Media Release
Panaji, Nov 22: “SCCs are the primary locus and means of national integration, ushering in truth, honesty, justice, human rights and dignity, good governance, eco-care and eco-justice in our society,” said Cardinal Oswald Gracias, the Archbishop of Mumbai and the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), Cardinal Gracias was delivering a homily at the concluding Eucharistic celebrations of the 1st National Convention of Small Christians communities (SCCs).
‘The SCC’s has the power to transform the Church from an inward looking community to an out reaching Church through a life of love.” Cardinal said further. Stating the fact that living a life of love is an authentic living of Christian faith, Cardinal said that a genuine life of love pours into service and becomes a source of transformation of our society. As such SCCs become most effective instrument and space to deepen, live and witness Christian Faith.
The 1st National Convention of SCCs was organised by the National Service Team for SCCs of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India and hosted by the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman for 3 days(19-21 Nov.2013) at Old Goa.
“Communion is the essence of trinity and the sincere way of living the new command of love” declared His Excellency, Archbishop Salvatore Pennachio, the Apostolic Nuncio to India in his sermon during the Inaugural Eucharist at first National the First convention of the SCC in old Goa.
The celebration began with reading of the special message sent by the Holy Father. About two thousand representatives of the Church in India flocked from the length and breadth of our Country to become part of the three day celebrations in Goa. Among the representatives included, his Excellency, Salvatore Pennacchio , the Apostolic Nuncio to India, Cardinals and seventy five Bishops , Priests, Religious and the lay people from 160 dioceses spread across India as well as thousands of lay people, priests and the religious from the host diocese of Goa.
The day begun with the inaugural mass presided over by his Excellency Archbishop Salvatore Pennachio along with his Grace, Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrão and Bishop Thomas Dabre, the Bishop of Pune, and the president of National Service Team for SCC and the other cardinals, bishops, priests concelebrating the solemn celebration.
The highlight of the inaugural mass was the display of rich cultural diversity of our country through the enthronement of the bible in the different regional languages.
In his inaugural address, Archbishop FilipeNeri , stunned the people gathered at the convention when he proposed Blessed Joseph Vaz, the illustrious and heroic son of Goa, as the Patron of the SCC movement in our country . His Grace was welcoming the church dignitaries and the 120 delegations of the Lay faithful who had come from different regions of our country and invited them to feel at home in the beautiful, peaceful and serene nature and culture of Goa.
His Grace also extended his warm and cordial welcome to His Excellency Bharat VirvWanchoo , the Governor of Goa, Manohar Parrikar, thechief minister of Goa and Francis D’souza, the deputy chief minister of Goa along with other MLAs graced the celebrations. Convention begun with the lighting of the traditional lamb by the dignitaries that graced the inaugural and was followed by a prayer dance on the theme song by sisters form the institute of Mater Dei.
The first session was marked by the paper SCCs a Home and School of Communion and Faith present eloquently by Archbishop Filipe NeriFerrao. His Grace forcefully presented SCCs as a powerful response to ailing conditions of the Church that is struggling with Lack of fellowship, lack of God experience, growing materialism and individualism, and lack of the sense of the Church. His Grace, offered the SCCs as powerful and effective means that can respond to the above crises and actualize the four mark of the universal in the neigbourhood( One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic) Church thereby transforms our church into a communion of communities. His Grace, admitted that path to the SCCs is not easy but assured that empowered by our faith we can certainly bring to birth this new way of being Church. To achieve our noble goal he exhorted to face three challenges, namely, the need of new mindset, building new leadership style and charting new pastoral approaches.
The second session was presented by Selvister Ponnumuthan, Bishop of Punalur on the theme “ the power of SCCs to evangelize the neighbourhood”. His Lordship effectively drove home the message that SSCs when powered by Word and Sacrament can become privilege locus of faith formation and evangelization of the faithful.
During the post Lunch session Bishop Bosco Penha, Bishop Emeritus of Mumbai spoke on the theme SCCs: An Antidote to a culture of Individualism, Competition and Consumerism.
The final day began with the thousands of national and the Goan delegates gathered once again in Old Goa after experiencing the second day celebrations in twenty six different places across Goa. There were programme at deanery and Parish level.
