13th AGM of Catholic Council of India at Medchal to discuss present day challenges

​Catholic Council of India (CCI):

The Catholic Council was formed in the year 1993 by the Catholic Bishops Conference of India. However, the Catholic Council of India has evolved from the follow up committee of All India Seminar on the Church in India Today (1968) it has as its goal the renewal and mission of the Church in the Holy Spirit, discerning the sign of the time, in the light of Vatican II

The main focus of the body is to nurture the movement towards a true participatory Church with due importance to lay participation. Through this council all sections of the Church come together, reflect together to discern the Father’s Will for the Church in India.

The 13th Annual General Body Meeting (AGM) to be held at Medchal, Hyderabad, Telangana State from the evening of July 27th 2016 till July 29th evening 2016:

The Catholic Council of India organizes an annual General Body Meeting for two full days to update itself on the country situation, on its response to various needs of the common people and to plan for the future. The focus is on the sharing of various stakeholders of the GB on their experience over the year. The matters regarding the administration are also discussed to arrive at appropriate measures. In order to focus the discussion a theme is formulated by the executive body for the AGM.

The Theme for this year is as follows:

“The Response of the Church in India to the present day Challenges”

Justification of the theme:

Today the minority communities in India are facing a number of problems and challenges both at micro and macro context. A minority in the majority. The family disintegration is increasing day by day. The peace that existed among the Christian community is twinkling down. The anti- poor policy of the government and the schemes meant for the poor do not reach the real people. The next context is the emerging trend of ISIS in India. The last but the least is the stringent regulations on the NGOs and the Church who receive fund from outside.

The well-being of the Church and the society at large are intimately linked with the nurturing of the family. It is the lifeline of the Church and society (Instrumentum Laboris, nos. 32, 38). However, “married love is too often dishonored by selfishness, hedonism and unlawful contraceptive practices” (Gaudium et Spes, no. 47). The two recent Synods on the Family, held in Rome, have drawn attention to the urgency of providing sustained pastoral care to families.

The Church commits herself to the liberation of the weaker sections, like tribals, women and dalits. She wants to reach out more to the unorganized groups like fisher-flock, farmers, migrants, domestic workers, victims of trafficking, through advocacy and networking with NGO’s and other like-minded groups and individuals, dedicated to the cause of the poor.

Inter-religious dialogue has become an urgent priority today. The goal of dialogue is to establish friendship, peace and harmony and to share spiritual and moral values and experiences in a spirit of truth and love. Redemptoris Missio clearly states that “inter-religious dialogue is part of the Church's evangelizing mission”. “In the light of the economy of salvation, the Church sees no conflict between proclaiming Christ and engaging in interreligious dialogue… Each member of the faithful and all Christian communities are called to practice dialogue. Dialogue is a path toward the kingdom” (Redemptoris Missio, no. 56, 57).

The ruthless exploitation of the earth’s resources has adverse effects on humanity. Pope Francis affirmed: “As stewards of God’s creation, we are called to make the earth a beautiful garden for the human family. When we destroy our forests, ravage our soil and pollute our seas, we betray that noble calling” (Speech, Manila, Philippines, January 18, 2015). In this regard, we must go to the heart of the ecological degradation and advocate an education in ecological responsibility because “we are all really responsible for all”.

In a nutshell we could group the challenges and take the recommendations made by the CBCI in its 32nd Plenary Assembly at Bangalore in the first week of March 2016 as follows:

1. Domestic Church and the disintegration of family life where the dignity of family life and marriage is at stake.
2. Current political scenario wherein communal tensions and religious fundamentalism is increasing, the dawn of ‘Ghar Wapsi’, majority vs. minority, saffronization of Education in India and to do away with minority rights etc.
3. Challenges of the consecrated life where the vocation to religious life is decreasing, focus on the unimportant ministries and the media influence
4. Catholics migrating to other denominations.
5. Legitimate role of the Laity in the Church.
6. Exploitation of the earth’s resources has adverse effects on humanity
7. The diminishing dimension of the Church of the poor and the discrimination of the Christian

Dalits and the prophetic mission

It is in the above context the theme for this year is appropriate and relevant. It is also important to take on board the Holy Father’s theme of the year, The Year of Mercy. The Church as a whole need to reflect , review its current responses and plan to strategies the future efforts in a more constructive and meaningful manner. As the Catholic Council of India represents all stake holders in the Church it is all the more important to discuss the above challenges and develop strategic approaches and present to the Catholic Bishops Conference of India for appropriate decisions.

Objectives:

1. To develop a critical understanding on the current challenges facing the Church today by reflecting over the concept paper.
2. To analyze the strength and weakness of the Church bodies and to identify the major opportunities and threats
3. To articulate responses to address the above challenges in the light of ‘ The Year of Mercy’ as per Pope Francis
4. To prepare a document to be presented to Catholic Bishops Conference of India.
Participants: 300 Participants representing all the Ecclesiastical regions in the Country as per the selection of the Regional Bishops Conferences and the particular Representatives of Dioceses Pastoral Council.

Method:

There will be formal sessions and informal interactive sessions and workshop by the participants.
1. There will be input sessions on the concept paper by the core group members followed by group discussions.
2. Reporting of the deliberations of the group in the panel session.
3. The members will be motivated to interact among themselves during the free time.
4. At the end of the workshop a document containing all the deliberations and recommendations will be prepared.