By Isaac Gomes
Kolkata, Nov 15, 2021: On November 14, the Children’s Day in India, a priest gave a startling sermon at the 8 am Mass in a large parish in Kolkata.
He extensively quoted Pope Francis who said that the poor are the treasures of the Church; that the Church should be a battlefield to tend to the sick and the needy and several other observations of the Pope.
The priest categorized the poor into two: Those who are financially poor and those who are emotionally and/or spiritually poor. While the first category could be helped by the Church with cash or kind, there is hardly any hope for the second category as they are perennially poor.
What drew the congregation’s attention was the priest’s observation on the second category of the poor. If what he said is true, then several persons in the congregation wondered: “why do we have psychological and spiritual Counselling? What will happen to all those who are suffering from mental/emotional breakdowns, especially several thousand psycho-social victims of Covid-19 lockdown, for example, Children, older adults, care providers and people with underlying health conditions?
What’s the need of capital-intensive Research and Development to devise improved care to cater to increasing number of mental health cases; and courses in psychology and/or clinical psychology (St Xavier’s University Kolkata has recently introduced such a course at Masters level)? What’s the need of conducting regular and special prayers for healing? Are these exercises then just means to make moolah? The flip side of the question is how temples and spiritual renewal centers are flourishing if the faithful are not getting an succor (read: Return on Investment).
If medical, especially clinical psychology practitioners were to listen to this priest’s homily, they would be shocked or crestfallen; or they will have a hearty laugh and condone him considering (1) he is a good soul and (2) he could himself be one of their cases. A clinical psychologist (who is also owner-principal of a high school) I know, would wonder what the verses “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28) and “for I will refresh the weary soul and replenish all who are weak.” (Jeremiah 31:25) really mean if not the `poor’ of the priest’s second category of poor.
Talking of hunger and poverty, it is perplexing why the Church is still following the practice of the age-old dole (alms) mode? Does it believe this mode will help in Evangelization? Doesn’t this demean the laity to a state of crutch-support-system-psychology and reduce them to vegetable or couch potatoes? Why doesn’t the Church, led by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), teach the poor across its 174 dioceses, the Art of Fishing to all able-bodied Christians? Is it scared that if all the marginalized stand their own feet through educational and social empowerment, all the photo ops of smug charity exercises will take a beating?
In the context of economic poverty, Ela Bhatt, internationally-acclaimed social worker (Self-employed Women’s Association Gujarat) during an interview on NDTV said: “First and foremost, we must recognize that poverty is violence. It is violence perpetuated with the consent of society – a society that is silent or looks the other way in the face of poverty. It is giving consent to exploitation, injustice and war. Poverty strips away a person’s dignity, humanity, it corrodes the human spirit. There is no justification for poverty in India. Poverty and violence are not God made, they are man-made. Poverty and peace cannot coexist.”
No Church body in India has defined poverty in so crystal-clear terms. In fact, the Church has glorified poverty!
The National Education Policy 2020 has introduced National Professional Standards for Teachers, State School Standards Authority and a School Quality Assessment and Accreditation Framework. This includes regular upgrade certification courses for teachers. In all top-notch professional fields in the USA, UK and many other countries, Training Courses for Credit Systems are mandatory for their professionals.
These certificates are to be displayed prominently to enable clients know that their Advisers are abreast with the latest advancement in their respective fields. It is high time for bishops and priests underwent such upgrade courses including HR, management and finance.
Otherwise it will be difficult to hold the magic wand over the laity which is much more qualified in multifarious fields than the Church hierarchy including heads of the various Church commissions. It’s time to introspect: Is priesthood/religious life a vocation to serve or a corporate career path? Quo Vadis?
The church should focus its attention and resources on and to care for the poor Catholics under each parish. In the present political environment, serving the poor people from other communities is best left to respective communities. Make other communities look at Catholic church with envy and say, “Look how well they take care of their poor”.
The above report by Isaac Gomes is absolutely true. I too along with some other parishioners attended the Mass and we were stunned at the priest’s observation in his sermon that those who suffered from emotional or spiritual poverty had very little chance of recovery! We first thought we had heard wrong. But the priest reiterated his point for a second time. Isaac has always been very correct and meticulous in his report-writing. No one has ever found any fault with his articles. We also had a hearty laugh over a cup of tea (after the mass) at how naive someone in authority could be.