Posted on 04/11/2006 9:57:54 PM PDT by NYer
KOENIGSTEIN, Germany, APRIL 11, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Vocations in India seem to be booming as increasing numbers of young men stepping forward to prepare for the priesthood.
In a recent interview with the international charity Aid to the Church in Need, Father Ignatius Prasad, rector of the Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Chennai (formerly Madras), gave this optimistic assessment of the Church.
The priest explained that his seminary now has 286 students and that -- due to a lack of space -- he had to turn away 23 candidates, who have been forced to continue their training elsewhere.
The seminary is one of four in southern India with a combined total of almost 800 students from 28 dioceses. More than 60 of them are due to be ordained to the priesthood next month.
In Chennai, there were now more than 30 students in each year-group in the seminary's theology section, double the number in the late 1980s, Father Prasad said.
"Vocations are going up; this has been the case for the last five years or so," the rector said. "We find it difficult to admit all the applicants and set a tight deadline for them to get their papers in on time."
Father Prasad revealed that there was growing "political pressure" to limit the growth of the Church with a new anti-conversion law introduced in the state of Tamil Nadu: Preaching in public is forbidden and would-be converts to Christianity now face a barrage of paperwork thrust upon them by government officials.
Retreats, sodalities
The seminary rector said that people were turning to the Church in protest against the new regulations.
"The more pressure they put on people, the more they feel like proclaiming their faith," he said.
The priest went on to explain that lively youth programs were drawing people to the faith and encouraging men to discern a possible vocation to the priesthood. Retreats, sodalities and altar serving had all helped to boost the number of seminarians.
He also praised the work of Aid to the Church in Need, describing how the charity had supported key training for seminary staff, Mass intentions, library books and a generator.
"What we feel is so important," Father Prasad added, "is to help the students to realize what they are learning about is not so much an academic subject but a mystery, something that is very personal and with a strong human dimension to it."
>> if india thought so then mother teresa would have had her skull bashed instead of being respected and treated as a national hero. by the way feeding a poor person is a lot different from blackmailing a poor person to break with his roots for a bag of rice. serve in the name of christ instead of hindu bashing or hindu baiting. <<
OK, let's define what we're talking about.
On the one hand, many missionary outfits will do the following, and I think it is holy and just: Set up a facility which gives food to the poor, saying to the poor, "We do this because Jesus Christ taught us to love the poor, and to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. Would you like to know more about this man?"
Now I know of Catholic bishops and Cardinals who have been slaughtered by anti-Christian terrorists, and I know the following is deeply antithetical to the Catholic way of doing things. But are you refering to something more like this: Missionary Bob goes out into poor neighborhoods with a bag of rice, searching out starving people. When he finds one, he says, "I will give you this bag of rice, but only if you confess that you believe in and will obey the teachings of Jesus Christ."
If so, that is deeply un-Christian. And NOT what the family of the woman who I know was doing when they were all killed. But if someone is doing that and they are tied to some foreign (to India) Christian denomination, please provide the name of the denomination, and some documentation to support your assertions. I'm sure the FReepers would love to know what missionaries are doing that so they can oppose it.
But to justify the slaughtering of Catholics (or, as this woman happens to be, a charismatic Protestant) based on the actions of what some flaky crackpot "Christian" group is doing is disgusting and obscene. And yes, I have seen posts on this very thread saying that Christians have brought such horrors apon themselves.
>> Every day 5-10 rapes take place in US. Would you then say that christian culture condones rape of women ? <<
Hmmm... I don't think I've ever heard of someone raping a woman because, he claims, his religion mandates it, or because he wants to defend his Christian faith. So I think your example is downright stupid and baseless.
>> 1 million ? 10 million ? Nope. 10 at best. Just ten. <<
Oh, please. I've made it very clear that I recognize that such violent Hindus are considered repulsive and vile to the majority of Hindus who I believe are among the most preaceful and likeable people, on whole, as any group I'v ever encountered.
But that's just absurd. I bet there have been 10 BISHOPS killed.
>> However...christianity does not only prosper in USA. Christianity also prospers in Africa and the Latin America , arguably worse off than India and without much of a future . Countries like Rwanda ,Ghana,Cameroon, Ivory Coast , Angola - are all majority christian and very passionate about their belief in Jesus Christ. Fat lot of good it seems to have done for them. <<
First off, calling Marxist and terrorist run nations "Christian" is ridiculous. Secondly, the reason that so many people in these lands are Christian is precisely because Africa does get so much attention by Christian communities, who seem to be the only ones in America who care about Africa. Also, the reason these countries remain so poor and desperate is usually because of depraved communist domination from outside sources. Lastly, many of these countries have truly primitive animist beliefs, unlike India, where although primitive religions exist, Hindu is dominant and has been able to respond to and explain the world around them. The animist in Africa are quickly disappearing because their beliefs fail to explain the world around them, so the people label themselves Christians, not because they've ever converted, but because it seems like the religion that seems to make sense of the world. (They probably simply don't come in much contact with Hindu, although I know in Southeastern Africa, they do.) As such, these people are not truly converts, and have not abandonned their superstitions and pagan world outlook. (I use pagan here to refer to "uncivilized" religion, and not merely to non-Abrahamic religion.)
