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Sr Mariella in this piece titled Heart on Transformation shows how personal conversion or institutional/organizational change that is driven by a deep commitment to the process implies a strong emotional investment in the transformation.  As a committed religious, and with many years of experience in educational leadership, this piece can inspire readers who are seeking personal growth or looking to creative positive change in their lives, communities, institutions or organizations.  

The clock struck 2.  It was time for the students to disperse as classes would end at 2:30 pm. The students of class X however were left unsettled. Their teacher had stormed out of the classroom in anger, saying, ‘I shall never enter your class again.’

Filled with remorse, the class monitor and assistant monitor came to meet me with a plastic chair that had been damaged. I was surprised to see the depth of their contrition as they apologized, “Sister, we’re so sorry! ‘Nizamudin’ from our class kicked the chair when we returned to the classroom after our physical education period. Upon seeing the broken chair, Rose Madam walked out of the classroom without teaching her lesson, declaring that she would never enter the class again.”

Sr Mariella CTC

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CRI House in Delhi hosted a leadership training program called “Discerning Leadership” from April 11th to April 14th, 2023. The program was organized by the CRI national team, headed by National Secretary Sr Elsa Muttathu, PBVM.  This was the second workshop in the Discerning Leadership series and was considered important due to the urgent need for prophetic and creative leaders in our current milieu. The workshop was attended by a group of 37 religious women and men from eight different congregations, including three Jesuits, and 34 women religious from seven different congregations. The team of resource persons consisted of Fr. Soosai Mani SJ, Sr. Inigo Joachim SSA, Sr. Elsie Vattamattathil CJ, Dr. Grace David, and the staff of CRI House.

The “Discerning Leadership” program implemented an action reflection process, utilizing an inclusive and participatory pedagogical approach. The program began with ice breakers designed to build awareness, and from the outset, it guided the participants on an inner journey that led to a new relationship with themselves and others in the context of religious and church life.

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(Part I was published in the April Issue.  Part II consists of Annexures I, II, III and Schedule I)

Annexure 1: Special conditions

1. Foundation and Plinth:- Foundation and plinth shall be 1:2:3 cement concrete.
2. Damp Proof Course and Termite-proof:- D.P.C. shall be 2.5 cm thick cement concrete 1:2:3, mixed with one kg of tape create/Dr Fixit per bag of cement or other standard water proofing materials as specified and painted with two coats of bitumen.
3. Superstructure:- Superstructure shall be of first class with 1:6 cement mortar. Lintels over doors and windows shall be of R.C.C. ratio of 1:2:3
4. Roof :- Roofs shall be of R.C.C slab with an insulation layer and lime concrete terracing above, supported over R.C.C beams as required. The height of the rooms shall not be less than 11’.
5. Flooring:- All flooring for the school and hostel will be cement floor with skirting up to 6”.
6. Finishing:- Inside and outside shall be of 12 mm cement plaster 1:5 and the ceiling 1:4.
7. For Other materials:- Rain water pipes of PVC shall be provided. Building shall be provided with durable and stainless water fittings and quality electrical installation.

 Annexure II: Details of the construction work: General Specifications for Construction

Civil and Brick Work:

Ultratech/ACC/JK Cement of 43 grade to be used for all wall work.

All external walls shall be of 10” thickness with intermittent RCC columns. They will have cement mortar in the ratio 1:6 (1 cement: 6 coarse sand). The joints shall be cleared of excess mortar from both sides. The brickwork shall not proceed to more than 3’ height in one session.

Basement and ground floor external walls will have plaster mixed with tape-create on the internal and external side.

Similarly, basement raft (tie beam) shall have a double layer of plaster with sandwitch layer of tape-create.

All 4½” thick brickwork shall be done with cement mortar in the ratio 1:4 (1 cement:4 coarse sand) ratio.

Flooring shall be 4” thick cement concrete in 1:4:8 over well compacted earth. It will be a cement floor.

A 3’ wide drainage plinth protection around the building with saucer drain, rain water pipes and fitting to be provided.

 Fr Alex G SJ

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“A life of wholeness does not depend on what we experience. Wholeness depends on how we experience our lives.” (Desmond Tutu).

The insights gleaned from the discussion on the flavours and factors of wholeness provides us an opportunity to summarise them as ‘Qualities of a holistic person’. Wholeness can neither be experienced in a vacuum nor in the clouds. It is experienced in and through our day-to-day life experiences. We would do well to remember that wholeness is a sum total of all that we are and all that we experience. It is possible to detect in holistic persons a harmonious integration of all that we discussed in the past four months.

