Does this title shock you?  It is meant to.  Is it audacious?  The word is described as being recklessly daring.  I am being daring; but reckless?  Wait till you finish reading  this.  Our former President APJ Abdul Kalam advised young people to dream with their eyes open, so as to convert their dreams into reality.  That is true daring.  It is a calculated risk.  And nothing risked is nothing gained.
What Kalam said in a national context is exactly what the first Pope, St. Peter, said in his very first public address.  Explaining the Pentecostal experience Peter first dispelled the false notion that they might be drunk, saying it was still the “third hour of the day” (Acts 2:16).  He then went on to quote the Prophet Joel by saying, “I shall pour out my spirit on all humanity. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young people shall see visions, your old people dream dreams” (Acts 2:17). So it is sagacious, not audacious, to have dreams, even of becoming Pope!
I have a one-in-600-million chance of becoming Pope, because that is the approximate number of male Catholics in the world today.  Since I am married and nearing 60, the odds against my becoming Pope can be multiplied by another million.  So I have a 1-in-600-trillion chance of becoming Pope.  It does not deter me from having my vision of the Papacy.

MY NAME:  If I were to be the Pope I would take the name of Peter the Second, not because I envisage the end of the world, a la Malachy, but because Peter is my favourite biblical persona. I closely identify myself with the fumbling and bumbling fisherman.  At his very first encounter with Jesus, he actually asked him to leave him alone (cf Lk 5:8).  At the Transfiguration when Jesus was giving him the keys and renaming him Peter, he again misunderstood Jesus’ intentions (cf Lk 9:33).  He floundered in faith while walking on the water (cf Mat 14:30).  He couldn’t face a young girl’s questioning, and denied knowledge of Jesus (cf Mat 26:70).  At the Ascension he couldn’t commit himself to unequivocally stating that he loved Jesus (cf Jn 21:15-17).  There was obviously something more than human frailty that Jesus saw in him, to appoint him the first Pope (in today’s parlance.)

THE DREAM: There was a hue and cry when Peter II became the Pope.  The first indication of what was to come is that the stock markets in America, Europe, Japan, Hong Kong and even India, crashed.  It is believed that these shadowy figures, that control   share prices, have a better world view than Heads of State, Finance Ministers or leaders of religion.  As Peter II unfolded his vision for the Catholic Church, the markets crashed further, and OPEC countries faced bankruptcy, because the price of crude oil had crashed to $10 per barrel.

THE ACTS OF PETER II: The first act of the new Pope was to auction all the treasures in the Vatican museum, amounting to several billion dollars.  With such a flood of artwork on the markets auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christies couldn’t handle the rush.  The price of MF Hussain’s paintings also crashed.  A scrap dealer in Bhayandar bought one for Rs. 10,000/-.
Peter II’s second act was to close all the Vatican embassies throughout the world.  He did not believe that the papacy needed to be an earthly power, having diplomatic immunity and status.  However, because of the past history of conflict with Roman emperors, he retained Vatican City as a neutral city state, similar to the UN headquarters in New York.  When a red sashed and red faced Cardinal had the audacity to challenge the Pope’s decisions Peter II told him about one of his predecessors who was escorting an atheist friend around the Vatican museum.  In a lighter vein the then Pope had remarked that like St. Peter he could not say “Silver and gold I have none”.  Smack came the atheist retort, “That is why you cannot also say – In the name of Jesus, get up and walk”.  The Pope was alluding to the incident referred to in the Acts of Apostles, of a lame person seeking alms from Peter at the temple (cf Acts 3: 1-6).  The Cardinal beat a hasty retreat.  After the initial crash, the markets began to pick up gradually.  Peter II strongly felt that power and pelf had clouded the vision of the Church, and made a clarion call for simplicity of life.  He set an example by walking down the streets of Rome, and visiting the poor in the ghettoes.  Rather than going to Castel Gandolfo as a summer resort, he decided to spend 6 months every year in a Benedictine monastery, including working in the fields and with the cattle.  It brought him close to nature and to mother earth.  He asked all his bishops and priests to live simple and prayerful lives, reminding them that “No man can serve two masters” (cf Lk 16:13).  He exhorted the hierarchy to get out of their entrenched and fortified positions to prepare for a new Pentecost, a fresh out pouring of the Spirit, as prayed for by his humble predecessor Pope John XXIII.  He convened the Third Vatican Council (Vat III).  The markets again became volatile.