Lastly, I think India does have a lot of benefits other smaller nations in Africa and Latin America have not had: a lack of communism as a major, national political force (acknowledging the strength of communist parties in certain Indian strengths) -- again, in large part, probably due to a modernizable, incumbent religion that has adopted to modernity; leaders, like Gandhi, who successfully achieved independence without stirring knee-jerk hatred of all things Western/European/American (again significantly to the credit of Hinduism); the lucky break that the culture they did manage not to isolate themselves became dominant in computers, education, and world politics (I speak of the Anglosphere, not specifically the US); contiguous borders that reflect a large, powerful culture; and simply the size of the land, reasonableness of borders, and relative unity of the people that make chaos unlikely to happen.
>> Hindus (different from hindi which is a language in india) <<
Yes, I do know better, and you'll note the last time I refer to Hindus, I use "Hindus," not Hindi. Part of my mental block comes from the fact that I know many non-Hindus who consider themselves Hindi because of their culture, and I tend to have them in mind.
>> There is a big difference between a free , democratic India and Nazi Germany or Marxist USSR <<
Not that you've done a very good job at demonstrating that difference... Fortunately I know better than to base my opinions on your conduct and attitudes.
Your great example of a guy comparable to the Wahabbi is a guy who simply expressed concern that Christians face economic prejudice in certain areas of India? Let me know when he starts calling for the slaughter of Hindus, or the violent destruction of the Indian state.
>> To be precide , couple of days before my 10th grade exam. Math paper. I prayed , prayed and prayed. And suddenly realised that I was wasting my time. Spent more time working out some equations instead. Did well. Since then , I never ever prayed and preferred to study harder instead <<
Mmm-hmm. You hate Christians because you thought Christianity taught you that prayer works as a substitute for studying?
>> that is soo true of policies of christian organisations based here. isnt it the aim of christian missionaries to convert everyone to christianity?? how is that true from your above statement. by the way christians engage in a lot of violence in india and in africa too. <<
Bulls!t. Pure bullsh!t. You name me one Christian leader, let alone a political movement, which has EVER called for the banning of Hinduism in America. Believing that all people should be offered the oppurtunity to pick up what you believe to be the truth is a far cry from calling for their abolition.
And may I forewarn you, that was one ugly thread. Hate-flinging on both sides.
I’ve been a long time lurker and just signed up because I just had to say this
I am an Indian Christian currently living in America. I believe persecution does go on in India against Christians. I personally know people to whom it has happened. I don’t believe that all Hindus condone it either. The members of the political parties who were very critical and outspoken against Hindu extremism after the Graham Stanes incident were after all Hindus themselves. But there definitely exists a very radical version of Hinduism and people who subscribe to it openly hate Christians and Muslims. And in many incidents of violence against Christians the government turns a blind eye.
I have not been in the business sector in India, so I don’t know about the discrimination. But I have not met any fellow Christians who claim to have been discriminated against for a job.
And these fake Christian pastors also exist. They are just interested in somehow getting funds from mostly American missionary outlets and they are the ones who go about trying to somehow convert people (to probably add to their record books and report back to America) neglecting the basics of real Christian faith. And that should in no way justify the murders of real missionaries who work with people neglected by their own families and friends and also talk about the love of Christ.
And by the way I am a Christian and then an Indian and yeah…Christian comes first.
Good for you! Atleast you don't claim you're Indian, and then go about pleading allegience to the Portuguese flag.
To every religious person, religion trumps the State. That is natural. And expected.
Referring to post #27. What are your views on it?
i dont know whether these colleges take donations only from non christians. the reason why i say this is because i know one of my former classmates who actually paid a donation to get onto one of the christian colleges. but if it is so,it is wrong and the RSS or BJP or whoever it is should try to start a debate on that instead of resorting to radical means.
i dont see anything wrong in the goverment funding any educational institution if it deserves it as long as it does not impose any religious views on anyone.what i mean is.. many of these colleges might have a chapel inside the campus but i am sure no one is compelled to go there.
and all the christian institutions (i studied in one) that i know of in my state (kerala) are not state funded nor do they take donations selectively.
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