In many organizations individuals often 'feel' something is wrong. Things gnaw away at the edge of their consciousness, unsettling and making little sense as they conflict with the agreed notions of what the organization is, what it holds dear and how it is believed to work.... The most important lesson thus far from the conduct of (the Australian) royal commission and the social pressure that prompted it is that always when bad is on the rise, brave, decent, everyday people stand up and say no — enough — no further.

Paul Coghlan, Global Pulse, 7 March 2016

Report by Philip Matthew, Matters India reporter, Indian bishops to seek Church response to current challenges

Dr James Kottoor replies:

The General body meeting of the Catholic Bishops conference of India (CBCI) is a two-yearly happening. The participants in this meet are the bishops of the three different Rites – on it there are still many unresolved questions --- like Latin, Syromalbar and Syromalankara.

More than 180 bishops from these Rites (right or wrong) have already started their week-long session on Feb.2^nd. Its theme is “The Response of the Church in India to the Present Day Challenges.” It stands out for two distinct features: 1. Presence of Archbishop Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington is the invited Chief Guest. Similar was the presence of President Obama for the Republic day. 2. The invited Justice Cyriac Joseph gave the keynote address. Lack of due advance publicity, we already noted, was a flaw on the part of organizers. Why?

Our stress is on due publicity, that is, publicity the event deserves.

 We thank FutureChurch for alerting us to this.

Reprinted with permission from The Swag, Autumn 2016

Underlying the proceedings at the 2^nd Vatican Council were two major principles: ressourcement, calling for a return to the sources, and aggiornamento, calling for a genuine update of the Church to increase its relevancy to the modern world.

For two millennia the ecclesia, founded on the leadership of the Apostles, had held firm to the essence of its faith, worship and governance, but with the passage of time and the vicissitudes of history had also acquired much peripheral baggage of beliefs, customs and practices far removed from the apostolic tradition. Many were also anachronistic, with little or no meaning for the Church and world of the 20^th century, and they were hindering, not helping evangelization.

Pope Francis, 17 October 2015, said in a speech commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the setting up of the Synod of Bishops,

The first level of the exercise of synodality is had in the particular Churches. After mentioning the noble institution of the Diocesan Synod, in which priests and laity are called to cooperate with the bishop for the good of the whole ecclesial community,(22) theCode of Canon Law devotes ample space to what are usually called “organs of communion” in the local Church: the presbyteral council, the college of consultors, chapters of canons and the pastoral council.(23) Only to the extent that these organizations keep connected to the “base” and start from people and their daily problems, can a synodal Church begin to take shape: these means, even when they prove wearisome, must be valued as an opportunity for listening and sharing.

Read the whole speech

Read Church reform requires decentralization, synodality by Thomas Reese SJ