Holistic people would continually stretch their ability to embrace the whole world and all it contains. In every experience they encounter, they would be looking for the broader picture, the underlying feelings, different perspectives present in that situation and the nature of the persons involved in that experience. Say for example, there is a misunderstanding between two people in a community, it may look obvious that one person is right and the other is wrong. If the leaders of communities are not holistic in their mindset, they would take the easy way out and take sides with the one who seems to be in the right. The holistic leaders, on the other hand, sense the bigger story, the underlying feelings between the two persons and any other agenda that might be involved in their misunderstanding. With this insightful observation, they would be able to offer a well-measured solution. In order to arrive at this balanced and equanimous mindset, holistic persons need to have a set of qualities and characteristics that will define their wholeness.

Fr Dr Joseph Jeyaraj SDB

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How would you describe your normal day—thrilling, reasonably interesting, hard, unhappy or boring?

On a normal day, do you have more moments which you would describe as interesting or gripping or thrilling or boring?

When do you tend to get bored?

What do you do when you feel bored?

Know this: Whether you feel gripped by what you are doing or bored, depends mostly on you. Whether your normal day feels beautiful to you or boring, says much about you.

How?

Let us suppose someone drops in and wants to talk. If you are genuinely interested in people, you will listen with attention, without judging. You really want to listen and to understand this person, and, if need be, help him/her in some way. You will be fully alive during the conversation, even if the other person does most of the talking.

If, instead, you are not really interested in people, and would prefer to gossip or watch TV or be free rather than be with someone who needs to talk, you will be waiting for the person to finish saying whatever s/he wants to say, and to leave. You will feel relieved when the person finishes and leaves. If the person speaks more than a few minutes, you may feel bored or even irritated. Please don’t say that this person is boring or irritating. The truth is that you are not interested in others, and find listening a hard job that you do not want to do.

Fr Joe Mannath SDB

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In this poignant article, Sr Lini sheds light on the reality of child sexual abuse within the family by presenting three true incidents. She describes the details of the abuse suffered by these innocent children, highlighting the devastating and far reaching consequences it has on their physical, emotional, and psychological well-being, as well as their overall growth and development. Through these incidents, Sr Lini underscores the urgent need for collective action to protect children from sexual abuse, and stresses the critical role that religious can play in safeguarding the children under their care.

Child sexual abuse is a critical issue in India, particularly when it comes to abuse within the family. Sadly, the problem is often shrouded in secrecy, and a culture of silence exists around it.

The Case of Anju (Name changed)

Anju, a 14-year-old girl from Kerala, was sexually abused by her father from the age of six while her parents were working in the U.S.  When I first met Anju, I was heartbroken to see how disturbed the child looked. Anju’s mother was always present and did not allow me to speak to her daughter alone. I could tell that Anju was scared in her mother’s presence. So, I asked to speak to Anju privately, and the child eventually opened up. Anju’s father used to work the night shift at the supermarket, and her mother would go to the shop early in the morning as her father returned home. It was during these early morning hours that Anju’s father sexually abused her, a tiny innocent bud. As the years went by, Anju’s behavior changed, and when her mother finally found out about the abuse, she accused Anju of lying and blaming her father unnecessarily. Eventually, Anju’s father admitted to the abuse, and her mother rushed to India with her daughter for treatment.

Sr Lini Sheeja MSC

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The world of the mareros as gang bangers or gangsters are derogatorily called in Central America has called my attention since the first day I met some of them in a Guatemalan prison. Marero is a member of a mara — a gang. It is not known where the word mara comes from, but one plausible explanation is that it derives from the Portuguese word marabunta. Marabunta means the massive migration of some legionary ants which devour everything edible they find in their path in a jiffy. The marabunta is extremely dangerous both because of its sudden appearance and the unpredictability of its itinerary.

Very few know from where the gangs emerged, but many people say they originated in the United States. Central American young boys started organising themselves to defend themselves from other groups who were already well-established in Northern American territory.  When later these groups developed into criminal activity gangs and ended up having clashes with the law, there was a widespread deportation back to Central America. While in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, these young boys reverted to what they knew best—they reorganised themselves and resumed their criminal activities back in Central America. Mara ranks swelled in the marginal areas of Central American countries which for several years had been immersed in internal wars.  Sadly, nowadays, La Mara is the only affective link that gives a sense of belonging and identity to many Central American young people.

