catholics-from-india

"In Europe and even in India, there are still some who remember his name, and in Ceylon, the theatre of his Apostolic labours, his name is still mentioned by the older generation; but the rising generation hardly know what they owe to him. And yet, his is a name that ought to endure for ever."

"Our appeal is always a call for peace: we call for de-escalation, because war is always a defeat and serves no one. All problems, even those between states, can be resolved without violence. We bishops are united when we say and exhort our communities: Let us pray for peace."

"It is a contradiction to say someone can convert someone else. Only God can touch the human heart and sow the seed of faith. All we can do it to share the Good News we have received."

"The primary duty of every religious leader is to foster harmony and peace in the community of our pluralist nation and safeguard the secularity and religious freedom guaranteed by our Constitution."

"War can never more be considered a means of resolving conflicts. Yet war, when it occurs, can only be won through peace, and peace won through negotiations, dialogue and reconciliation."

"If we take responsibility we will be able to restore what God had planned for humanity, that is God's kingdom."

"Make dance a medium of evangelization to reach everyone in north India."

"I am not a perfect bishop, and it is in my weakness I find my strength."

"When young people come to a World Youth Day, they also receive the strength of that enthusiasm, joy and creativity."

"Poverty is a problem that all of us feel sorry about. Through harmony we have to work together for the good of this world."

"The Catholic Church has been rigorously fighting to safeguard Mother Earth."

"Without a living witness, nobody gets moved by any liturgy, pilgrimage or local devotions."

"His death is a big loss for the poor and the marginalised."

"Prioritize dispelling ignorance: the root cause of poverty."

"Presently the clergy is almost entirely made up of native Taiwanese, and these are seeds that will bear fruit with time. I am very satisfied with what has taken place."

"We don't have issues with other faiths in the locality. Some people are trying to create problems."

"Shake off the minority complex and get involved in the lives of people."

"The Indian Church seeks to proclaim the gospel with the media which are today a powerful means of evangelization in Indian society. We live in a world that has dramatically increased the speed of communication. The Church can be present in the agora of the media in order to make Christ known."

"Christian missionaries should be careful to keep the true motivation. A shift in the orientation may reduce the mission of the Church merely to a social work of any other social activist. This situation leads to competition and triumphalism. In order to avoid these dangers, missionaries should be convinced that they are involved in a service rendered to God and to his Kingdom."

"In Asia the home of the great contemplative traditions, the dialogue of religious experience is of utmost importance. We would have a message for Asia only when our Asian brethren see in us the marks of God-realized persons. This dialogue is not opposed to the mission, but an integral part of the evangelizing mission of the Church which aims at making herself fully present as and when God wills, to all persons and peoples."

"The faith has been handed down from generation to generation through suffering and sacrifice, and the Church is duty-bound to protect this faith."

"For a meaningful Good Friday, we Christians too must shed our blood, at least the excess for the use of someone else."

"We try, to explain the papal message, in the local language and frame of reference. We try to do this through courses at the diocese, but it is not easy. There is no lack of interest, but the nationalists thwart our attempts."

"A Christian has a big heart, ready to bring the message of salvation to every corner of the world. We ask God to transform our hearts in order to accomplish the mission of catechesis and evangelization entrusted to each of us, by virtue of our baptismal call."

"Modern trends of globalization and liberalization have sapped the faith of the younger generation. Nothing is valuable for young people nowadays. There is a need to inculcate faith once again."

"God entrusted two sublime two missions to Saint Joseph, the greatest of all the saints: that of husband to the Queen of Angels and Saints, the Blessed Virgin Mary; and that of foster father to the Son of God, Jesus. Such a task is even more ineffable and inexpressible than human words can express."

"We are pleased to be joined to be of one body and mind, to pray together, work together and build the kingdom of God here on earth."

"Forcible conversion is an oxymoron and self-contradictory. As Christians, we do not believe in forcible conversion. We respect all religions and hold that all religions contain "seeds of truth". At the same time, the discretion and the freedom of an individual is constitutionally sacrosanct."

"He was so simple and understanding. In him people could see a father and a good shepherd. That was the charisma of Bishop Mathew. He knew that through education, we could eradicate illiteracy and social evils."

