Pravin Fernandes

Pravin Fernandes
To
The Editor,
The Times of India, Bombay.

C.c.: Archdiocese of Mumbai; Pravin Fernandes, "Catholic" Communication Center, Mumbai.

Sir, - This is in response to Mr. Pravin Fernandes' letter as it appears in your issue of March 1, 2004.

At the outset, from my long experience as a consumer of the Anglophone press in Bombay, I do not believe that any of the "Secular" papers are really impartial, nor do I believe that they can or will do justice to the issues under discussion.

And I do not accept the sect which Mr. Fernandes represents as being the Catholic Church. I believe that the Catholic Church is represented by His Holiness Pope Michael, in Delia, Kansas, USA, and those who adhere to him, such as myself.

I merely wish to take issue with Mr. Fernandes' insulting and false statements.

Recently, a journalist, Eryn Brown, wrote an article in the Los Angeles Times on the Catholic Traditionalist Movement in light of Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ" during the course of which she quotes Ted Tamberg, the PRO of Fernandes' sect in Los Angeles as describing Traditionalists as being "facile". It is amazing how much Fernades echoes Tamberg. It seems that his sect has a factory to turn out clones who are programmed to spout out psychobabble in order to intimidate those who dare to point out the facts... — the greatest fact being that the "Emperor" of Psuedo-Catholicism and its Psuedo-Pope are NAKED!!!

The Catholic Church has always lived on earth among men and in society. As such it has always had to adapt to changing times, passions, cultures and the like. It therefore also had to adapt to these changing times, which it always did.

However, it possesses certain fundamental, core characteristics, which it cannot lose. Groups, large or small, that compromise on these fundamental characteristics thereby secede from the Church.

Despite all the changes in the Church over two thousand years, a Catholic of the time of the Apostles would have no difficulty in relating to the Church as it was under any of the subsequent popes, down to Pius IX, Leo XIII, St. Pius X, Benedict XV, Pius XI or Pius XII.

But the changes introduced by Roncalli, beginning in late October 1958, in his "Aggiornomento" program, and in "Vatican II", have produced a schismatic and heretical sect that cannot be identified as the Catholic Church by any criteria.

The only real "criteria" that this sect possesses is that of the "Pope". But their "Pope" is a make-believe pope, one who denies the essentiality of being Pope, refuses to act as one, acts inexorably as a heresiarch out to destroy the Catholic Faith and to pervert souls, and who meets all the Catholic definitions of being a man who escaped being able to attain to the Papacy. This was Roncalli ("John XXIII-II"), Montini ("Paul VI"), Luciani ("John-Paul I"). This is presently Karol Wojtyla ("John-Paul II").

Mr. Fernandes lies, and lies through his teeth, when he pretends that the "Charismatic Renewal" was not started to stem the outflow of souls to Fundamental Protestantism. It is a fact that Protestants, following their Schism, laboured under the idea that the "Institutional" Church had lost the Holy Spirit, which they laboured to regain. This eventually produced several consecutive movements, including the Irvingites, the Latter-Rain, etc., before spreading to the USA, where, at the turn of the century, it finally exploded as the Pentecostal movement in California (Charles Fox Parham and the Azusa Street Revival).

The Pentecostal movement latter evolved to produce "in-house" branches in the mainstread Protestant sects, so that there is a Lutheran Charismatic Renewal, an Anglican Charismatic Renewal, a Baptist Charismatic Renewal, a Congregationalist Charismatic Renewal, etc.

Under Montini, a deliberate effort was made to induct this into the "Catholic Church" and this was actuated at the Duquesne University in the US, where some of his flock, four professors at Duquesne, followed by students Ralph Martin, Steve Clark and Kevin Ranaghan, from the Newman Center, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, went over to a Pentecostal ministeress and "received" their Spirit from her, which they then conveyed and which is the moving spirit of the "Catholic" Charismatic Renewal.

From the Catholic viewpoint, the Holy Spirit was never lost, the very idea of His being lost being blasphemous. Again, it is forbidden for Catholics to attend any foreign religious service, leave alone participate and "receive" any thing, even a rival "Holy Spirit" there. Such acts are sinful and indiscipline and result in the automatic excommunication of the persons responsible.

This is nothing if not syncretism!

But there is more, and it is my particular pleasure to challenge Mr. Fernandes on this other point.

Hinduism consists principally of Advaitism or Monism - the teaching that the spirits (or souls) of men, beasts, plants, etc., are not distinct but identical with the Godhead. Hinduism therefore has no compunction in worshipping even mere men, since every man is also "God". This teaching is encapusculated in the catchphrase - "Tat tuam ast!"

The prime method of Hindu worship is the Aarti. In Catholic Theology, Aarti meets the definition of Latria - worship that is due only to God, and which it is forbidden, at the pain of grievous mortal sin and automatic excommunication, to be either performed by a Catholic on a mere man or to knowingly allow it to be performed on oneself.

Yet it is a fact that several times, when "John-Paul II" has been in India, and also when he participated in inter-religious rites world-wide, and even during the "beatification ceremonies" of Mother Teresa, the Aarti has been performed on him and on others.