VAT III:  In a fast changing world, where “Breaking News” was every minute, there was an urgent need for aggiornamento (updating). Vat II had concluded in 1965 (46 years ago), the New Code of Canon Law had been promulgated in 1983, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 1992.  It was time to take stock again.  He felt pained that the vision of Vat II had been watered down, especially in terms of the Church’s own self understanding, and its consequent attitudinal change vis-à-vis the world, science and other religions.  He did not believe in a Clash of Civilisations.  He believed that to be civilized one must be conciliatory in nature.  As a prelude to VAT III he directed that every Episcopal Conference organise a national synod to prepare for the third millennium of Christianity.  The exercise would involve all levels of the Church from the parish onwards; and all sections like youth, women, clergy, religious and laity.  He did not prepare a Lineanmenta (guideline) but he did express some of his concerns that needed redress:

PETER II’S CONCERNS:
•    Why the vision of Vat II was not implemented, especially in de-structuring the Church, and making it more participatory; including the collegiality of bishops and the fraternity of the laity?
•    The need for ecumenical unity with other churches, and a bigger interface with leaders of other religions.
•    An open dialogue with science, especially in the areas of genetics, human reproduction and the sanctity of life; as also a more pastoral and understanding approach to those in moral conflict situations.
•    The question of married priests and the ordination of women
•    The first Council of the Church was held in Jerusalem when St Peter had to justify his act of doing away with circumcision as a pre-requisite to being God’s chosen people, saying “God was giving them the identical gift he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ: and who was I to stand in God’s way?” (Acts 11: 17).  Perhaps the time had come to reconsider whether an external act like Baptism alone was the gateway to the Kingdom?
•    He even touched on seemingly innocuous phrases from the Our Father and Hail Mary, like “forgive us our trespasses” or  “the fruit of your womb”, suggesting that the language of our prayer should be commensurate with modern idiomatic usage.
•    He asked for study circles in all parishes to reflect on three important documents of Vat II: (1) Dogmatic Constitution of the Church (Lumen Gentium) (2) Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes) and (3) Declaration of the Relationship of the Church to non-Christian Religions (Nostra Aetate).

POSTSCRIPT:  I know that I will never be the Pope and I have no desire to be so either.  Neither do I wish any disrespect to the Papacy.  Both my parents were papal awardees – my father with the Knighthood of St Gregory, and my mother with the “Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice” medal.  When Pope John Paul II came to New Delhi in 1986, after receiving communion from his hands I knelt down and kissed his feet.  This does not mean that as a loyal member of the Catholic Church I should turn a blind eye to what I see happening, or not happening around me.
I pray for a new Pentecost in the Church.  I pray for the convening of Vat III.  I pray that the Church in India, having the advantage of a pluralistic, ancient, religious and also secular society, takes the lead in building up a groundswell of opinion for VAT III or better still JERUSALEM II.  I dare to dream.

# The writer is a former National President of the All India Catholic Union and former Director of the International Council of Catholic Men.

In some of the Tribal areas of Rajasthan & Gujarat some Jain Monks are involved in converting the tribals to Jainism. After converting to Jainism the tribals have abandoned alcoholism & infighting becaue the Jain monks teach these tribals the various rules & regulations from the holy book of the Jain’s i.e. the Kalpa Sutra. The Christian (catholic,protestant,baptist,etc) Missionaries are also involved in converting Tribals to Christianity in many parts of India. But the status of Tribals has not changed that’s because the Christian missionaries do not teach the tribals the various rules and regulations of the Bible. The Christian Missionaries are merely trying to convert the tribals by giving free food, medicine, clothes, etc and the Tribals are merely converting to escape the clutches of local Hindu Zamindars and to get allurements from the Christian Missionaries.
 
In the 1970s & 80s the Christian Missionaries aggressively focused on converting the Dalit Hindus to Christianity. Some of the Dalit Hindus converted to Christianity merely to escape the caste system of Hinduism. After converting to Christianity the Dalits found out that the caste system also exist in Christianity due to which it became difficult for the Christian Missionaries to convert other dalit hindus. Hence from the 1990’s the Christian Missionaries shifted their focus to converting the Tribals.
 
In 2008 in Kandhmal most of the clergy and missionaries fled to the safety of Kerala, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mangalore leaving the Tribal Christians at the mercy of the facist Hindutva Organizations (rss-vhp-bajrangdal).
 
The Protestant Britishers did not come to India to prosetylize but to take over the trade routes from the Portuguese and sabotage the catholic mission of the Portuguese. The Britishers gave tremendous business opportunities to the Marwaris, Gujratis, Sindhis, Jains & Parsis this explains why this five communities are the most prosperous communities ofcourse the Marwaris, Gujratis, Sindhis, Jains & Parsis also have excellent entrepreneurial skills.
 
All Jains have Hindu names. All Jains apart from worshipping Mahavira also worship Hindu gods especially Ganpati, Laxmi, Durga, Krishna. Many Jain industrialists, businessmen, traders, diamond merchants are providing tons of donations to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council). Some leaders and office bearers of the VHP are from the Jain community. The Jains are promoting the cause of right wing Hindutva organizations.
 
