The Evangelical Frontiers of Vatican
Ashok Mahajan
The Observer
May 8, 1999
Title: The Evangelical Frontiers of Vatican
Author: Ashok Mahajan
Publication: The Observer
Date: May 8, 1999
With so much debate in recent months on missionary activities within
the country, by now it is obvious that the two major provenances
whence it is generated are the US and Italy.
Whereas Western mediamen and. writers such as Francois Gautier, Jon
Stock, Stephen Alter and Barbara Kingsolver have in fair measure
highlighted the fundamentalist streaks and groups of the New World,
there has not been much diffusion about the means and methodology
adopted by the Holy Pontiffs men at Rome.
The Vatican city is a unique independent state of Europe. Roughly
triangular in shape, it is less than half a square kilometre in
extent, even smaller than the tiny political entities of Monaco and
Liechenstein. Despite its minuscule size, however, it has been said to
possess an influence greater than that of Italy itself. It is the
headquarters of the largest branch of the Christian religion, the
Roman Catholic Church whose power extends across Western and Eastern
Europe (except Russia), Africa, Asia (except China), Latin America and
Canada. Vatican's sovereignty was recognised by the Fascist Italian
Government in the Lateran Treaty and Concordat of 1929.
The various wings or congregations that assist the Pope in the
day-to-day exercise of his primatial jurisdiction over the Catholic
Church are collectively known as the Roman Curia. The members of the
Sacred College of Cardinals head these different bureaus. One of them
is designated as the Secretary of State who directs both the Papal
Secretariat as well as the Council for the public Affairs of the
Church. Presently it is Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the right hand man and
mouthpiece of the feeble and ailing Pope John Paul II.
There are bureaus for administering the Oriental Churches, the
Bishops, and the Clergy. A separate Congregation devotes itself to the
Causes of Saints, leading to beatification and canonization; another
for Religious and Secular Institutes, and still another for the
Sacraments and Divine Worship, and for Catholic Education. The Holy
See is a convoluted labyrinthine of sanctimonious heads. But the one
that should concern us most as Indians is the Congregation for the
Propagation of Faith. This is the most sumptuously-funded wing headed
by a Cardinal, which plans and promotes world-wide proselytisations.
It is this part of the Roman Curia with which Mother Teresa was most
closely associated, as are several present-day Archbishops in India.
There is substance in the charge of the BJP that several scribes in
the English print-media belonging to the minority community are
deliberately raising the bogey of attacks of Christians so as to unite
the Catholic and the non-Catholic denominations. Also, an organisation
called the World Council of Churches sought to end the schisms between
the Roman Catholics and the various Protestant groups. Seemingly the
plank on which they based their arguments for unity was the projection
of the majority community as their common threat.
Within the Roman Curia, too, there is a whole secretariat for
promoting Christian oneness at a global scale - the term for which is
'ecumenism'. The Vatican Council convened in 1960 by Pope John XXIII
was a major step towards ecumenism. The urge for unity is believed in
part to be the result of the frustrations of the Holy Pontiff who
views a 'divided Church' as anomalous to the spirit of Christ. If the
first step is towards unification of all Christians, the second is the
'homogenisation' and 'assimilation' of all non-Christians into being
the followers of Christ. This, in short, is the goal of the
Congregation of the Propagation of Faith.
A few years ago, when the question of the celibacy of the clergy came
up for debate, the Holy See ruled that what dictated the Church's
position was the "Jesus example". Jesus, it was said, was the high
priest par excellence and since he remained a celibate it was
necessary for the clergy to remain so. The absence of any scriptural
text was not relevant.
Now, if one is to follow the papal argument of "Jesus' example", one
can hardly fault an educated person for being critical of the
lifestyle of the episcopacy at Rome. Poverty along with chastity was
the essence of Christ. The Vatican palace which lies to the north of
St Peter's Basilica, surpasses the pomp and splendour of any palace of
a European monarch. It is surrounded by medieval and Renaissance walls
and has six entrances, only three of which are open to the public.