"We globalize poverty, especially the poverty of spirit, but Mother Teresa globalized the vocation or the call to preach God's wisdom and spirit of love."

"Only faith can console and make people go forward in the current tragedy, we live this terrible suffering with faith in Providence."

"Many pray for vocations and leave the rest to God. I wanted to do something more."

"Any particular Church should have its own liturgy, spirituality, theology and discipline. We don't have them. We become a self-governing Church only when we develop all these."

"Raise awareness among young people about this issue. Young people are the ones who need greater awareness of the problem; they are the ones who must participate actively in various activities."

"I am disappointed by the majority of politicians. They enter politics for selfish and personal motives. I don't think they are interested in serving society."

"The Church should play an active role in people's lives; it should reach out to them wherever they live and try to understand what their real needs are."

"He is more preoccupied about the fate of the children who are far away and do not share in the full communion of affection. Such is the attitude of the Holy Father with regard to Chinese Catholics on both sides of the Strait of Taiwan. Since I am not a prophet, I cannot tell you what will happen in the future to our relations. As a true mother, the Church will not and cannot abandon her children, whatever country they may find themselves in."

"We would be happy if leaders with a balanced head lead the region in league with the rest of the country, but God alone knows what will happen."

"What is important here is to make it known that the Church is always associated with the poor and the suffering. The Church would always demonstrate this in concrete reality. When you organize your funds and services, you are true to your spirit, and serious about that. This is Christian spirit of rendering service. That's all."

"Caritas can become a leaven that transforms people's lives. Many people think that development requires a lot of money. But I believe that it starts with people."

"Conversion has no meaning! Proselytisation has no meaning if you do not convert yourself to God and see what God has to tell you. Follow his will, his plan and that is real religion. So therefore, I personally do not believe at all in proselytisation. The last point I would like to say is that, Christianity has made terrible blunders in the past! Terrible, not horrible! One of them was to mix faith with culture. If you go to India, you take Indian culture, if you go to Africa, take African culture, if you go to Japan, take Japan culture. We have made a lot of mistakes, a lot of blunders. That there is no salvation outside of Christ is not fully true. It is one way of looking at it if we have faith. But what I said was, salvation is from God, not from religion. If you understand that fully, the full answer is there."

"In a way, this persecution has heightened the awareness among the Christians of the Passion and Death of Jesus and of the Victory of the Resurrection, the faithful are not only united, but their fidelity to the Church has been strengthened"

"Mother Teresa was saint of mercy and compassion who fully lived every moment of her life. She lived compassion towards every man, especially towards the sick, the lepers, the abandoned. Today she teaches us to put mercy at the center of the Church's activity. We feel strongly inspired by her."

"The glaring problem of the Church in Andhra Pradesh is that of inculturation. The faith has to be incarnated in the context of the multiple culture of the people."

"We have to reach out to families and villages not with an agenda but as a missionary thrust for freedom. Jesus' missionary thrust of moving out is the only model before us."

"We are all the human family and are all together. What happens in one corner of the world affects others. We are all related that way."

"While we pray for the people who are intolerant towards the Good News - either because of misinformation, suspicion or any other false propaganda - we continue to share the Joy of the Gospel with our lives, our service and through preaching the Word of God. While we continue to pray and work with Spirit of Truth and Faith to build the Body of Christ, we also speak up for the right of religious freedom."

"The Asian situation - cultural, religious and social - is relatively congenial to the preaching of the Good News of the Kingdom of God preached by Jesus Christ and rendered present in His person and life, as it is fulfilling the aspirations and hopes of the Asian people steeped in the misery of poverty. Hence the Church should take it as its supreme task."

"The resilience of the tribal people is very remarkable, and they have a lot of capacity to take suffering in stride. But they are thinking of the future, what it holds for them."

"As Bishops we reach out to touch the hearts of the abandoned, marginalized, ignored and excluded, in an attempt to uplift these people and restore their dignity and legitimate place in society. Go in search of the lost, the last and the marginalized. The courage of those who approach Jesus in the Gospel is a great lesson for everyone. We too must learn to go to him, to seek his merciful face. Jesus felt pity and reached out to help."