-shaping wars can be.”

Pope Francis, after several exhortations seeking an end to the senseless war, must feel alone and helpless. He seems to have turned his gaze to places where he could do something to bring about peace. His recent trip to South Sudan shows how clearly he understands the brutal impact of armed conflicts on humans, all of whom are God’s children whom he dearly loves.

The forecasts for this year, 2023, do not offer much hope. Ian Bremmer, the noted TIME columnist, says, “A cornered Russia will turn from global player into the world’s most dangerous rogue state, posing a serious and pervasive danger to Europe, the U.S., and beyond. Bogged down in Ukraine, with little to lose from further isolation and Western retaliation, and facing intense domestic pressure to show strength, Russia will turn to asymmetric warfare against the West…’ (TIME, Jan 16/Jan 23, 2023).

The death toll in the devastating earthquake that hit Turkiye and Syria has risen to 46,000 and keeps going up. So does the number of innocents killed in gun violence in the U.S.

Bombarded by such news, we need to remain sane and hopeful. The articles in this issue of INI are sure to help.

– M.A. Joe Antony, SJ