By Sujata Jena
New Delhi, Dec 8, 2023: India’s Latin rite Church is preparing its people to face modern challenges.
For this, it has launched a training program on strategic planning training for the 14 regions of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India.
A training program was held December 6-7 at Navinta Retreat Centre in New Delhi’s Okhala.
Archbishop Anil Couto of Delhi, secretary general of the Conference, opened the program attended by 68 delegates from the regions of Agra, North, Northeast, Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar.
Archbishop Couto in his opening address called upon the participants to be aroused in true faith commitment to Christ and the Gospel. He said, continuously abiding in Christ comes to Christians in three ways, in his incarnation, daily in power and Spirit, and in his majesty and glory.
The strategic planning, he said, is to focus Christians’ attention on Christ, so that the Church in India is ready to face challenges that come its way.
Looking ahead to the great jubilee of Christendom in 2033, the prelate said Christians have to realize that the Risen Lord is with them as they move ahead as committed disciples.
The archbishop explained that the strategic planning is the brainchild of Father Stephen Alathara, the conference’s deputy secretary general, who is supported by Father Charles Leon, the executive secretary of the conference’s commission for vocation, seminary, clergy, and religious.
The program was facilitated by Jesuit Father Joe Xavier, Fathers Leon, and Jaison Vadassery, secretary of the Commission for Migrants, and Sister Lidwin Fernandes, secretary for the Commission for Women.
Father Xavier has developed a framework for the participants to conduct one-day workshops in their dioceses. He stressed the three pillars of strategic planning — a time-bound dream, strategic alignment, and communal discernment.
He explained how the participants have to be led into the methodology of strategic planning and how the groups have to conduct the spiritual conversation. To assess whether the participants understood the procedure for the diocesan workshop the meeting organized each region to give a mock presentation.
The training’s next batch is scheduled December 11-13 at Paalanaa Bhavan, Bengaluru, southern India, for delegates from Andhra-Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and the western region.
Father Alathara explained that the conference was set up in 1988. It has now 132 dioceses, 23 archbishops, 195 bishops, 16 commissions, four apostolates, and six departments.
St. John Paul II, after his first Indian visit in 1986, wrote an apostolic letter to the Indian bishops on May 28, 1987, which read thus: “The Bishops of each of the three Rites have the right to establish their own Episcopal Bodies by their ecclesiastical legislation. The CBCI which is an Assembly of the bishops of India of the three Rites is to continue in matters of common concern and of national and supra-ritual character. These areas are to be determined in the new statutes of the CBCI.”
As soon as the Sui Iuris Churches were separated from the CBCI, it lost its canonical status and the individual Sui Iuris Churches took charge of the Commissions. This took place in 1992 at the General Body Meeting of the CBCI held in Pune. After the 1992 meeting, the CCBI Commission for Bible, Catechetics, and Liturgy was established, and slowly began to animate these apostolates in the country.
Father Leon, the coordinator of the program, said the diocesan phase will begin in January 2024 and run until April. The Latin conference aims to publish the Strategic Planning document in May 2024, incorporating input from more than 35,000 participants from across the country.
The strategic plan aims to invigorate the Latin conference’s 16 commissions, four apostolates, and six departments, along with the regional and diocesan commissions. It serves as a follow-up to the CCBI Pastoral Plan formulated in 2013 and aligns with the two national syntheses for the Synod submitted for the Continental and Universal Synods, Father Leon explained.
The conference leaders will take the process to regional levels, encouraging broader participation, including from religious and lay faithful. This approach aims to foster collective ownership of the plan, involving all sections of the people of God. The goal is to generate new energy and passion among participants to comprehend the Synodal Journey, the priest added.
With Pope Francis’ 18 December 2023 proclamation of “Fiducia Supplicans (Supplicating Trust),” which is a declaration on Catholic doctrine that allows Catholic priests to bless persons in same-sex relationships and certain other relationships, I guess the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) has to add a new dimension to its Strategic Planning, especially on the Commission of Family!
The laity was, is and will be sidelined – as it was in the beginning, now and ever shall be, amen!
There Composed of Three Chapters, which présent some basic éléments of the Christian life.
1. A Time with the Lord
2. A simple way to Touch the Lord
3. Deep Calls Unto Deep
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The most prevailing need among Christians today is to spend à certain amount of time every day reading and praying in the présence of the Lord. To obtain Spiritual nourishment, but Very few know How to come to the Word of God to enjoy the Lord and to receive Spiritual nourishment .
