Cardinal Gracias’ Religious Indifferentism and Cardinal Ferrão’s “anti-Cross” Inquisition in favour of Hinduism.
Speaking at a Vatican press briefing, on Oct. 7, 2024, during the second session of the Synod on Synodality, Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay, made certain statements that attest to his religious relativism. Speaking of pagan religions, he said: “We no longer refer to them as non-Christian religions or other religions. We begin to refer to them after the conference [of FABC] as ‘neighbor religions,’” said the Cardinal.
What does he mean by that? Why not refer to them as non-Christians? Furthermore, why not refer to them as other religions? Does he imply that they are ‘anonymously’ Christian? Or worse still, does the Cardinal profess the new theology that states that all religions are paths to God, and that there is, therefore, no need to evangelise?
It is not Cardinal Gracias alone who is moving away from the Church's perennial teaching. His Eminence Filipe Neri Ferrão, Cardinal Patriarch of Goa, going much further, took the initiative of organising an anti-Cross crusade in favour of Hinduism, against faithful Catholics who are enemies of idolatry and the mixing of religions.
In 2022, on the occasion of the Hindu festival Ganesh Chaturthi, an assistant parish priest from Goa organised visits to Hindu houses to adore the statue of the Hindu god Ganesh, and took the parish youth along. In the face of this, not only was he not punished by the Cardinal; on the contrary, he was defended editorially in the pages of Renovação, the official magazine of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman.
The Cardinal Patriarch went even further: not content with defending idolaters, he publicly condemned and punished a priest faithful to Jesus Christ; who in his sermon had attacked idolatry. And as if that were not enough, he publicly apologised to Hindu leaders.
It seems that we are witnessing the beginning of an anti-Cross “crusade” by pastors, against their own flock, in favour of paganism.
The reaction of the Catholic faithful to this aggression by the Goan Hinduising Patriarch, was not tarried. Hundreds of letters and protests in favour of the one true Religion of the one true God arrived at the episcopal palace in Goa. Social media was flooded with articles protesting against Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão's anti-Christian attitude.
Echoing the sentiments of the protests and letters, we are sending the following message to His Eminence. We are concerned with the fact that, having been appointed to the 14-member committee drafting the final document of the Synod on Synodality, His Eminence may insert in it a chapter or paragraph which will pave the path for the persecution of Catholics faithful to the Church’s bimillennial tradition, which regards the pagan religions as false and idolatry as a sin against the First Commandment.
MESSAGE TO HIS EMINENCE CARDINAL FILIPE NERI FERRÃO
FROM CONCERNED CATHOLICS
His Eminence
Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão
Patriarch of the East Indies
Altinho - Goa - INDIA
Your Eminence,
In Pope Francis’ homily closing the first session of the Synod on Synodality 2023, he reminds Catholics that “to adore God means to acknowledge in faith that he alone is Lord”. The Pontiff continues: “That is why the Scriptures frequently associate love of the Lord with the fight against every form of idolatry. Those who worship God reject idols because whereas God liberates, idols enslave. Idols deceive us and never bring to pass what they promise, because they are ‘the work of men’s hands’ (Ps 115: 4). Scripture is unbending with regard to idolatry, because idols are made and manipulated by men, while God, the Living God, is present and transcendent.”
Your Eminence, precisely regarding this matter, recent events that have unfolded in the Church of Goa have caused great displeasure and discomfiture to the lay faithful.
Given the now widespread custom of Catholics participating in Hindu festivals and venerating pagan idols, our sensus fidei moves us to write this letter to Your Eminence, with an earnest appeal to you to put an end to such grave misconduct.
In the recent past, in the face of scandals perpetrated by Priests, including the worship of idols, Your Eminence’s attitude was one of baffling silence, even while your flock expected from you strong action against priests favouring idolatry.
More recently, however, Your Eminence’s attitude has changed considerably. There is no longer silence, but surprisingly, action and stern warning, unheard of in your ministry earlier. And, surprise within surprise, it was not the wolves in sheep’s clothing — who are working to destroy the Church — that were the target of your action and stern warning, but alas, zealous pastors who have been faithful to the teachings of Christ and the laws of the Church.
Displeased with priests who convey to the faithful the authentic Catholic doctrine and preach against idol worship,Your Eminence, through a Press Release, informed the public that you have “taken appropriate action with regard to them and also sternly warned” those who have disturbed “the authentic spirit of inter-religious dialogue”. On the same occasion, Your Eminence also stated that “India is blessed with a confluence of different religions”, and that “this enriching diversity” calls for the “sacred duty” of every citizen “to value and respect others’ cultural heritage and religious integrity”. Your Eminence then invoked Vatican II’s Declaration Nostra Aetate (28 October 1965), saying: “According to the teachings of the Church, Catholics are called to acknowledge, preserve and promote the spiritual and moral truths found in the social life and culture of other religious traditions.”
But, unfortunately Your Eminence evaded some very relevant prescriptions contained in the same declaration, as if Catholic Faith and morals were no longer important.
