The Holy Church in a deeply religious society

I have lived 20 years of my life in Mumbai. My childhood and youth life has been shaped in the deeply religious culture of Mumbai. My best friends with whom I have so much to share, with whom I have a bond like with none else, and with whom I have grown up, learning the various nuances of life, have been from Hindu families. So I can easily relate to encounters with the passionately
religious Hindu society.

1) Christ came down, shed his blood for all mankind. This happened because there was no other way - not any other religion, no other way - by which man could be saved. Had their been another way, this Ultimate Sacrifice would not have happened, would not have been necessary. When confronted with this fact, we are left with little wiggle room as believers of Christ, with regards to other religions.

Dove - a symbol of the Holy Spirit

2) While holding onto the above, we cannot confine the working of the Holy Spirit to our own understanding of the Christ's mission. The Holy Spirit works in the world, within and without the Holy Church.

3) As believers in Christ, we are placed in a particular position within the Church. It is not for us to climb out of the Church and make an assessment about other religions, about who will be saved, about what their fate will be etc. We have been shown a way, and been told this is the Only Way ("No one comes to the Father except through me" is pretty clear). Regarding other religions, we have the stern message given to Peter when he asked about the fate of John, which was basically "How does that concern you?"(John 21:21-24) Salvation is basically a "gift" given as per the Will of God, not a privilege we can claim.

Evangelization - Church's mission, not individual task

4) Evangelization is the mission of the Church. We deny Christ each time we think this is not needed anymore. But the aggressive models of evangelization that is borrowed from the Western societies cannot be used in a deeply religious and passionate India. India is not a spiritually starved land; in fact it is a beacon of light for spirituality for many in the West. The Indian Church which
understands the deep rooted spirituality of India has a responsibility to prayerfully consider this as a part of our mission and purpose. We ignore this part of our mission at our peril. The rot that we see in our Church today has a lot to do with our denying Christ at many levels.

5) Dialogue with other religions has a different purpose than evangelization. Paulose Mar Gregorios of blessed memory believed that just like evangelization, dialogue is also a mission of the Church. "dialogue with 'secular' man is justified on the ground that he is my neighbour, then 'religious' man is also equally my neighbour and I must communicate with him."

The dialogue is to increase one's own understanding about the Ultimate and about God's work outside the Church, with no other motives attached. Dialogue does not mean that one side "gives in" or "sticks to his own turf" etc, dialogue is just to have a better understanding. Just like in a Parliament people with different ideologies have dialogues to make a democracy work, an aim of religious dialogue can be said to be - to seek 'how to make it all work', to seek common ground, despite the obvious differences. Religious dialogue need not have an aim of having to 'merge into one'. Stalwarts like Paulose Mar Gregorios have shown us that it is possible to have sincere dialogues while remaining true to our faith.

6) Points 1,4 above may sound contradictory to Point 5 at some level. However, I believe both are necessary and must co-exist.

7) Finally, I do not think we have the right to conclude that - all religions are the same (or different hues of the same thought). We are too infinitely small, too insignificant to defy what Christ has told us, to say this. Ours is just to follow Christ. Nothing more, nothing less.

8) So are all the rest of the world outside the Church condemned? In no way. I recommend the Divya Bodhanam Series (5 - Growing in the wisdonm of God) "Light to the Nations" (An elementary study of Church, Ministry and Sacraments) by Fr.Dr. K.M. George.Unit 2, Lesson 6 says "We have no right to tell our non-Christian brethren that we alone will be saved, and they will be condemned".


The Church (and each member of the Church) exists to love, pray for, and serve the world, just like Christ.

I hope the above sums up my thoughts, my dilemmas, my contradictions to an extent. I hope we can use these thoughts to discuss and understand the role of the Holy Church in a deeply religious society, our beloved land of India.

Source:ICON