Seminaries Full in Southern India (despite new anti-conversion law)

Zenit News Agency ^ | April 11, 2006

[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."

[TBP]

I can hardly wiat until the Hindufascist mob comes to this thread.

[NYer]

Preaching in public is forbidden and would-be converts to Christianity now face a barrage of paperwork thrust upon them by government officials.

[MILESJESU]

Dear Freepers in Christ,

Actually Freeper NYer beat me to posting this article. I did see this article this morning on my email as I am subscribed to the Zenit News Service.

This is Good News despite the fact that I am not a Catholic from Southern India. It is true that Catholic Seminaries in many parts of Southern India are overflowing and in some Seminaries the Rectors are turning away potential Seminarians because they have no more place for them.

Sadly, the same cannot be said for the Archdiocesan Seminary in Bombay where Vocations are not as plenty as in Southern India that is essentially because large numbers of Catholic Families have been immigrating to various countries like Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc in the last 10 years or so.

In Addition, to what I have said above it is difficult to get Vocations to the Priesthood in Cities like Bombay, Delhi, etc where Catholics are not as religious or staunch in their faith as compared to Catholics from South India.

Also, because Catholics for a number of years have been facing rampant discrimination in the Corporate World specially in Bombay-- many, many, Catholic Families have been immigrating for the last 20 years even to countries like the United States as well as to the United Kingdom.

I know of at least 2 dozen Catholic Families from my immediate neigborhood who have migrated since 1986 to the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and to Canada as well. And more of them are going every month and every year.

I am also on the verge of migrating to Canada in the near future.

My Family and I are a minority among Catholics in Western India. We are very orthodox in our Catholic Faith as regards all the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Every Year more than 10,000 Catholics from Bombay migrate to Canada and 20,000+ Catholics immigrate to Australia as per figures released by Canadian Immigration Officials and Australian Immigration Officials to English- Edition News Papers published in Bombay.

Finally, This Anti- Conversion Law has made Catholics in Southern India quite bold in terms of coming forward and giving their Sons as Vocations to the Priesthood and to the Religious Life.

In Christ,

[The Lion Roars]

isnt it true that two of the four states in the southern part of india are ruled by christians? so where is the question of christian persecution.

[The Lion Roars]

I can hardly wiat until the Hindufascist mob comes to this thread.

hindus aint fascists. otherwise they wouldnt have a sikh prime minister. hindus might be dhimmis because they dont treat islam and other terrorists with a firm hand.

[CarrotAndStick]

Catholics for a number of years have been facing rampant discrimination in the Corporate World specially in Bombay

Could you elaborate? AFAIK, the 'Corporate World' in Bombay is dominated by non-Hindus, namely the Parsis (Zoroastrians). The House of Tatas.

Besides,

Vivek Paul (born 1958), an alumnus of BITS Pilani, and until recently the Vice Chairman of Wipro Limited and CEO of Wipro Technologies in India, was declared among the best managers in the world by the Business Week in 2004. He was also named by Time and CNN amongst the most influential business persons in the world. In 2005, he was named among the top 30 CEO's in the world by Barrons.

[Raj13008]

And my Big (Really Big) Boss here in B'lore is a muslim......Famous chap. Apart from some of the ignorant folks here , I would imagine many Americans have heard of him....

[The Lion Roars]

Could you elaborate? AFAIK, the 'Corporate World' in Bombay is dominated by non-Hindus, namely the Parsis (Zoroastrians). The House of Tatas.

dont expect liars to admit the truth!!!

[MILESJESU]

Just because, there are two States in Southern India that are ruled by Christians -- that does not mean that "Extremist Hindu Groups" like the R.S.S., V.H.P., Bajrang Dal, HJM, and Hindu Munnani as in the case of Tamil Nadu do not exist.

They definitely do exist and have been making life impossible for Christians as well as for Catholics for a number of years.

I will illustrate this with an example. In May 2005, Two Pentecostal Pastors were brutally killed on the outskirts of Hyderabad by V.H.P. Activists. The Hyderabad Police arrested a number of V.H.P. Activists later in July 2005 and then in August 2005 arrested the brains behind the brutal murder of those two Pastors.

