Mar Thoma Syrian Church okays cremation for clergy

Mar Thoma Syrian Church okays cremation for clergy

Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE | Wednesday, 20 July 2016 AT 12:00 AM IST

    

http://goo.gl/dPO8aa

Mar Thoma Syrian Church, , cremation, clergy

Pune: Mar Thoma Syrian Church, which claims its 2,000-year-old tradition from St Thomas, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus Christ, has permitted cremation of bodies of its clergy.

The departure from the church’s tradition of burying the dead is due to shortage of space for burials.

A circular issued by the Mar Thoma Syrian Church, having its headquarters at Thiruvalla in Kerala, said that the burial will be permitted only after the final rites service is completed at the church. The mortal remains after the cremation have to be later buried in either the family vault or single vault.

Although cremation of a practising Christian person is not a rare occurrence, this is for the first time that a policy decision on cremation has been taken by a Church authority.

Pune Bishop Thomas Dabre has welcomed the move, stating that the practice of cremation is eco-friendly and it is not against the Church’s doctrines.

Speaking to Sakal Times, Bishop Dabre said, “As per the centuries-old Christian tradition, the dead were buried and not cremated. In 18th and 19th centuries, cremation was banned in the church as it was said to be inconsistent with the Church’s belief in resurrection of the dead. However this view has been changed now and resurrection is perceived as spiritual and not physical. Therefore, now if requested by relatives, the Church permits cremation of bodies of the faithful.”

Bishop Dabre said that in Pune too some Christians were cremated after securing the necessary permission from the Church authorities. 

Pope Francis may visit India this year

Pope Francis may visit India this year

Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE | Thursday, 31 March 2016 AT 10:35 PM IST

    

Pope Francis, visit India, Catholic Bishops Conference, CBCI, Roman Catholic Church, Pune, Camil Parkhe

http://www.sakaaltimes.com/NewsDetails.aspx?NewsId=5485323426147461785&SectionId=5171561142064258099&SectionName=Pune&NewsDate
=20160331&NewsTitle=Pope%20Francis%20may%20visit%20India%20this%20year

PUNE: There are high chances that Pope Francis may visit India this year as the Catholic Bishops Conference of India has formally urged the Indian government to invite the pontiff on a state visit. If Pope Francis accepts India’s invitation, it will be the fourth papal visit to the country.

Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, President of the CBCI, has recently sent an invitation to the Pope to visit India. As per the procedure, the CBCI has also requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to formally in-vite the pontiff to India.

Head of the Roman Catholic Church is also the head of the Vatican City state and therefore as per the protocol, needs a formal invitation by both the Indian government and the Indian Catholic Church to visit the country.

The Church leadership in the country would be happy if the Pope attends the proposed canonisation ceremony of Mother Teresa in Kolkata. Pope Francis has already announced that the Nobel laureate would be formally declared a saint on September 3, on the eve of her death anniversary. The visit of the global head of the Catholic community in India is expected to boost the image of the BJP government, which is often accused of being anti-minorities.

Pope Paul VI was the first Pope to visit India to attend the international Eucharistic Congress held in Mumbai in 1964. Pope John Paul II was on a 10-day India visit in 1986 and again on a three-day visit to New Delhi in November 1999. Incidentally, Pakistan had also last month sent a formal invitation to Pope Francis to visit Pakistan. Pope John Paul II had visited Pakistan in 1981.

Mother Teresa’s canonisation an acknowledgement of dedication

Mother Teresa’s canonisation an acknowledgement of dedication

Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE | Wednesday, 16 March 2016 AT 12:43 PM IST

    

Mother Teresa, saint, canonisation, Catholic church, blog, Camil Parkhe

During her lifetime, Mother Teresa was referred to as the living saint as she along with her Missionaries of Charity congregation nuns served the poor and the destitute all over the world. Now the Catholic Church has decided to formally declare her as a saint on September 4, on the eve of her 19th death anniversary. There are already five other St Teresas in the list of saints declared by the Church, St Teresa of Avila being the most famous among them. Therefore Mother Teresa will be henceforth will have to be referred to as St Mother Teresa of Kolkata to provide her a distinct identity.

Canonisation or the method of bestowing sainthood in the Catholic Church is a complicated and a very lengthy process. There are many persons belonging to the previous centuries who have crossed the first stage of beatification and are awaiting the crucial and final stage of canonisation for decades. Joseph Vaz from Goa who worked in Sri Lanka in the 17th century and was declared Blessed in 1995 was declared saint by Pope Francis only last year. There are many persons declared Blessed but may never be declared as saints. Comparatively Mother Teresa has been declared a saint in a short span of 19 years after her death. Pope John Paul II was declared saint recently in the shortest span in the 2000 year old history of the Catholic Church.

Born at Skopje, now capital of the Republic of Macedonia, Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu left her home at the age of 18 to become a nun and arrived in India in 1929 and lived here until her death seven decades later.

Mother Teresa was one of the most prominent personalities of the 20th century. Her five-decade long service to the orphaned children, lepers, the aged and other destitute attracted the world’s prominent personalities including heads of the states, films stars and philanthropists to her house in Kolkata. Pope John Paul II, Lady Diana were among those called on her and appreciated her service to the needy.

Mother Teresa’s work among the poor and destitute won her the Nobel award and the Indian government too bestowed on her the coveted Bharat Ratna award.

Soon after she was presented the Nobel award, Mother Teresa had arrived on a visit to Goa. As a reporter of a local daily, I had then covered her tour and got an opportunity to watch this living saint. The Mother was not an eloquent orator and most of the times, she was not even audible. But her smile was spontaneous and contagious. With her humility and dedicated work, the frail woman was successful in attracting a large number of women to the congregation Missionaries of Charity founded by her and open several homes for the destitute and the aged all over the world. Having faith in her work, philanthropists all over the world happily funded her projects. During my visit to Rome, I had the opportunity to witness the work of the male section of the Missionaries of Charity who offer food and shelter to the destitute.

During her lifetime, Mother Teresa’s work had also caused controversies. She was accused of exploiting the poverty of the people for evangelisation. After her death too, controversies did not elude her. Recently an allegation was levelled against her that she served the poor and needy with the intention of converting those people to Christianity. Notwithstanding the charges, Mother Teresa continued her work, never replied to the charges against her. Her canonisation will bring smiles on the faces of all those who appreciate her dedicated service.

Comments

Savio Abreu - Friday, 18 March 2016 AT 04:46 PM IST

True. The canonisation of Mother Teresa is a proud moment for all Indians. The work she did among the poor, sick, destitutes in Kolkata is remarkable. She is a true Indian since she worked for the welfare of the people of India, in fact gave her life for them. All of us should follow her model rather than mouthing platitudes about nationalism and patriotism and polarising the nation. I congratulate Camil on a nice article.

 

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Ajit Waghmare - Wednesday, 16 March 2016 AT 10:15 PM IST

Nice Article. Well Summarised. Brings pride to us, Indians.

 

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