In fact, in dialogue and collaboration with followers of other religions, the Declaration urges Catholics to be prudent and to bear witness to the Christian faith and life.
Here is the text in question, in English as well as in the original Latin. We underline the important words omitted by your eminence:
“The Church, therefore, exhorts her sons, that through dialogue and collaboration with the followers of other religions, carried out with prudence and love and in witness to the Christian faith and life, they recognize, preserve and promote the good things, spiritual and moral, as well as the socio-cultural values found among these men.” (Filios suos igitur hortatur, ut cum prudentia et caritate per colloquia et collaborationem cum asseclis aliarum religionum, fidem et vitam christianam testantes, illa bona spiritualia et moralia necnon illos valores socio-culturales, quae apud eos inveniuntur, agnoscant, servent et promoveant.)
By omitting such important prescriptions of Nostra Aetate, Your Eminence has lamentably handled this matter carelessly, without concern for witnessing to Christian faith and life.
Well-informed Catholics in India know that in the name of “inculturation” and “dialogue”, many theological errors and scandalous attitudes are being peddled by certain deviant Catholic theologians….
Not only by theologians but indeed by some members of the Catholic hierarchy who, in their irenic agenda, dream of a so-called “Kingdom of God” that will supposedly result from a fusion of all religions into a common denominator accepted by all.
Besides being alarmed at the dissemination of these theological errors in India, our sensus fidei feels puzzled by Your Eminence’s recent public statement. Many have been wondering whether a Pastor who declares that different religions are a blessing from God really believes in the centrality and uniqueness of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and if he believes that the Catholic Church is the only revealed and true religion.
In order to preserve our faith, now feeling jeopardised by Your Eminence’s words, we respectfully address here below some questions, earnestly hoping that your answers, mindful of your munus of governing, teaching and sanctifying the People of God, will dispel the clouds hovering over important matters related to the Faith:
Your Eminence, when you say that “India is blessed with a confluence of all different religions”, and that this is an “enriching diversity”, do you mean that all religions are willed by God and are ways of salvation for their adherents?
When Your Eminence says that “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (The World is One Family) is a value that is embedded in our ethos”, does Your Eminence mean that it is of no importance whether or not one is a Catholic, and that the missionary idea of calling all peoples to join the Church should be abandoned?
By remaining silent in the past when priests of the Archdiocese of Goa visited and worshipped Ganesh on the occasion of Ganesh Chaurthi, and one year ago, by assuring the public that you have taken action and also sternly warned those speaking against idol worship rampant among Catholics, did you mean, Your Eminence, that idol worship is one of those things mentioned in your press release that deserve to be acknowledged, preserved and promoted?
Your Eminence, what is the “authentic spirit of inter-religious dialogue” mentioned in your recent public statement? Within the context of the destructive theology in India – condemned by Cardinal Tomko, former Prefect of Propaganda Fide – the aforementioned words may be taken to mean that evangelisation “would consist solely in dialogue, inculturation and liberation and that the universal mystery of salvation is accomplished through all religions”, and to imply “the abandoning of preaching, of religious education and of the logic of conversions and baptisms”.
In your press release, Your Eminence quoted Pope Francis’ words from the Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together to justify your criticism against those who have defended the integrity of the Faith and the teaching of the Church against the worship of other gods. However, the words of the Pope addressed a different context: “We thus call upon all concerned to stop using religions to incite hatred, violence, extremism and blind fanaticism, and to refrain from using the name of God to justify acts of murder, exile, terrorism and oppression”.
Your Eminence, the sad impression your words caused to many Catholics was that the resolute preaching of the First Commandment “Thou shalt not have strange gods before me” (Ex. 20:3) equates – or is close – to hatred, violence, extremism and blind fanaticism. Please say a word that would dispel this sad impression.
The conclusion of your press release, Your Eminence, is an exhortation to the Catholic community to abide by the teachings of the Church, as though they were all contained in the scanty and equivocal four paragraphs of the press release... and as though the Church in India were not afflicted by theological errors that must be urgently corrected.
Our Saviour counsels us in the Gospel: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Which one of you would hand his son a stone when he asks for a loaf of bread, or a snake when he asks for a fish?”
What does the vast majority of the faithful in India want?
At first glance, they seem apathetic in face of the present situation in the Church. Is such apathy disinterest? We do not think so. Rather, in our opinion, it is an expression of the respectful and, therefore, silent bewilderment of those who do not understand, do not agree and, for the moment, do not dare to disagree.
This immense majority – in whose silence we seem to discern obvious traces of fatigue, anguish and discouragement – immediately wants clarity, first and foremost, in matters of the Faith.
Therefore, as members of the Laity, desiring to see the entirety of the Faith confirmed, following the counsel of Our Lord and moved by a filial respect towards our Shepherds, we end this letter, requesting Your Eminence to clarify, also in a press release, the doubts that your previous one gave rise to, as listed in the five points above. We supplicate that Your Eminence give us the bread of Faith through words that explain and confirm with clarity the bimillenary teaching of the Church which is presently threatened by so many heresies in India.
In Christo Domino
Indian Lay Fellowship
