Mumbai
(AsiaNews)
- "The
Gospel must be preached in all its forms, this New Evangelisation is my priority,
I will push them for evangelisation. The rekindling of faith in persons and
cultures and the pastoral care of the people." These are the words of Msgr.
Theodore Mascarenhas, the newly-appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Ranchi (Jharkhand), who speaks to AsiaNews
about his goals as pastor of a tribal majority
diocese. Appointed bishop last July, he was
consecrated on August 30, in a
solemn mass attended by nearly 20
thousand faithful.
"Missionary work - says Msgr.
Mascarenhas - has
become a challenge rather difficult nowadays. Sometimes
I realize that the enthusiasm shown by the diocesan priests is not the same as that of foreign missionaries. Instead we need to revive that
enthusiasm of those who have left
their countries to serve other people. We need to learn from their dedication".
As auxiliary bishop, the bishop hopes to be "to be what Pope Francis asks us to be: a pastor who feels the smell
of the sheep, who has the sheep close to him,-to follow in the Pope's pastoral
footsteps".
India, Mgr. Mascarenhas,
"has a great need for evangelization," especially to counter "a rising extremist
forces of all sorts that impede the evangelization efforts India is a very tolerant country, but this
"small slice" is growing and "posing a threat not only to the Christians, but
to the unity, integrity, and secularism of India".