There are several museums along the east and north walls and extensive
gardens to the northwest. A hundred Swiss Guards, magnificently
attired, act as security guards.
The Vatican has its banking organisation, its telephone system, post
office and railway station. It issues its own stamps and currency,
which are interchangeable with those of Italy. Incomes, investments
and expenditures of the Papal government are veiled in secrecy. The
Pope has his own coat of arms in front of the government palace and
when he flies of Rome, his aircraft must be painted with his insignia.
The Papal Commission for Vatican City is composed of three cardinals
and a secretary. Administrative powers are delegated to a governor,
who may also compile legislation.
The governor is assisted by a central council composed of the
directors of the secretariat, the office of monuments, museums and
galleries. The upkeep of Vatican property, salaries and the Papal
Foreign Service involves millions of dollars yearly.
How does an ordinary Roman Catholic of India reconcile himself to the
temporal razzle-dazzle of the papacy with the spartan austerity of
Christ? Does he not see a contradiction here, when the Pope himself is
variously described as 'the vicar of Christ' and a 'servant of the
servants of God'? It is believed that the Congregation for the
Propagation of Faith has limitless wealth at its disposal for
funnelling it to the Third World. It is also believed that this wealth
is not to be squandered on the 'pagans and heathens' just for the sake
of Charity. Material inducements (land. house, money, job, education,
hospital treatment, travel) is to be used for the barter of souls -
especially in the tribal areas of the subcontinent.
There are priceless art collections in the papal palaces. The famous
Pio-clementino Museum was founded by Pope Clement XIV. The Chiaramonti
Sculpture Gallery was established by Pope Pius VII in the nineteenth
Century. The Gregorian Etruscan Museum was founded by Pope Gregory
XVI, as also the Egyptian museum. The Pinacoteca, established by Pope
Pius XI, boasts of an outstanding collection of Italian religious
paintings. In 1956, the Papacy acquired works of modern artists such
as 'Renoir, Seurat, Van Gogh, Rouault, Matisse and Picasso. Sometimes
one feels that the esoteric and the aesthetic whims override
humanitarian causes at Rome. Do our Archbishops and Bishops here
question such peculiar peccadilloes of the presbyters and deacons of
the Holy See? The fiscal transaction running into billions of dollars
are never made public. No one exactly knows the assets of the Vatican.
The European Catholics, unlike our Indian brethren, do not take the
injunctions of the Pope seriously. There are frequent transgressions
and gestures of irreverence. A glaring example will suffice. In 1996,
a Bishop of Ireland, Right Reverend Roderick Wright went into hiding
with his parishioner, 40-year-old Katherine MacPhee, a divorcee and
mother of three children. To make matters worse, another woman
revealed that the Bishop had fathered a boy, now 15 years old, by her.
In Shoes of the Fisherman by Morris West, a work of fiction woven
around the Papacy, a pious pilgrim is aghast at the extravaganzas of
the apostolate. "These over-decorated apartments, these chapels, these
museums and galleries- oh, they all reek of venality.' Agonising
further, he says, 'How can I see the figure of my emaciated king with
the Crown of thorns in these festooned and overfed Italian Cardinals?
I will seek my Christ elsewhere.' And he flees the Varican in disgust.
Presently, Cardinal J. Ratzinger, in-charge of the bureau for the
propagation of Faith, is a man not too charitable to the Oriental
Church and its slightly deviatory liturgical practices. But he is all
for offering material goods for making converts. Conversions thus
become a programmed event with a structured agenda and a work-force to
accomplish this task. It has been happening in very deliberate manner
in our country in the North-East. Proselytisation has brought about a
change in the political scenario. A person like Vincent George will
always, owe allegiance to Sonia Gandhi, and by proxy, to the Vatican.
Should not the nation be apprehensive of this extraterritorial
Loyalty.
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