The Malay priest who participated in the drafting of the final document discussed by the Synod Assembly: ‘Dialogue here is part of the experience we live daily within a pluralistic culture.’ The Indian Cardinal Ferrao, the Filipino David and the Melkite Patriarch Absi, elected members of the General Council of the Synod.
Kuala Lumpur () – The second session of the Synod Assembly is coming to an end with the discussion of the final document. It was drafted by a small group of 14 delegates elected by the Assembly, among whom, representing Asia, was Fr. Clarence Devadass, a Malay priest from the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur.
It was precisely Father Devadass who participated in the daily briefing with journalists at the Synod in recent days, offering some reflections based on the experience of an immense continent of more than 4.8 billion inhabitants, where people of different religions coexist. , cultures and languages and Christians are only 383 million, of which 153.3 million are Catholics. In this complex reality, synodality – the central theme of this Synod – is a unique experience both within the Church (ad intra) and in relation to the gigantic pluralistic demographics of Asia (ad extra).
“Apart from the Philippines and East Timor,” he said, “Asia is a continent where Catholics are a minority. Just because the faith is alive does not mean that the negative effects of secularization and other problems are not present. The public space for the expression of faith faith seems to be increasingly reduced, in many places, also because of political and religious extremism. In this context, harmony must be sought through dialogue.
“Dialogue,” he stressed, “in Asia is not an option, but a matter of survival. It is not a novelty, but a necessity, and is part of our daily experience in a pluralistic culture.”
The challenge in Asia is to learn to do theology “from the perspective of living with others” and to evangelize even there “where faith cannot be expressed publicly.” Synodality, he commented, is “at the base of all this” and is already experienced in many situations, starting with the family, bearing fruit.
Mentioning the phenomenon of emigration, which has led many Asian Catholics to live in other parts of the world, he also stressed: “They are the new missionaries, because when they leave their homes they not only look for an income, but they take their faith with them.” . And I know that in many places in the world they encourage the Churches in the communities where they live and work, helping to keep the faith alive.
Meanwhile, last night the Assembly proceeded to elect the new members of the Ordinary Council of the General Secretariat of the Synod, the body that constantly prepares and coordinates the work of this body. Composed of 17 members (lhere is the complete list), Card. Filipe Neri António Sebastião do Rosario Ferrao, archbishop of Goa and Damão, in India, and Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, bishop of Kalookan, in the Philippines (who will also become a cardinal in the Consistory on December 7). Oceania will be represented by Bishop Timothy John Costelloe, Archbishop of Perth in Australia, while for the Eastern Catholic Churches His Beatitude Youssef Absi, Patriarch of Antioch of the Greco-Melkites, has been chosen.
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