Symposium marking 25 years of Pope John Paul's Visit to India

Catholic Church marks the 25^th Year of Pope’s Visit to India

(Thomas D’Silva)

New Delhi, Feb 4: The leaders of the Church discussed ‘The Teachings of Pope John Paul II’ in a Symposium held today at Teen Murti Bhavan as a conclusion to the three-day commemorative Celebrations of his visit to India 25 years ago. Cardinal Murphy O’Connor, the chief guest was the special envoy of Pope Benedict XVI from Vatican.

Welcoming the audience, Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) quoted the words of the late pontiff, “I come to India as a pilgrim of peace and friendship”.   Pope John Paul II had Visited 10 cities with 41 addresses to the people and two messages to the Government during his 10 days visit from 1 Feb to 10 Feb 1986.  “The Pope passionately promoted human dignity and peace”, said Cardinal Gracias.

Cardinal O’Connor greeted the Church of India in the name of Vatican and recalled his personal association with Pope John Paul II. He recalled how 40 years ago, the late Pope, who was then the archbishop of Krakow, Poland had impressed him and the other Bishops gathered for a meeting with a melodious Polish song. “He went on singing the song of Jesus Christ, the redeemer of mankind... a song of truth, the way and the life”, he said.

Proposing the vote of thanks, Cardinal Telesphore Toppo of Ranchi reminded the audience the apostolic motto of the late pontiff, ‘totus tuus’, meaning ‘totally yours’. Narrating a personal experience with the pope in 2004, when he was on the wheel chair yet meeting a long queue of  people the cardinal paid homage saying,  “He gave himself completely”.  “It is fitting that I stand to propose a vote of thanks to God for giving us the gift of such a model Pope”, concluded cardinal Toppo.

Born at Wadowice in Poland, on 18 May 1920, Karol Josef Wojtyla became the first Polish to head the Holy Catholic Church at Vatican on 16 October 1978. His stint of 26 years 168 days, as the 264^th pope is the second longest after Pope Pius IX in the history of the church. His momentous term ended on 2 April 2005 and he was proclaimed ‘Venerable’ by Pope Benedict XVI on 19 December 2009.

Loved by all and specially the youth of the world, the late pontiff visited 129 countries and thus could feel the pulse of the people making him the most popular and beloved pope. Scholar as he was, his theological and philosophical teachings are found in abundance in the ‘Catechism of the Catholic church’, 14 encyclicals and 13 Apostolic Exhortations. On 24^th January 2002 in Day for Prayer for Peace in the World, together with the leaders of world religions, he brought out- ‘Assisi Decalogue for Peace’, considered the Magna Charta of religious dialogue in the world.  The church has taken note of his achievements and holiness. Hence he will be beatified on 1 May 2011.

The symposium was addressed by a three-member panel of Dr. Christopher Lakra, the Executive Director of Indian Social Institute, Dr. Cyriac Thomas, Member, National Commission on for Minority Educatinal Institutions and Prof. Joan Antony. Highlighting the significance of Encyclical- ‘Ecclesia in Asia’, Dr.Lakra concluded- “This is a landmark document with great depth”. 10 years have lapsed since its issue and during this period Indian Church has witnessed events such as: the beatification of Mother Theresa, St. Alphonsa, Killing of Graham Staines, the persecutions at Khandamal, Karnataka, Gujarat, etc. Hence, he invited the audience to think of initiatives to read the signs of the times in Asia and in India in particular.

Prof. Joan Anthony, drew the attention of the gathering to the pope’s Apostolic Exhortation- ‘Familiaris Consortio’ (On the Christian Family in the Modern World). She appreciated pope’s interest in the family and its relation to the church. “In the modern world of generation gap, conflicting ideologies and wireless technology, the families are experiences greatest stress”, she remarked. In this context the pope points to a ‘symbiotic union’ of the Church and the family, which is the domestic church.

Dr. Cyriac Joseph reminded the teaching of the pope on ‘Social Concerns’. He explained that the pope’s earnest desire was to establish peace and prosperity. So he travelled widely and met people of all walks of life. He concluded saying, “The church in India has built an image for itself as pro-poor. But it needs to go a step further by taking a stand on other burning issues like: ecology, human rights, fundamentalism, etc.” He even suggested to form a Catholic Human Rights Commission to look into and solve the rights violations within the church institutions.

A book- ‘The Social Teachings of John Paul II’  by The CBCI Commission for Justice, Peace and Human Rights was released by Cardinal O’Connors on the occasion. The book is authored by Fr. Charles Irudayam. Fr. Thomas d’Aquino Sequeira, the Secretary to the CBCI in his concluding remarks paid homage to the Venerable Pope in the words of Julius Caesar, ‘vini, vidi, vici’ (I came, I saw and I conquered), meaning:  The pope came to India, he saw and he won our hearts.