Attacks on Catholic, baptist, and Pentecostal Churches are a regular feature in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala by Bajrang Dal and V.H.P. Activists. This has been going on for a number of years.

Another Example. In Trivandrum in 2004,The Missionaries of Charity (Nuns) were attacked by R.S.S. Activists and were asked to leave Trivandrum. There have also been attacks on Catholic, Syro Malabar, and Pentecostal Churches since 1999 in various parts of Kerala by Bajrang Dal as well as by R.S.S. Activists.

If these are not examples of ongoing Persecution of Christians by the R.S.S. and its affiliates then I do not know what is persecution. You must be having a different definition of persecution as compared to me.

[Raj13008]

Tell me , and be honest , what is more important for Indian christians , their country or their religion ? For us hindus , our country is always more important than our faith.

[Raj13008]

If you put your faith before your country , if you see yourself as part of some global x'tian ummah , like the muslims , dont expect to find much sympathy for you from the Indian people.

[The Lion Roars]

yeah right!! if you go around abusing hindus and their gods, calling them satanic and indulge in hindu bashing in the name of caste, idol worship dont expect them to love you. i have seen disgusting behavior by some so called christian groups out there. i was in an airport in southern india and met a western couple who shared their "views on hinduism" with a fellow western christian. i was disgusted. these arent christians but jihadis wrapped in a cloak of christ.

stop your hatred of pacifist religions like hinduism, buddhism etc. if you keep pushing these people they will retaliate. we all known there are trouble makers that want to start a mini war against hindus.

mainstream conservatives have no issue with hinduism. go and worship in peace and be great americans (and indians).

[Raj13008]

If you put your faith before your country , if you see yourself as part of some global x'tian ummah , like the muslims , dont expect to find much sympathy for you from the Indian people.

[The Lion Roars]

clearly there are gold diggers here who see profit in using christ's name. i am sure most of your country-men who are 'true' christians are also patriots.

comparing christianity to islam is unfair. please remember the internet allows islamic trolls to post here abusing hindus in the name of christ.

[MILESJESU]

Yes, I will elaborate. Indian Companies like Reliance are most unwilling to recruit or employ Christians or Catholics as the case may be.

In any City in India, a Christian or a Catholic needs to have a GodFather, GodMother, An Uncle, or an Aunt, or just hard core influence to get a job. Influence is something that most Christians or Catholics do not have in the Corporate World in Bombay or for that matter in any City in India -- unlike other communities like Sikhs, Muslims, or Hindus who have their own Companies.

I have personally experienced immense discrimination in the Corporate World as a Christian Legal Professional. If it was not for a Parsi Legal Professional who I am presently working for I would be unemployed or jobless.

Merit simply does not exist in the Corporate World in India as it does exist in the Corporate World in the West.

If it was not for Multinational B.P.O's and Multinational Companies large numbers of Christian and Catholic Men and Women would be umemployed. These Multinational Companies have definitely a much better attitude to employing Christians as well as Catholics as compared to most Indian Companies.

Finally, You have mentioned the House of Tatas. They are only "one" among many Indian Companies that are owned by non Hindus namely Parsis.

Obviously, someone among youall has called me a Liar and last week to make matters worse -- some one had the gall to call me a Pathetic Liar and A Paki.

Please do not post any comments to me anymore.

[CarrotAndStick]

Finally, You have mentioned the House of Tatas. They are only "one" among many Indian Companies that are owned by non Hindus namely Parsis.

The Largest. And the most influencial.

Obviously, someone among you all has called me a Liar and last week to make matters worse -- some one had the gall to call me a Pathetic Liar and A Paki.

Not me. Don't put false blame on me.

[MILESJESU]

For me as well as for most Indian Christians and Indian Catholics -- The Country that is India as well as Freedom of Religion is important.

Both are Important. That is why Catholics and Christians from a number of Cities in India like Bombay have been leaving in droves -- because they see no future in this country for themselves and more importantly for their children.

When the B.J.P. was ruling India from 1998-2004 -- migration by Christian Families from India to any country in the West kept on increasing month after month and Year after Year.

It is still increasing. I have said more than I have to.

If you all want, you can go ahead and attack me. I have never forcibly converted any Hindu or anyone in my life in any part of India and most Christians do not Missionaries included Indian as well as Foreign.