By Jacob Peenikaparambil
Indore, April 22, 2020: In the context Covid 19 a lot of reflection and discussion is going on regarding the post Covid world: religion, society, economy, health care system, and international relations.
During the lockdown almost all worship centres are closed and all religious gatherings are banned in view of preventing the spread of coronavirus. People of all faiths are confined to their homes and perform their religious rituals and prayers. Online religious services are made available to the Catholic faithful by the parishes and dioceses.
Many people are of the view that there may not be any reduction in the religious fervour and zeal of the people in post Covid 19 period. Some observers predict a surge in the religious activities because of the growing anxiety and insecurity in the people, especially with regard to job and livelihood.
Covid 19 provides an opportunity for the Catholic Church to reinvent itself. Even before the pandemic started spreading the churches in Europe faced a serious crisis. According to Pew survey report in My 2018, 64 percent people surveyed in Western Europe identified themselves as Christians, but only 18 percent said they attended church at least once a month.
As many as 46 percent said they were non-practising Christians and 24 percent religiously unaffiliated. As a result, churches are being sold out or being converted into other utilities, as their maintenance have become difficult.
The Church in India has not faced dwindling of the number of faithful attending church services. At the same time, there has been drastic reduction in the vocation to religious life and priesthood. Many women congregation face a crisis of vocation. This could be an indication of the future scenario of the Church in India. Opposition from the Hindutva forces is another serious challenge. Hence the need for reinventing the Church in India.
The Second Vatican Council described the Church as ‘People of God’ and initiated a series of reforms to transform the institutional Church into a Church of the people. Unfortunately, in course of time these attempts got defeated and as a result the Church in India has become more and more institutional and hierarchical.
Feedbacks from the faithful indicate that their faith has not been weakened as a result of not going to the church during the lockdown. In fact, every family is converted into a church during the lockdown period. This experience of people throw some light on the future shape of the Church if it has to become dynamic and influential.
Instead of large gatherings or crowds small communities can contribute to spiritual growth and building communion among the members. The early Christian communities were small gatherings of the faithful. Jesus has promised his presence in the gatherings of his followers and not in huge buildings and statues.
“For where two or three come together in my name, I am there with them” (Mt 18:20). What Jesus has emphasized is communion among the members rather than the size of the gathering. Hence the focus should be on small communities with communion and presenting them as role models of Christian living, reflecting the core values of forgiveness, compassion and love.
If the Church’s focus shifts to forming small Christian communities that strive to follow the way of Jesus, big churches are not needed. They need only user friendly small buildings as churches. The early Christians are described in the Acts of the Apostles as those who followed “the way”, the way of Jesus. Hence the Church in India should shun all plans to build huge church buildings in the future. Some existing churches could be converted into multi-purpose utilities for the service of the people.
Presently most churches are being used only for two or three hours in a day. In the mission areas, many church buildings are used only on Sundays and that too for a few hours. The rest of the time the church buildings remain idle. Should we set apart a building only for worship for two or three hours in a week? Why can’t we think of multi-purpose buildings which can be used as churches whenever needed and the remaining time for philanthropic activities?
In some places even today classrooms or halls of the schools are being used as churches? Why don’t we continue this practice and use the money meant for building churches to build houses for the poor? Jesus, who was born in a manger, lived as an itinerant teacher and died on the cross, does not feel comfortable in huge and opulent churches.
As a corollary of shifting from crowds to small communities we could also discard many other paraphernalia. Big statues can be replaced with photos and beautiful paintings. Simple attire can replace costly and glittering vestments used for prayer and worship. Loud and shouting prayers can give way to reflective and meditative prayer, focusing on contemplation.
The administration within the Church also should undergo a drastic change. The role of a priest should become that of a facilitator and animator, helping and guiding the faithful in their spiritual growth. Depending on the number of the Christian families, the parish priest can take up activities like teaching or training.
Administration of the temporalities of the Church should be handed over to the representatives of the faithful, periodically elected by the community members. The priest may do the facilitation of the administrative team, but the decision making power should be with representatives of the community.
The practice of charging fee for various spiritual services should be discontinued. Every family of the community shall make an annual contribution to the church according to its income. The parish community in consultation with the concerned family shall decide its contribution to the church. The contribution can be given in yearly, quarterly or monthly installments as per the financial status of the family.
Besides the annual contribution, the families could be encouraged to make voluntary contribution for philanthropy. The priest shall be maintained by the parish community by giving him a decent honorarium. If a particular parish does not have enough financial resource to maintain a priest the diocese shall support that parish.
The topmost priority of a Christian community or parish should be presenting itself as a role model of living the values and teachings of Jesus. The families should help each other in their needs. The poor families are to be supported by the community in such a way that they should become self reliant in course of time.
Christian communities should become facilitators of reconciliation and forgiveness between the communities that are in conflicts. In the context of India the Christian communities have the opportunity to become builders of harmony among different religious, caste and ethnic groups.
Let the Church in India remember the words of Mahatma Gandhi, “A rose does not need to preach. The fragrance is its own sermon.” Covid 19 has given an opportunity to the Church to become a rose that emits fragrance, a light that enlightens others, salt that prevents from being corrupted and adds taste. In order to make use of this opportunity it needs a paradigm shift from institution centred to people centered.
(The writer could be contacted at jacobpt48@gmail.com)