By Lima Varghese
Indore, Aug 28, 2020: As many as 1,500 members of two Catholic women congregations attended two webinars on the theme of “New Wine in New Wineskin.”
The participants — Sisters of St. Ann’s Bangalore and Carmelite Sisters of St Theresa (CSST) now serve in countries of African, Asian and European continents living in 254 convents.
The webinars aimed to creating awareness among the nuns about the present sociopolitical scenario and how the challenges are affecting the mission of the Church and religious life, explained Father Varghese Alengaden, who conducted the program.
The first part of the webinar dealt with the present challenges facing the Church and religious life. The session called for a paradigm shift in the mission of the Church. While explaining how the Church has drifted away from the way of Christ over the years, Father Alengaden urged the nuns to return to the Way of Christ as explained in the Gospel.
He said Christ had given the solution to the current problems 2,000 years ago — abandon the old wineskins and adopt the “New Wineskins” to contain the “New Wine” of challenges.
The session explained the old wineskin as cultic rituals, conversion of people to increase the Church membership, expansion of institutions to establish the empire of religious congregations, and other outdated practices.
The open conflicts and cold wars within the Church and religious communities, external threats from Hindutva forces, crisis due to Pandemic Covid 19, sexual and financial scandals involving the clergy, religious and hierarchy are the new wine that needs new wineskin, or new means or methods.
The Church can no longer go on with direct evangelization of converting poor people to Christianity, webinars were told. It was told of the Hindu rightwing Hindu groups’ plan to enact an anti-conversion bill with stringent laws. There is also a possibility of the government canceling the account of religion-related NGOs under the Foreign Currency Regulation Act.
Other threats are taking away land leased out to Church institutions and churches built on the temple foundations with the support of the colonial army.
Father Alengaden wondered if the Church and religious congregations are ready with “ New Wineskin” to meet the new challenges.
He said time has come for the Church to start worshiping God in truth and spirit as taught by the Coronavirus pandemic. According to him, common people, clergy and religious could experience faith despite the closure of churches for five months.
Instead of going to convert the poor people in remote regions through old model of evangelization the Church should embrace all 1.37 billion Indians by baptizing them into the values of Christ. Instead of trying to make people its members the Church should try to make them disciples of Christ like Gandhi, Baba Amte, Prashat Bhushan and many others, who have upheld universal values of the Indian Constitution.
Father Varghese has been experimenting the new wineskin method of evangelization for the past 28 years through his Universal Solidarity Movement. He asserted that one can easily practice the values of Jesus. According to the priest, the Church can be saved from the impending threat of alienation and elimination only by following Christ’s teachings and way of life.
Father Alengaden ended the webinar urging all Church personnel and hierarchy to wake up from their complacency and stop basking in the past glory.
CSST superior general Chris and St Anne’s head Sister Kamala Scaria too addressed their sisters in the beginning of the webinar. They said that it was for the first time both the congregations had a webinar for all the sisters together.