Card. Gracias: I will humbly serve the pope for the reform of the Curia
Mumbai (AsiaNews) - " I am humbled by this appointment, and deeply grateful to be at service of the Universal Church and Pope through this mission The Holy Father wanted the universal church to be represented and we are there from all the continents , and to know and understand the sentiments of the people, with direct contact of grassroots from all corners of the globe". With these words Card. Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Mumbai and president of the Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI), spoke to AsiaNews about his appointment to the group of cardinals chosen by Pope Francis as advisers to study a reform of the Roman Curia.
The Pope has indicated names from all continents, indicating the "universal"
character and the concept of collective responsibility in leading the Church.
As the only Asian and president of the Federation of Asian Bishops' Conferences
(FABC), Card. Gracias will bring his experience of a varied and complex continent.
"Asia - he said - is known to be a rich mosaic of ancient cultures and
languages, the world's largest and most populated continent, home to almost 60%
of humanity. It is a continent of the young (about 40% are below 15 years
of age); there are more than 30 mega-cities in Asia with populations ranging
from 5 to 20 million. "
But the Asian continent, notes Card. Gracias, is not only a fact of large
numbers: " Asia is a continent rich in non-Christian cultures. It is
the homeland of three eminent world religions: Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam;
85% of all the world's non-Christians are in Asia and they adhere to several of
the great religions". However he added "Asia
is also characterized by diversity of peoples, cultures, languages and
religions. It is confronted with realities of poverty, injustice,
powerlessness, marginalization and ecological degradation. Asia is facing
problems resulting from fundamentalism,
ethnic and religious rivalries, power and arms race".
Another important aspect of Asian cultures "is our sense of the
transcendent: a deep
sense of the sacred still prevails among Asian peoples. the Asian value of strong
family-centeredness. economic globalization is also bringing
cultural globalization in its wake and this is gradually reshaping the value systems of Asian families". In his apostolic exhortation
Ecclesia in Asia, recalls the cardinal, Pope John Paul II speaks of
" an innate spiritual insight and
moral wisdom in the Asian soul, and it is the core around which a growing sense
of "being Asian" is built. This "being Asian" is best discovered and affirmed
not in confrontation and opposition, but in the spirit of complementarity and
harmony".
Faced with this complex and varied reality, the Cardinal Archbishop reiterates
the importance of "dialogue, which should focus on both the celebration of
the good Asian values, as well as on a critique of market-oriented culture,
consumerism and hedonism of today."
After the election of Pope Francis Card. Gracias had the opportunity to talk
informally to him. "During one of our conversations - he says - the Holy
Father spoke about indigenous people.
During my tenure as Chancellor in the Diocese of Jamshedpur, I had first-hand
knowledge of the lives of the indigenous people, their way of life, simple
lifestyle and their bonds with traditions, and nature. The objective of the Church in Asia is to protect indigenous
peoples, affirming the dignity of the persons concerned, promote social
development and safeguard against discrimination arising from unchecked
globalization. Today in Asia there are millions of lay Christians who belong to
indigenous groups, hundreds of priests and religious, dozens of bishops and
cardinals".
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01/09/2016 09:40