Most Rev. Bishop Thomas Dabre from Pune made an inspiring and soul searching presentation on the theme ‘SCCs-A Leaven for the new society’. While acknowledging the tremendous contribution of the Church in India in the fields of education, health care and social service, his Lordship challenged the faithful and the leadership in the church to offer the entire resources of the Church to be at the service of the poor both in the Church and Society at large in India. His Lordship further asserted that the SCCs were the best way of being a leaven in a multifaceted country. He added that he learnt to be a Bishop through SCCs and exhorted the Bishops, Priests and the religious men and women to learn to live their vocation through the SCCs.
The second presentation was made by Raphel Thatil, the Auxiliary Bishop of Trichur of the Syro Malabar Church. In his presentation on the theme Kudumba Koottaimakal (SCCs): A leaven for a New Society in the Syrian Church, narrated the dynamic and moving evolution of the SCCs in the Syro Malabar Church through their age old tradition of Palli Yogams or Parish assemblies that democratically deliberated on the temporal affairs of the Parish. As time lapsed this movement of Kuduma Koottiamakal spread steadily to all the thirteen dioceses of the Syro Malabar Church in India, he added.
Elvin Colaco from Mumbai, a member of the National Service Team presenting on the topic SCCs Transform the laity into a Leaven for a New Society emphatically caught the attention of the august gathering when he declared that the chosen people of God have become frozen people of God. He brilliantly brought forth the power of the SCCs for the lay people to live their baptismal call to become leaven for a new society through a faith based response to the challenges and demands that continuously arise in their neighbourhood through the powerful weapon of love.
SCCs movement in West Bengal and Karnataka regions were presented and a Video presentation on the SCCs and the Eucharist prepared by Sr Christine Joseph.
Fr Vijay Thomas, the national convenor of the convention urged the august gathering to cherish and nurture the dream of the New Way of Being Church in India energetically so that moved and inspired by Word of God, every Christian community becomes a locus where the Word becomes flesh in our daily life.
Fr Vijay Thomas, gave the clarion call to the Bishops and the CBCI (Catholic Bishop Conference of India ) to bestow upon the movement of SCCs the prominence that it deserves in the Church and leave no stone unturned to build a strong and committed clergy, religious and lay animators who are well formed and dedicated to the service of the SCCs in their respective dioceses.
Catholic lay faithful from different parishes of Goa came in a rally and joined the delegates that were already in the pandal for the concluding ceremony. The closing ceremony began with an exciting regional presentation of the Christians of Odisha.
The indigenous Christians of Odisha demonstrated through a scintillating dance and song that SCCs is a dance to the rhythm and music of Jesus Christ and truly is the heart beat of the Church. Stacy Luis, a youth from Assolna shared her life-turning experience through her participation in the SCCs of her parish. This was followed by a thrilling presentation of faith and life by the host diocese. It began with a traditional Kunnbi (tribal) and Kharvi ( fisher folk) dance which was interspaced by an stirring interview of Sharmilla D’Souza, a SCC animator from Siolim and Clancy De Silva, a youth member of a SCC from the Parish of Penha de França conducted by Fr Lucio Dias.
Mime on the theme ‘Agents of Change’ which portrayed how SCCs bring us face to face with crucial issues like alcoholism, drug abuse, child abuse, broken families, corruption and divisions in our society in Goa was presented . Itshowed that SCCs become powerful means of transformation of our life in our neighbourhood.
The Mime was presented by the children and the youth of the Parish of Penha de Franca and were led by Ann Barreto and Ralin De Souza and Josinho. Archbishop of Delhi His Grace Anil Couto presented his experience of SCCs through his episcopal ministry and stated that SCCs is not just the New Way of being Church but the true way of being Church. The final message of the convention to the Church in India was read by Fr Vijay Thomas , the national convenor of the convention and was approved with great conviction and enthusiasm.
The three day event came to a closure with a solemn thanksgiving mass presided over by Cardinal OswaldGracias and brought the curtains down on the year of Faith for the Church of India. The delegates unanimously took a pledge of commitment to promote SCCs and renew the Church from below and were solemnly commissioned to live their Christian faith in their SCCs by Cardinal Gracias in the name of Jesus Christ. The deliberation ended with a vote of thanks delivered by Bishop Thomas Dabre, the president of National Service Team for SCC and Fr Leonardo Pegado e Souza, the local convenor of the event.