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The elephant in the room

'Territorial' governance is not something of the past — it continues to be a reality in missions well into the 21st Century
The elephant in the room

Devotees offer fruit to an elephant in India, where the animal is often revered, in this file photo. (Photo: IANS)

Published: June 08, 2017 08:56 AM GMT
Updated: June 08, 2017 08:56 AM GMT

An Indian elephant stood majestically in the famed Belvedere courtyard of the Vatican some 500 years ago. The animal was a gift from King Manuel I of Portugal to Pope Leo X in 1514. The pope called his pet Hanno, a deviant of aana, meaning elephant in Malayalam, the language of its trainer from southern India.

June 8 marked the 501st death anniversary of Hanno. He died of poisoning after veterinary experts treated him with gold-laced laxatives for constipation. Hanno’s journey and death, to me, is a great symbol of power and its exercise and love for the exotic (without understanding). It also offers some lessons on how experts should not deal with issues they are not sure of.

What happened to Hanno and the impact of the Leo-Manuel actions on the Indian Church may have have some lessons for those currently arguing over Synodal governance of the church from Rome to the local parish. It may also be helpful, eventually, to those trying to "normalize" the state of the church in China. 

Hanno's journey began 16 years after navigator Vasco da Gama landed in southwestern India. King Manuel funded da Gama. The sea route opened to Europeans a path to Asia, until then hardly known for what it had to offer Europe. What Da Gama did was to provide an alternative way to Asia so they could avoid the land route through Islamic Arabia. And, there begins the history of the organized Christian mission in Asia.

Portuguese missioners came armed with political power and papal approvals. Hanno and other such gifts helped Manuel establish the Padroado system, by which Leo agreed that the Portuguese king could appoint bishops to administer their dioceses in Portuguese colonies. That made the Portuguese king the deciding authority on church matters — from building cathedrals to appointing bishops.

Hanno is a reminder of how political power has influenced church administration and policies. It also stands to correct a common belief that pope appointed Catholic bishops always and everywhere across the world.

When the Portuguese landed in Hanno's birthplace, Kerala in 1498, they found Christians there. They had their bishops from Syria. History records how both struggled with each other to establish supremacy over the other, and how, with political power, the Portuguese missioners imposed themselves on the ancient Christians of Kerala. The Portuguese attempt to end the power of Syrian bishops ended in violence and divisions.

The 500 years leading up to 20th century would be one of expansion and appropriation, and of seething tensions. And not just in India. Spanish kings and queens had the same power in their colonies.

The period was also punctuated by shameless acts of deceit, fraud, vengeance and violence including open street fights and murders — even of a bishop. The core issue of dispute was simple: who is the boss? Who has the power to govern in the name of the church?

Until the establishment of Propaganda Fide in the 17th century, no pope or Vatican office appointed any bishop anywhere in Asia where Portuguese or Spanish missioners worked.

But "territorial" governance is not something of the past. It continued to be a reality in missions well into the 20th century and continues even in the 21st. Consider particular Catholic religious congregations opposing others "encroaching on" their areas and a diocese controlled by a particular religious congregation having a bishop only from that congregation. The fight was completely in the open in India some 30 years ago when some Latin-rite bishops made a stand and opposed Syrian rite pastoral work in their areas.

Things began to cool down in 1986, when Pope John Paul II asked the bishops of the two Syrian rites to have their own synods while the larger Latin rite had its own conference to manage its own affairs. After almost two decades of discussions and negotiations, the Oriental churches became self governing — having the power to select their own bishops and administer their churches, including establishing their own dioceses.

Almost five centuries after Hanno’s death, part of the church in India gained the power to select its bishops.

What if the Vatican refused to accept a bishop selected by the synod? "They will not do that because it is the collective decision of the synod. If they do, the synod will insist and will go ahead," a senior bishop of the synod told me recently.

He explained to me that synodal decisions are final and are canonically authorized.  These days, we don’t hear about territorial issues and the fear of people not accepting a bishop in the Oriental churches.

It took five centuries of bleeding to allow local Kerala bishops to select pastors right for their people.  Maybe it offers a model for the church in China.

A church of Chinese rite, which accepts the papal blessing, but works independently of the Vatican by administering their church could do the trick. No one would argue that the church in China should go through another long series of divisions, fights and isolation and wait for centuries to be able to select their own bishops.

Of course, the question of politics and power rather than of faith remains: Who is the boss?  I think Jesus Christ has given some clues to finding an answer to that question. Remember that Hanno died of a simple ailment treated by foreign experts. Do we see the elephant in the room?

Christopher Joseph is a journalist working for ucanews.com in India.

 

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