Recently, administrators at the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry (STM) inaugurated a new visiting statue at the entrance to the Brighton Campus: a ten-foot statue of Gandhi.
Students and passersby alike were puzzled by the choice of a non-Catholic to serve as the focal point of the entrance to a Catholic institution during the Lenten season.
The statue, which is on loan from the Peace Abbey, an interfaith nonprofit organization, serves as a part of STM’s “Lenten Focus on Gandhi, Peace, and Nonviolence.”
Link (here) to read the full article at The Observer at Boston College
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GANDHI-THEMED LITURGY @ STM chapel on April 12 2011 at BOSTON COLLEGE.
LGB AND ALLIES PRAYER SERVICE PLANNING MEETING @ BOSTON COLLEGE An STM prayer service hosted by Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual students and their allies will be held late afternoon, Friday, April 15. Save the date!
"If anyone," Paul wrote to the Galatians, "preach to you a gospel besides what you have received, let him be anathema” (Galatians l:9).
They should start handing out papal knighthoods for people who publicly smash these graven images.
I am a little surprised at the post and responses. Yes, Ghandi was neither a Catholic nor a Christian, but does that mean that he as a person is completely without value to those of us who are? Is he a "bad example" on a Catholic campus? I don't think so. As a seeker of peace and non-violence, he helped to improve the world and open our eyes to a better way of resolving conflict.
This statue of him is not an idol any more than statues of any other "hero" is an idol. So no need for smashing here. No one's claiming that Ghandi is a god.
There are times when we can acknowledge that not everything good in this world comes from within our own walls, and I believe that Ghandi provides such an example. We can celebrate the good that he did, and find a worthy example in his behavior, without agreeing with his theology or faith perspective.
Hope about Socrates and Aristotle?
Thanks for your post, very useful information.
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