Italian Jesuit Reflects On 50 Years As A Missionary In India

Lopsided Growth Stagnates Indian Church, Says Italian Missioner
By T.S. Thomas
MANGALORE, India (UCAN) -- Lopsided policies have stunted the Indian Church, says Jesuit Father Victor Piovasan, 81, who recently left for his native Italy after serving in India for 58 years. The Italian missioner, who came to India in 1950, spent most of his life teaching at St. Joseph's Seminary in Mangalore, a Christian stronghold 2,290 kilometers south of New Delhi. He was ordained a priest in 1958 after studies in India and Sri Lanka.

He later specialized in Christology, earning a pontifical degree in Rome. During his teaching career the Jesuit came to be known as the "walking Vatican" for his contributions in educating people about the teachings of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965).

He also strove to implement council teachings in the Indian Church. Father Piovasan spoke to UCA News on April 3, on the eve of his departure for his home country, where he said he wants to spend his last days with his people. He shared his views on priests, new concepts in evangelization and inculturation in India. The interview follows:

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UCA NEWS: Are you happy to go back to Italy?
FATHER VICTOR PIOVASAN: I have spent the best part of my life for India. I began my mission here as a newly ordained priest and I am going back as an old man.

For the past 49 years, I have been teaching theology in St. Joseph's Seminary, Mangalore.

I am happy that at least I leave behind some 1,000 priests and 11 bishops in the Indian Church as my students.

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How proud are you of their performance in the Indian Church?
I am happy that I taught them. But I am not happy about their performance. One of the greatest tragedies in the Indian Church is the overpopulation of priests. Too many priests and too many institutions have stagnated the Church's growth.

Many priests have forgotten their call as pastors and missioners, and reduced themselves to mere managers, directors and organizers. They want to control everything. India has thousands of priests, but do they do justice to their priestly vocation?

I tell you, the Indian Church has become another political organization, where everything is defined in terms of power. The number of Church buildings and its institutions is growing, the number of dioceses is growing, and so is the number of bishops and priests. But we don't see a proportionate growth of the Church in India. A handful of foreign missioners (in the past) have brought more conversions than thousands of the Indian priests.

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Are you not belittling Indian priests?
No. I have been always a critic. They will not misunderstand me. I meant to say that they must become more missionary-oriented, more humble, more witnessing, more spiritual, and more passionate for Jesus.

You see, Mother Teresa (Blessed Teresa of Kolkata) has evangelized more Indians than all the Indian priests and bishops put together. They must understand that. She did not do evangelization by preaching from the pulpit.

She converted people through her personal witnessing of Christ and through her love and service for the poor. Let each priest become another Mother Teresa. The Indian Church will grow more and I will stop my criticism then.

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How do you expect more conversions given the violent fanatic opposition to this?
I did not mean the number game. I do not believe in increasing the number of baptized Christians. Evangelization for me is spreading the Good News of Jesus. The most effective way is through personal witnessing.

Mother Teresa did not baptize any one, but she has evangelized millions. There is tremendous scope for such an evangelization in India.

We can spread Christ's kingdom by showing how we live, love, serve and forgive those who sin against us. Those who accept Jesus as their master are Christians even if they are not baptized.

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Does this mean that something is lacking in seminary formation?
Yes, I feel so. In the past decades, there were many discussions on the missionary formation of priests and Religious. But in reality, the outcome of such discussions was hardly implemented. Nor are seminarians interested in such a formation. Just as in any other Indian university, the emphasis in seminaries is on intellectual formation.

Here everything gets structuralized. As a result, priests who come out of seminaries do not like to come out of the structure. Mere assisting in the Sunday ministry is not enough for the seminarians.

They must be given opportunities to visit villages, live with the poor, engage in social service and realize the agony of life outside. This is still missing in seminary formation.

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Is a lack of inculturation also affecting evangelization in India?
Where is the inculturation now? If at all there are some efforts in this line, who follows them? I tell you, whatever was done, has failed to reach the ordinary laypeople.

Very often nuns were the only consumers of such efforts. Any inculturation coming from above will not reach the laypeople.

Let it come from people and let the Church simply accept its growth and integration. Inculturation should not be enforced; it should be allowed to grow naturally from the bottom.

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Don't you think Western missioners are responsible for the Indian Church's Western look?
To a great extent, yes. We come with our background and we must have committed the mistake of enforcing our culture directly or indirectly on the Christians here. But situations have changed now. The Church in India is in Indian hands now. A change is inevitable.

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What other challenges does the Indian Church face?
The Church in India did not grow much because we hardly utilized the resources of our laity, did not even recognize them. I tell you, the Church will not grow unless we involve laity in evangelization. It will not grow if we continue to show our superiority over women. It will not grow if we continue fighting for supremacy in the name of rites.

It is so frustrating for me to see these struggles of power, male domination and personal survival. More than 90 percent of Church activities in India are done by the Religious sisters. But do we recognize them?

If they start an English-medium school and it does well, the bishop will take it over. Or if a bishop has an English-medium school in a particular locality, he will not allow the sisters to start another. Is this the work of the bishop? They are more worried about the administration of their jurisdiction than spiritual formation of their sheep.

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What would you advise the Church in India as you leave the country?
Recognize the laity. Encourage them to build up Christian communities as communities of love, service, forgiveness, sharing and caring. Hand over the keys of our institutions and power to the laity or at least involve them in the management.

Don't keep them out and watch their activities with suspicion. If they go wrong, the Church will collapse. Maybe our institution will grow, popular devotions will grow, but faith will come down. And we will fail in converting others with our witness. The Church is not for the laity; they are the Church.

The greatest structure of the Church is its parish and not the diocese or archdiocese. Let the Indian Church begin to grow from parish communities and let laypeople take the lead.
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