Is this Pope good news for India?

In multi-religious India, a papal election would normally be no reason for concern.



Not this time. For Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger — now Pope Benedict XVI — as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (CDF) issued a notification against the writings of Bombay-born Jesuit priest Fr Anthony deMello.



DeMello was instrumental in founding the Sadhana Institute for pastoral counselling and spirituality in Lonavala.



On June 24, 1998, nine years after Fr deMello’s demise, the CDF’s notification proclaimed that some of deMello’s positions were “incompatible with the Catholic faith and can cause grave harm”. The CDF was acting on deMello’s supposed non-conformist teachings, which drew widely from other Eastern religions.



In a website dedicated to his brother, William deMello, now settled in Australia, wrote, “It is with great sadness that the surviving members of the deMello family read the criticism directed at our brother by the Vatican.



But we know from history that prophets and holy men have often been misunderstood and misinterpreted by others with a vested interest… What a great pity that some officials of the Catholic church have not recognized a faithful son who was only trying to unite, in the name of Christ, people of all persuasions, while staying dutiful and loyal to his original upbringing!”



A close associate of Fr deMello, requesting anonymity, said, “With this new Pope, you can expect liturgy to become more rigid. Progressive thinking will not be allowed in seminaries. Writings will be monitored and the evolution of new thought will be hindered.”



Former editor of the Catholic weekly The Examiner, Fr Benny Aguiar observed, “It is well known that Cardinal Ratzinger was Pope John Paul II’s right hand man. They collaborated on all statements and papers that came out from the Vatican. Ratzinger believes that Christianity has been shattered by the process of secularism.”



However, sociologist Fr Rudolf Heredia said, “One of the biggest issues in our country is inter-religious dialogue. Cardinal Ratzinger has already indicated a change of position.



Ratzinger’s first homily post the election spoke of dialogue with the Jews.



American President Bill Clinton who was anti-communist, opened the doors to China; Ronald Reagan helped thaw relations with Russia; former prime minister Vajpayee initiated talks with Pakistan. So you never know.”



Yet another hopeful voice said, “His conservative stance earlier was in keeping with his position in the Vatican.



Now however, with the whole focus and responsibility of the Church on him, it is possible that he’ll be more sensible and up to date.” As Heredia said, “Give the guy a break, the poor man hasn’t had a honeymoon yet.”