NOVEMBER 20, 2015
A closed letter to Pope Francis now open – Fr. Conrad Saldanha
https://frconrad.wordpress.com/pope-francis-a-closed-letter-now-open/
September 22, 2014/November 20, 2015
The following letter was written in September of 2014 after having waited for a year to see some changes in the action of the Pope. Unfortunately, even when this letter was sent, there has been no response from either the Pope or from the curia. Since the present trend in the church is reflected in what is addressed by the author in this letter and in the absence of a response, not only to this letter but on many serious issues concerning the abuse of power by Cardinal Oswald Gracias, it has compelled me to now address things in the open. I write so that many are cautioned and warned about the error at work, the man of lawlessness which the scriptures speak about, in the church of Christ, may be exposed.
His Holiness Pope Francis
Apostolic Palace
Vatican City State – 00120
I wanted to write to you last year itself when I heard and saw on the news channel your action of breaking from liturgical norms and washing the feet of the sick and the infirmed. The world media gave much acclaim to your act and many seem to have been much impressed and touched by your action.
I presumed that quite a few people and some theologians reacted to this your act, of washing of the feat, last year on Maundy Thursday and hence I did not persevere with my act, of service of love, in the footsteps of our divine Lord and teacher, towards you.
Because I also presumed that at least the college of Cardinal or your curia or the group of Bishops all over the world who live out their collegiality with you, to whom primarily belongs the role of washing the feet with you, may have at least made attempts at washing your feet, if not done by the chosen 8* Cardinals of your inner circle. (*at that time I presumed that there were 8 advisers)
Since a year has gone by and the scripture and doctrine of the church is once again freely interpreted and put into action, may be with unjustifiable good intention, therefore permit me, your humble servant, to wash the feet of the servant of the servant of Christ. In doing so I am not seeking a reward but I am compelled by the mandate of Christ to do so. My past experiences of putting into practice this mandate of Christ with my superiors and colleagues have resulted in a trample; like pearls cast at swine (Mt. 7:6). Yet I must do so out of necessity for the sake of the gospel of Christ (cfr. I Cor. 9:16). In doing so I am not seeking to wash your feet in public as some would want to wash their dirty linen, as I am still part of the community which Christ has established here on earth.
It seems to me that the feet who are supposed to preach the good news are no longer beautiful (cfr. Is. 52:7; Rom. 10:15) because those entrusted with it are abusing it when they fail in their duty to correct their brothers when they are in the wrong (cfr. Col. 3:16; I Thess. 5:11 &14)
The starting Point: The washing of the feet is neither an act of indiscriminate service nor is it primarily an act of humble service.
A close look at the Johannine narration reveals a different picture and could make indiscriminate abuse of the rubrics on Maundy Thursday look like a sacrilege.
It is a corruption of the doctrine of Christ and what He intended when one purely interprets that the washing of the feet is a ceremony that invites the followers of Christ to humble service and then gets involved in all kinds of services except the one primarily intended by Jesus of his beloved disciples.
The action of Christ is clearly an action of love towards HIS OWN (Jn. 13:1) beloved disciples and to no one else at that moment; a symbolic action in order to communicate a clear farewell message. Hence this farewell message is to be understood in the post resurrection farewell message of Matthew’s (Mt. 28:20) and Mark’s (Mk. 16:15-16) gospel, while in the gospel of John it has a pre-resurrection basis in the midst of the community of dedicated disciples.
HIS OWN are those who have accepted his word, thus allowing themselves to be cleansed by it; men who enter the church through the cleansing water of baptism (water sanctified by the Word of Christ).
The primary message of the washing of the foot text is that of the love of Jesus Christ and that too within the context of the Christian community consisting of his beloved disciples.
Besides, Jesus restricted himself to his beloved disciples and hence it was again not an indiscriminate choice of anyone but the beloved ones whom he loved, even to the end. (Jn. 13:1)
The Johannine text (John 13: 1-15) reveals to us that the love that Jesus manifests overflows into a symbolic action and that action takes on a strict meaning: a service of the word and with the word. (cfr. Mt. 18: 15-17)
The washing of the feet was only an external symbolic action that reveals to us that He, the Lord and teacher, (vss. 14-15) is washing their feet and not any ordinary human being and the Apostles are to imitate the same Lord and TEACHER.
In other words a service can be performed by a farmer, an officer or manager or the boss and each may be a service and each one in service yet each are different in the things that are served. Here in the gospel text it is the Lord and teacher who does it and not any other kind of servant and, that too, as a final parting message. Hence a servant here must substantially serve the same ware as his certified qualification entitles him to, viz. Lord and Teacher.
The priest as leader (Lord) of the community and its teacher is supposed to wash the feet of the disciples and of all those who are to be added to the body of Christ through the word of Christ. “Therefore it will be necessary to guard oneself from any form that tends de facto to weaken the leadership of the parish priest, because the very structure of the parish community would be distorted.” (Para #5:3 ADDRESS OF St. JOHN PAUL II the great TO THE PLENARY SESSION OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE CLERGY , Friday 23 November 2001)
Canon #519: “The parish priest is the proper pastor of the parish entrusted to him. He exercises the pastoral care of the community entrusted to him under the authority of the diocesan Bishop, whose ministry of Christ he is called to share, so that for this community he may carry out the offices of TEACHING, sanctifying and RULING ….. ”
This teaching authority is brought forth poignantly when Peter objects and Jesus rebuts by talking about the cleansing action that this symbolic action communicates. (Verses 6-10)
How are we cleansed if not by the word of Jesus (God): “You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you.” John 15:3-4
In other words, Peter and the other apostles were made clean by Jesus (vs. 10). They would not fully understand the significance but they were invited to understand it as it was to be understood, or understood as Jesus intended us to understand, and to practice such an action only when they had understood it. (vs. 17)
In other words, it is a mandate to be carried on primarily by the Bishops and his priests and all who follow the Lord sincerely, as his true disciples. (GIRM 66/ Can. 762)
On the other hand, we become a part of the body of Christ when we allow ourselves to be cleansed by the word of the Lord; firstly, by those who accept the gospel (word of Christ proclaimed) of Christ and are baptized and then at every Eucharistic banquet, by availing of the Sacrament of penance or through penitential rite or through the conversion that comes through a word based homily. These word based sacraments are the greatest service of the Church to the faithful because they cleanse and make us more and more a part of the body of Christ. The sacraments, which draws its life from the word, fully integrates us into Christ and his body, which is the church, and the hierarchy are ministers of the sacrament.
