The CSF hails Pope’s choice of Cardinal Oswald to represent Asia

The CSF hails Pope’s choice of Cardinal Oswald to represent Asia

mangaloretoday.com

Mangalore, Sept 30: The Cardinal commission will meet from tomorrow in the Vatican. Cardinal Oswald Gracias will represent Asia during the first meeting of the Cardinal commission with Pope Francis.

The eight cardinals, which were selected by the pope to advise him on reforming the governance of the Church, will meet the pontiff between Oct 1-3 inside the Vatican and then travel with him for his first visit to Assisi.

According to Joseph Dias, the general secretary of the activist community NGO, Catholic Secular Forum (CSF), The Holy Father could not have found a better representative for Asia and the community this side of the globe. In fact, when Pope Benedict gave Archbishop Oswald Gracias the red hat, the Catholic Secular Forum (CSF) is on record to say here was an Asian Cardinal for the world.

 

Cardinal Ossie as we lovingly call him certainly has qualities of the mind, being a world renowned canonist, but I am sure it is his pastoral heart that attracted Pope Francis and caused him to appoint Cardinal Ossie to his inner coterie.

His experience as chief of the Federation of Asian Bishops Conference is sure to stand him in good stead in advising the Holy Father in adapting the Church for a fast changing world.

Perhaps the single most quality that makes Cardinal Ossie stand out among senior world Church officials is his pastoral outreach and concern for the laity. He not only encourages different shades of lay opinion, but also supports lay leaders, who may have a different point of view.

Like the Holy Father, Cardinal Ossie also respects views that at variance with the Vatican, without compromising on the Catholic Churches stand on any issue. A recent case in point is when he asked a Mumbai priest who preached in a sermon that homosexuality was a sin, to be sensitive to gays. This showed his compassionate self, while stressing that the Church’s stand on the subject.

Cardinal Ossie is also known to be an able administrator and has set right many a wrongs in the Indian Church, leading him to be repeatedly elected as president of the Catholic Bishops Conference... The Indian Church is perhaps the most vibrant in Asia, with millions of Catholics contributing and making their mark, not just in national development, but internationally taking up the cause of persecuted Christians. Cardinal Ossie has supported this cause of the persecuted body of Christ by aligning himself with Catholic activist, which is well known throughout the world.

Cardinal Gracias is the only Asian representative in the commission which has been nicknamed the ’G8.’ The other seven Cardinals come from different parts of the world.