Inside
NCR
Tom Fox, NCR publisher,
recently spent a month traveling throughout India with his wife, Kim Hoa. There
he found Catholicism to be a minority church on the frontlines of many issues
that touch on Catholic life today -- but also increasingly to be the target of
persecution by hard-line Hindus who associate Catholicism with the empires of
the West. Ironically, though, Indian theologians, established in efforts at
interreligious dialogue with Hindus, find themselves at times at odds with
Catholic prelates in Rome, who fault the theologians for failing to adequately
proclaim the message of Jesus as universal savior.
Fox, impressed by the work of theologians and bishops of Asia, is
working on a book on the churches of Asia for Orbis Books.
We invite readers, who are troubled by Foxs report of
persecutions, subject of this weeks cover story, to voice their concerns
by writing to: Amassador Lalit Mansingh Embassy of India 2107
Massachusetts Ave. N.W. Washington D.C.
Or call: (202)
939-7000. Fax: (202) 265-4351.
One could argue that Jesuit Fr.
Daniel Berrigan has been responsible for giving U.S. Catholics one of the more
distinctive profiles in the public square.
Berrigan, whose conscientious protest of the Vietnam War and, more
broadly, of the culture of nuclear weapons and of the continued production of
the means of mass destruction, brought to the American Catholic church the
image of priest in prison shackles.
This priest/poet also gave us the vocabulary for a different
assessment of religion and culture than had traditionally been spoken from our
pulpits. He makes us feel uneasy with the placement of the flag in the
sanctuary.
His reading of the gospel and the times leads to unsettling
conclusions:
- Being the richest people on earth and having the easiest life
of any culture in history do not necessarily equate with being good people or
having Gods blessing;
- Possessing the means to destroy the world and having the war
machinery to inflict untold damage on others with little cost to ourselves is
not necessarily a sign of Gods favor;
- Being able to dominate other cultures, exploit other markets
and the laborers in them does not mean we pursue a just cause.
Berrigans words and life have jarred many who, from the
ranks of the hierarchy to everyday believers, take a new view of what it means
to be Christian in America. His words stand as a needed counterweight to others
in the public square who will always have more money and power behind their
efforts to squeeze national interests between the lines of the gospel.
Berrigan, who has taught so many for so long, turns 80 this week.
We wish him well and thank him for his latest gift to us on page 10.
-- Tom Roberts
My e-mail address is troberts@natcath.org
National Catholic Reporter, May 4, 2001
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