1177 New Madras Archbishop speaks candidly of his hopes
austra L asia 1177
New Madras Archbishop speaks candidly of his hopes
ROME: 29th June 2005 -- On the Feast of
Sts. Peter and Paul today in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI places the pallium of office upon the new Archbishop of
Madras-Mylapore (Chennai), Archbishop Malayappan Chinnappa SDB. austraLasia
spoke briefly with the Archbishop before the ceremony.
After eleven and a half years as Bishop of Vellore,
Archbishop Chinnappa comes well-prepared for his new task. He has
the 'runs on the board': many new schools
for Vellore diocese, reaching out to the poorest of young people,
especially through sponsorships offered by US and Irish
Catholics; at least 5,000 children are known to have benefitted
from this scheme. Archbishop Chinnappa was also able to give
impetus to the development of the Church's pastoral outreach through 24
new parishes in the diocese and in fact to bring about a pastoral
transformation in his diocese.
When asked of his special aims for the metropolitan
archdiocese, Archbishop Chinnappa was unhesitatingly clear - a strong
ecumenical approach, as desired by the CBCI or Episcopal Conference of
India, inter-religious dialogue, and human rights.
As a Salesian, Archbishop Chinnappa reads Don
Bosco's request to his sons to 'improve the rough copy' as a request to
carry Don Bosco's concerns for the poor and the marginalised into the
21st Century as India now knows it. The list is endless, but he
nominates the iniquitous caste system,
the situation of women, child poverty, and victims of the recent
Tsunami as amongst those who are most marginalised and the object of
his pastoral concern. The last-named challenge has international
support still. The first-named is national and does not always
win friends. He has given strong support to the CBCI commission
on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, as the 'problem' is euphemistically termed, training priests to
deal with the issue of Dalits and Tribals
and speaking out himself in local, national and even international
forums.
Reflecting on his experience and the challenges
ahead, Archbishop Chinnappa wants to bring to Chennai, as he has to
Vellore, a special 'family spirit' amongst clergy and a stronger sense,
amongst Religious, of the charisms they are blessed with. He
knows he faces a demanding task, but today faces it with the pastoral
concern and courage of Sts Peter and Paul.
VOCABULARY
pallium: Latin for 'cloak' and proper to
the Pope himself (Benedict XVI made a special note of his own pallium
at his inauguration) but given to Archbishops as a sign of their unity
with him. Made of wool and looking rather like a stole.
runs on the board: a cricketing term
referring to a batsman who has scored many 'runs' already, a 'run'
being the distances swiftly covered from one end of the pitch to the
other while his opponents are fetching the ball. Something the Aussies
hope to do soon at Headingly!
iniquitous: to do with terrible injustice
euphemistically: putting otherwise bad
things in a nice way
Dalit: Untouchable, lowest in the caste
system.
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