Jain religion is fundamentally opposed to the seven vices like polygamy, adultery, addiction to alcholic drinks, harlotry and gambling. Women from this religion are saved from the torture that results from these evils.
 
Three major problems which most Christians in India face are – One inability to get Government jobs / facilities / housing; Two inability to get admission in Christian Schools, colleges, institutions; Three continuous threat from facist hitlerite hindutva organizations i.e. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh – Vishwa Hindu Parishad – paramilitary Bajrang Dal – shiv sena.
 
The rss-vhp-bajrangdal-shivsena follow the strategy of Adolf Hitler and his propaganda minister Josef Goebel. Ofcourse without the support of the ias/ips officers the rss-vhp-bajrangdal-shivsena will not be able to function even for a day. More than 90% of ias/ips officers in India are from the Hindu community. There are a few Christian ias/ips officers whom the Vishwa Hindu Parishad accuses of helping Christian missionaries. The VHP wants the dismissal of all Christian ias/ips officers.
 
Through the Ayodhya verdict the Hindutvawadis want to set right all historical wrongs. Todays Muslims must make amends for what the Muslim princess did centuries ago. All ancient Hindu temple sites must be restored. They forget that even Hindu princess looted their own temples, Buddhist viharas were converted into Hindu temples, Jains were harassed, Shaivite temples were turned into Vaishnavite temples and vice versa.
 
The activities of Hindutvawadis, Maoists, Islamic Terrorists, Christian Missionaries, Corrupt Politicians / bureaucrats/ govt.servants are the major dangers facing the Indian nation. There is also another danger. The Hindus & Muslims are in competition with each other in the numbers game this explains why the population of the Hindus & Muslims keeps on rising and a day will come when the water will reach till the neck and there will be a great battle for survival.
 
US President Barack Obama will visit Bombay in November 2010 to pay homage to the victims of 26/11 Bombay terror attacks. Very nice. When his Air Force One is about to land in Bombay the first things which Obama will see from his Boeing 747 is the thousands of slums around the sahar/santacruz airport and if at all Obama decides to visit any of the slums in Bombay he will encounter a lot of excreta, gutter water and garbage. By paying bribes to the BMC, police, corporators, rationoffice & slumlords the migrants from other parts of India got an excellent opportunity to encroach land all over bombay in broad daylight. And since the slumdwellers are the vote banks so now they are being rewarded with free apartments under the SRA scheme. The SRA scheme was the brainchild of the Shiv Sena to get votes of slumdwellers who were traditionally Congress voters. Those slumdwellers who get the free apartments sell it off for 10 to 15 Lakhs and again bribe local officials,slumlords and encroach new territory and this cycle keeps on repeating. Like Bombay (you can call it Slumbai or Mumbai), Goa is also going in the same direction. Migrants are encroaching land in Goa by bribing local officials & politicians and once these migrants become vote banks they will get free housing.
 
Alongwith the Hindutva agenda the Shiv Sena also has other agendas. Some of which are. One to prevent Bombay from becoming a Union territory. Two to prevent Konkan from becoming a State, Three to prevent non-maharashtrians from getting jobs in Bombay. Four to wipe out the British history from Bombay. Five to merge Goa with Maharashtra. Six to change the name of Goa to Govapuri. Seven to force non-maharashtrians to learn the marathi language….what is the point in the non-maharashtrians in Bombay learning the marathi language when it is only the maharashtrians who are going to get jobs in bmc, police, state undertakings,etc.
 
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) during the last two years has written innumerable letters to Obama to speak up against the atrocities against minorities in India. But so far Obama has remained silent. Prior to Obama’s Visit to India the USCIRF has again written a letter to Obama to speak with the Indian prime minister about the atrocities against minorities in India. Whether Obama speaks or not speaks is irrelevant that’s because the communal poison which the Hindutvawadis ( rss-vhp-bajrangdal-shivsena-etc) have spread has gone far and wide in India. Behind the present day tribulations of India’s minorities ( Muslims, Christians, etc ) lies an insecurity pumped into the Hindu majority by a pre-meditated five-decade campaign that portrayed Muslims and Christians as disloyal, anti-national or criminal. Militant nationalists always need an enemy in order to grow. Hitler had the Jews. In India there are the minorities within and Pakistan, China and the West outside.
 
The Catholic Clergy (Bishops, Priests) want the lay catholics to have more children but the catholic clergy don’t want to utilize church assets – resources – vacant properties for the benefit of lay catholics and don’t want to reserve 25% seats in catholic schools for children of lay catholics majority of whom are poor. Most lay catholics are aware that the clergy will not bother about the economic upliftment of lay catholics but cannot do anything due to fear of being excommunicated from the church. The only option left with the lay catholics is to setup their local village level associations, trusts, panchayats and help each other. The lay catholics associations should also train lay catholics in Combat so that the lay catholics are prepared for self-defence as and when the enemy decides to replicate the anti-christian kandhmal experiment in other parts of India. The lay catholics will also have to ensure that as many catholics become ias/ips officers as possible and as many catholics apply for jobs in government departments, municipalities, defence forces, etc.
 