What the Church needs today is not more knowledge and teachings,but nourishment. Eventually, we will be brought out of ourselves, saturated with Christ, and Permeated with the Spirit .
**
Today, Hé as the Spirit is like the air to us – so fresh and so available. When we cry “O Lord !” or “Amen!” or “Hallelujah!” we Take Him into us as the life-giving breath, supplying us with all the riches of Himself.
that They can expérience His spontaneous salvation, and that They can walk in oneness with Him by calling moment by moment, ” O Lord ! Amen ! Hallelujah ! ”
***
As we extend ourselves deeper and Take root downward, we will discover that ” deep Calls Unto Deep.” When we can bring forth riches from the depths of our inner life,we will find that other lives will be deeply affected. The miniute our inner being is touched, Others will receive help and be enlightened. When deep touches deep, deep will respond to deep. If our life has no depth,our superficial work will only affect other lives superficially. We repeat yet again -only ” deep Calls Unto deep.”
The three pillars of strategic planning — a time-bound dream, strategic alignment, and communal discernment sounds excellent for the Church in India.
Ever since the Second Vatican Council opened windows to let fresh air to enter new avenues for mission, with innovative ways the Church in India has to reflect seriously on the implementation of certain vital concerns which are preserved only in papers n files. Particularly the areas of Interfaith Dialogue, Ecumenism and now the most recent concern on Migrants and displaced people have not seen its hey days.
Moreover, the role of laity has remained very dormant . When the political systems are changing and the human rights, our constitutional rights, human dignity are constant mutilated and freedom of expression and press are chocked, will these strategic planning help to address the socio-political, economic and cultural issues of our time. Will these help to bring changes in the formation programs to create prophetic leaders to take up vital issues as it happened in Latin America?
It will be possible if the shepherds of the church take these strategies seriously to implement or else it will create another white elephant. I wish all those strategic planners a great success in their endeavors.
Firstly, the phrase `Strategic Planning for Indian Church’ sounds quite pompous. Can any strategic planning by the Indian church be done without credible databases on Laity? Can the organisers of the programme (ToT – Training of Trainers) vouch how many Catholic dioceses (174 – 132 Latin Rites, 31 Syro-Malabar and 11 Syro-Malankara) have a computerised family database which is updated at regular intervals? I myself sent the template of a simple of family database to the Archbishop of Calcutta and his Vicar General but both even did not have the courtesy to acknowledge my mail! Most dioceses feel comfortable in status quo and feel changes and innovations will rock the boat!
Secondly, Archbishop Couto’s mention of `abiding in Christ’s majesty and glory’ as one of the three ways of Christian life, is quite confusing and is in contradiction with Christ’s very humble birth in a manger. In fact, the Director of the programme was in his majesty and glory, as he chastised several participants who came to the Delhi conference late due to the delay in their trains & flights. He had no business to chastise them (leaders & trainers!) as firstly he was not one of the resources persons of the workshop and secondly, all the participants had already booked their board & lodging.
Thirdly, the report mentions that the purpose of the strategic planning is to ensure that the Church in India is ready to face challenges that come its way. It does not specify the challenges being faced currently and probable challenges that are foreseen.
Fourthly, there is an emphasis on the three pillars of strategic planning — a time-bound dream, strategic alignment, and communal discernment. At least in respect of 13 Commissions, the Archdiocesan/Diocesan Pastoral Plans are only on paper. They are certainly not time-bound and do not have any pre-defined yardstick for measurable output (impact analysis). Also several commissions overlap each other for example, Commissions for Family & Women; Education, Vocation and Laity; Bible & Catechetics, etc. These Commissions need to be halved as most parishes have not implemented or cannot implement all the Commissions. Many parishes have also not instituted Parish Finance Committees (PFCs). They do not want to be accountable to their parishioners on Temporal Matters! Also existing PFCs are not privy to all types of incomes/receipts and payments of a parish.
We have just been through a mammoth synodal exercise that has come to naught. Has any diocese implemented any suggestions givover two years ago? This is all an eyewash.
I carefully read the report. There’s nothing strategic about it. It’s just more pious rhetoric.
Could someone also tell us how many of the laity were involved in this so-called strategic planning?