It is by the power of the word that the cleansing and sanctifying sacraments exists and even Christ the savior and healer of humanity is made present. No other service can be greater than the service of the sacramental priesthood, which is primarily exercised by way of admonishing, encouraging, teaching and preaching.
If humble service, such as serving the poor with food, clothing and shelter or any other acts of mercy was the actual intention of Jesus then the Apostles, in the 6th chapter of the Acts of the Apostle would have been found serving at table willingly. Instead, they knew their priorities and the meaning of true humble service, the greatest service and the power thereof; “And the twelve summoned the body of the disciples and said, “It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. …..… But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” Acts 6:2, 4
“Preaching constitutes the Church’s first and fundamental way of SERVING the coming of the kingdom in individuals and in human society.” (Para #20, Redemptoris Missio; St. Pope JP II)
Today, there are many corrupt theologies which goes as sound doctrine; Liberation, contextual, integrative, subaltern, sociological, value based, eastern, speculative, Asian, etc. Hence the Church needs this action from its hierarchy more urgently than ever before; primarily that of washing one another’s feet and it is no easy task on account of the great corruption of doctrine and its abuse by many.
The church of Jesus Christ and even the world urgently is in need of brave dedicated disciples who are willing to wash the feet of the world with the sound teachings of the gospel and not with watered down teachings.
Having put it into practice I have faced innumerable moments of persecution from the hierarchy in the practice of this task. Even here it could be a moment of added pain and trauma but nevertheless I must follow this mandate of my Lord and teacher to love one another and thus put into practice the primary action of love viz. that of washing one another’s feat by correcting what is contrary to the teachings of Christ and his gospel.
The Apostles knew that this service would involve rejection, to an extent whereby they may have to lay down their lives for such an action and they indeed proved it by the sacrifice of their lives for the sake of the Gospel proclaimed without compromise.
It is also a service of not only correcting one another in the context of the Christian community but also correcting the whole world by the proclamation of the gospel of Christ; the gospel of truth. In other words, it is a call to love one another dynamically and in such a way that it overflows into the love of others in the world and this love for others can only be manifested in the proclamation of the same gospel that is able to save humanity.
If anyone is showing his love for humanity without a commitment to proclaim the gospel of Christ, as the one and only savior then one is acting as the deceiver and it’s high time that they sit back allowing their feet to be cleansed by ones who understands the message of Christ and its urgency.
The disciples of Christ could have acted contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ and proclaimed to people a value based spirituality, viz. that of practicing the good and of being loving by pleasing people and sought constant approval of men for the sake of a deceptive greater good (human priority): Unity among people of all religion and races. They could have even colored their message by proclaiming sound human values that promote the deceptive good apart from Christ Jesus.
Are unity and peace greater values than the saving message offered by Jesus Christ?
The fact today: in many dioceses women’s clamoring for their foot to be washed is a proof of the failure of the church and its hierarchy to wash their feet through the word of God rather than seeking to do it physically.
It is looked upon as a privilege and women too are demanding a share in this glory. They fail to realize that Christ Jesus gave the true mandate of sacrificial and humble service, which is no privilege in the worldly sense, to the men Apostle. If the women want to practice such sacrificial service then they can do so even without their feet being washed physically as has been with many holy men and women, and they can rest assured of sure honors at the Catholic altars forever.
Like a true gentleman, Christ Jesus did not want the women to be put in danger for the sake of the gospel but to men it is mandated to be proclaimer’s and teachers of his love, in a sinful and hostile world.
Of late we have heard your esteemed self, exhorting priests, “not to carve out their own identity” (17th April, 2014). What happens then when whole archdioceses and their teaching body, seminary and institutions proclaim a gospel contrary to the one preached by Christ and a prophetic priest has to fight against these wolves, especially among the hierarchy? Will such a priest not appear to have a different identity then the identity of the wolves in sheep’s clothing? Will he not be accused of carving out his own identity? Will he not be accused as being disobedient? Will he not be called to obedience and submission to what is evil?
I have no problems in these among the hierarchy holding the highest of positions in the church but let them offer the right kind of service; a service as understood through John 13: 1- 15 and as seen in the lives of the Apostles of Christ. May the tradition continue unhindered; for it is right and just!
You and your bishops may draw your authority from your positions of power in the church but I draw it from my situation of imprisonment and persecution by the very hierarchy who have chosen to abuse their power and position and use every influence of theirs to violate the human right and dignity of their priests, besides the abuse of Catholic doctrine and spirituality. If only they knew what the Lord and teacher wants of his disciples then they would have washed the feet of their own priests rather than putting up a show by washing the feet of the outsiders and thus communicating a universal message which goes contrary to the gospel.
Trust my little act of service is taken in the right spirit for the greater good of the church of God which is a pillar and bulwark of truth. (I Tim. 3:15) and have a right impact on the church and its doctrine.
With fervent prayer and counting on his mercy,
I remain,
Yours obediently in Christ Jesus,
Fr. Conrad Saldanha
Archdiocese of Bombay, India