Jesus Christ’s life was not of Secularism. Jesus Christ life was a struggle against the corrupt political & religious leaders of his time. But what we see today is the bishops, cardinals, priests, pastors are living a secular life and not doing anything to fight corruption because these religious leaders are themselves involved in many corrupt activities especially in selling away vacant church properties and misusing church funds.
 
Openspaces, gardens, playgrounds, mangroves, saltpanlands, farmer/tribal lands, etc everything is being encroached by the state, builders lobby, sez lobby, mining lobby, slumlord & slumdwellers (votebank) lobby. Development is good only if the locals benefit but what is happening in India is the locals are being displaced and their lands & job opportunities are being eaten up by outsiders.
 
If Politicians wanted to serve people they would have been social workers and not politicians. From top to bottom everybody is into Politics to make easy money. And if Politicians are corrupt and greedy obviously the government servants, bureaucrats, etc will also be corrupt and greedy.
 
Jorge D’souza
Bombay.

The Pak  Cricket Trinity [the trio  in a 'spot' of bother] has enriched the English language with a new term which can be appropriately called "Spotgate" with their highly indiscreet behaviour off the field creating a furor in   the cricketing game . In fact indiscreet is too mild a term for the treason [as the incensed  Pak fans would like to call it]  just before the start of what was a 'do-or-die' encounter at the game's most  hallowed grounds.

The Scotland Yard, known for its competence, is investigating the issue so the case is in safe hands.  The other body involved is the ICC which  initially preferred to sit on the fence, became aggressive in the face of world wide uproar at the goings-on in the name of cricket. After a preliminary report the world cricket body is satisfied that there is prima facie case against the three and promptly barred them [something unknown in the annals of the game] in the face of stiff Pakistani Government's resistance. Surprisingly, the Pak Cricket Board is nowhere in the frame.

Going by the media reports, it appears that the Pak Cricket Board has been completely ignored which  shows how much the Pak Government gives it importance.  The Pak Government is  handling the issue. Ejaj who headed the Board got a kick on the Butt from his own Government. Their High Commissioner is a confused man with the googly bowled by his own countrymen. He wants to sue the ICC  but then came the story of 'marked currency notes' being found in  the Captain's room -  now it was the turn of Salman to get another kick on the Butt from the ICC. To keep his home constituency calm, as usual, the Pak envoy played  the familiar Indian card - ICC Chief Sharad Pawar and the Indian bookies being responsible for the mess. This only showed how fickle their players are.  Pak's UN envoy, on the contrary, is not on the same page.

It is now reported that the accused have confessed that they  received money from the fixer  for endorsements.  Why did they not admit it first and who pays signing money in cash anyway. From trousseau money now it has become endorsement money. But how come the endorsement money came with 'marked currency'.  The contracts, now produced, must be an after thought and that angle also needs to be probed. The Pak envoy should not have opted to defend the boys. He is making a fool of himself.

For the first time the ICC has realized, rather belatedly, that it has actually got some genuine  teeth [ and not dentures as feared] and if the same alacrity  is maintained it will not be that difficult to cleanse the gentleman's game. It's now or never. The ICC must admit that it was more concerned with the money than the game itself. It is the controlling authority of the game and it must assert itself when it matters most - something is has failed to do. Just by appointing an anti-corruption unit [ACU] it cannot sit back and relax.  What has this unit achieved anyway. It goes to every cricketing venue to ensure that everything is fine. Now that the past 82 games are to go under the scanner, what did the unit do all along.  It looks like the guys were having holidays at the expense of the ICC. If a journalist could lay a trap and expose the nexus, how competent are  the so called elite members of the ACU. Sack them !

The  Tabloid which carried out a sting operation to expose the fixer  did it with immense ease but with a professional touch - taking every care to gather proof that  will stand the test of scrutiny. They knew what the fall-out of the mission would be - literally shake the cricketing world and indeed it did. It's a challenge which the ICC must accept.

Pakistan's  peculiar ways of handling indiscipline in the ranks has baffled many.  Their team [if you can call it one ] suffers from 'trust deficit'  - may be one simply  does not trust the other. In such an atmosphere,  personal interests  overtake the national pride and with their board not being able to clean the stable, it raises doubts about its integrity as well as well as competence and even complexity.

A lot of Pak ex-cricketers, including Asif Iqbal of Sharjah fame, have suddenly woken up to berate their errant players which sounds good.  However, each and every one of them has been accused [may be guilty too] of indiscretion during their playing days. It's like the devil quoting the scriptures. Who knows it may help.

-Marshall Sequeira