Br Carmel Duca MC

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I remember meeting Mr. Rajmohan Gandhi more than 30 years ago, when he came down to Chennai to preside over the New Leader Awards function. He must have been in his late 50s then. Spending time with the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, who has fully imbibed his values and ways, was an uplifting and inspiring experience.

Born on 7 August 1935 in New Delhi, Rajmohan Gandhi was the third son of Devdas Gandhi, who was the fourth and the youngest son of Mahatma Gandhi. Rajmohan’s mother, Lakshmi Gandhi, was the daughter of C. Rajagopalachari, a leading figure in India’s struggle for independence, who later became the second Governor General of India, after Lord Louis Mountbatten.

Like his father who was the Editor of Hindustan Times, Rajmohan took to writing and journalism. He has written 14 books.  His biography of his grandfather, Mahatma Gandhi, Mohandas: A True Story of a Man, His People and an Empire, received the Biennial Award from the Indian History Congress in 2007. His biography of his maternal grandfather, Rajagopalachari won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2002. It was called, Rajaji: A Life, a Biography of Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (1878–1972).   Apart from Gandhiji and Rajagopalachari, he has written biographies of Ghaffar Khan and Vallabhbhai Patel.

Right from 1956 he has been associated with what was then called Moral Re-Armament, a movement that strives to promote mutual trust, reconciliation and democracy and to fight corruption and inequality. It is now called Initiatives of Change. In the 1960s and early 1970s, Rajmohan played a leading role in establishing Asia Plateau, the conference centre of Initiatives of Change in Panchgani, in the mountains of western India.

Fr Joe Antony SJ

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I am Sr. Meera, a perpetually professed member of a Religious Institute.  I would like to receive information on the canonical procedures required for transferring from one Religious Institute to another.

Canons 684- 685 of CIC and canons 487-488 & 544-545 of CCEO explicate the norms concerning the transfer of perpetually professed religious to another Religious institute or to another Institute of Consecrated life. There are significant considerations inextricably bound up with this decision: a re-orientation of one’s vocation.

Only perpetually professed members can request to transfer to another Institute due to a strong attraction to its charism or a calling for a higher vocation. Before making the decision, the member should prayerfully deliberate with their major superiors, vicars for religious, spiritual directors, or counselors to ensure the intention to transfer is not due to bitterness or problems with authority, ministry placement, or community life. If essential elements of religious life are problematic in their current Institute, they should consider if they can be lived in the new Institute before proceeding with the transfer process.

Canons of both Codes require that the member seeking to transfer to another Institute must obtain permission from the Superior General of each institute with the consent of their respective councils, particularly in large institutes with provinces. If the member has difficulties in observing the essentials of Religious life, the Superior General should help them realize that these same difficulties may arise in the new institute. The Superior General of the receiving institute should request an evaluation of the petitioner from the initial institute’s Superior General, and an honest appraisal should be given before seeking consent from the council.

Sr Navya Thattil OSF

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Bishop Barthol Barretto, Auxiliary Bishop of Bombay, in this interview with Janina Gomes, speaks to us about the work of the Small Christian Communities, Clusters and Small Human Communities in the Archdiocese as they strive to fulfil the mandate ‘No one in want’.

1. How long does your association with SCC’s go back ?

I have been the bishop in charge of SCCs in the Archdiocese of Bombay since June 2017.

My interest in SCCs began in 1984 when, as a seminarian, I was part of the team of seminarians in a pioneering project at St Thomas Church, Goregaon (East) under the guidance of our Rector, (then) Fr Bosco Penha. In the course of my visits in Shreyas Colony, Goregaon (East), I experienced how the people reached out to those in need. For example, when a family could not meet the tuition fees of their children, a volunteer came forward from the community to teach the children free of cost. I understood that what we celebrate at the altar in the Church must be translated into our SCCs. This has led me to develop an intense love for the SCCs.

2. How has the presence of SCC’s grown in the Archdiocese of Bombay?

Over the past seven years, almost 97% of our Archdiocese (leaving aside some of the parishes of Raigad Deanery in view of the lack of Catholic presence) has functional SCCs. The SCC Evaluation of 2018 expressed appreciation of SCCs and also proposed the ‘cluster methodology’ to ensure that every person is included in the community activities.

Several SCCs have worked hard to ensure that there is “no one in want” (the Archdiocesan SCC Vision statement). The vision has driven our Animators to reach out to others during the COVID pandemic, World Day of the Poor, Grandparents’ Day and Christmas and Easter seasons.

Bishop Barthol Barretto

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