When challenged on this point, his defenders have pretended that the Aarti is merely an Indian method of greeting and of showing respect and homage to one's guest. But that is a lie.

And this lie is proven by none other than by Mr. Fernandes himself, who, in an interview with Rediff.com stated that the Aarti being performed on the Reserved Sacrament is an act of worship: "Another symbolic gesture of worship to Jesus Christ present in the form of bread and wine is the Indian Aarti." [Source: Rediff.com Interviews Fr. Pravin Fernandes]

In order to underline the point, I provide these further quotations: The Vivekananda Mission in England:

Aarti (waving a lamp in front of the deity) ceremony may be carried out to invoke and welcome the deity.

We may observe the 'aarti' ceremony (a lamp is gently waved in front of the deity in a clockwise direction). The lamp is passed around and everyone cups their hands over the lamp to receive blessings.

Tilak - (mark on the forehead) may be made to awaken spirituality. The mark is usually made with red powder (kumkum).
The Swaminarayan Sect:

One should concentrate fully on the deities to whom he is offering the Aarti. I ask Mr. Fernandes: How is it that it is Latria when done on the Sacrament, and not Latria when performed on a mere man?

And I ask: What is this if not Syncretism?

Can the hypocrisy, Mr. Fernandes! Can the hypocrisy! It will not take you to heaven. I would ask you to meditate on these texts in the Bible, etc.:
The First Commandment: "I am the Lord your God.... You shall have no other gods but me"

Jesus saith to him: I am the way, and the truth, and the life. John 14.6

"Amen, amen, I say to you: He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold but climbeth up another way, the same is a thief and a robber. But they understood not what he spoke. Jesus therefore said to them again: Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All others, as many as have come, are thieves and robbers: and the sheep heard them not. " John 10.1, 6-8

"There is no other name under the heavens, given to man, except that of Christ Jesus, whereby he can be saved." Acts 4.12

Psalms 95: �The gods of the pagans are devils.�

Corinthians 10: 20 : �What the pagans sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God.�

2 Cor. 6: 15 : �What fellowship between Christ and Belial? What agreement between the temple of God and idols?�

2 Cor. 6: 17 : �Go out from among them and be you separate, says the Lord, and do not touch the unclean thing.�

1917 Code of Canon Law: "1325.1 Obligation to Profess the Faith - The faithful are bound to profess their faith openly whenever under the circumstances silence, evasion, or their manner of acting would otherwise implicitly amount to a denial of the faith, or would involve contempt of religion, an offense to God, or scandal to the neighbor."

Catechism Question: In how many ways may we either cause or share in the guilt of another's sin? Answer: We may either cause or share the guilt of another's sin in nine ways: 1. By counsel; 2. By command; 3. By consent; 4. By provocation; 5. By praise or flattery; 6. By concealment; 7. By being a partner in the sin; 8. By silence; 9. By defending the ill done.
And many more texts in the Bible and in the teaching documents of the Church issued over the last two thousand years.

None of these permit or legitimise the heresy of Ecumenism.

Lucio J. Mascarenhas, Bombay
N.B.: Would it be too much to expect you not to rewrite my address as "Mumbai" when I write Bombay? I do live in Bombay, not in "Mumbai", nor do I believe in the legitimacy of Marathi colonialism and imperialism in the Concan or that of the Shiv Sena's terrorism...

Letter to the Editor, the Times of India, Bombay.
Times of India, March 1, 2004.

This letter should serve to address and clarify the arguments forwarded by both Mr. Nazareth and Mr. Menezes regarding Benny Hinn's prayer meet (February 25). Generally, their arguments are based on false assumptions and narrow perceptions and are reflective of those who do not accept the reforms of Vatican II. The decision of the Catholic Church to discourage its flock from attending is not retrograde but responsible. We have an accepted set of beliefs and practices and it is the bounden duty of those in authority to ensure that these are respected. The simple and unsuspecting could easily be carried away by views to the contrary, and this is a legitimate concern of the church. Moreover, ecumenical activity necessarily involves a thorough knowledge of one's own faith before one can embark on a dialogue with another. Such activity is best left to the specialists because the simple faithful cannot enter into it meaningfully. The church is not competitive but striving to deepen the faith of its people.

Mr. Nazareth seems to be unaware of the various pastoral services of the Catholic Church. How else would you explain the millions across the globe who have their spiritual needs met within this church?

The Catholic Charismatic Renewal was not started to stem the exodus of Catholics to Pentecostals. It is the free movement of the Holy Spirit that initiates such momentous transformations from time to time. Mr. Nazareth needs to be reminded that infighting and disagreements occur in all corporate bodies, Pentecostals included.

The Church is like a living organism that is constantly open to growth and reform. Did not Jesus say, "I will give you the Holy Spirit who will lead you into all the truth." There is the idea of progressive understanding of His will that necessitates change with changing times, while being faithful to the essential faith. The Catholic Church recognizes the truth found in other religions and is confident in sharing of its own. It would be fallacious and naive to accuse the Church of syncretism.

Fr. Pravin Fernandes, Catholic Communication Centre, Archbishop's House, Bombay.