Spreading a new evangelization in Jharkhand and all India , that’s the aim of a meeting organised by cardinal Telesphore Toppo, Archbishop of Ranchi, capital of Jharkhand with members of the Neocathecuminal Way.6 bishops and 300 priests will participate in the meeting in Ranchi to be held from June 18 to 21.
Speaking to AsiaNews Card. Toppo said that “we are offering this new way of evangelisation to this state of Jharkand and this will lead to unity with the people and with their bishop and the universal church”.
“Kiko Arguello found his calling to start the Neocatechumenal Way in the slums of Madrid- continues Toppo - very much like Blessed Mother of Teresa of Calcutta who also found her calling to form the Missionaries of Charity in the slums of Calcutta.
The Apostle and father in faith of the Tribals in these eastern states- Father Constant Lievens, in 1889 had envisioned that for the Christian Faith of the Tribal people to grow, a basic prerequisite was a ‘ well knit and disciplined community formed on the rock of Gospel Values and based on love, and nourished by the word of God”.
“As a Tribal myself - adds the cardinal - I see perceive and understand that the Neocatechumenal communities are very like the Tribal way of life and within the context of our own culture. It is important, that the Pastoral of evangelization must use the values already present in local cultures”.
“Sadly, through the years, the Church in Jharkhand and in many other places in India stresses more on a Pastoral of Sacramentalization, and this has ‘Ritualised the Church’. This is sad, because in crisis of today’s world, more than ever before, the church needs to be a Sign of the Luminous Light of the Resurrection and this is possible only with a vibrant Church, which shows signs of love and unity”.
“My earnest pastoral desire – concludes the cardinal - is that the Church of Jharkhand will embark on this adventure with ‘the Shepherd Jesus Christ’, and ultimately being the salt and leaven for the Church in India”.
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