Carlo Torriani

SWARGA DWAR

The conversion of a catholic missionary

presented by

Card. Simon Pimenta

PIME Publications, PIME Regional House, Eluru - 534 0-07, A.P., India

THE POPE IN INDIA

Letter No. 28, Bombay, May 1986

Dear Friends,

    The Long period of silence on our side is due a certain embarrassment: at last we can tell you that we started also our medical programme in Swarga Dwar. Two years had already gone since we took possession, but the slow progress of the buildings has delayed everything. The first purpose of Swarga Dwar to assist the destitute leprosy patient and to open for him the Gate of  Heaven, is taking place.

    The work of rehabilitation is going on. Some people had come and some people had gone.

Ravindra staying with us two years succeeded in obtaining a driving licence for a three-wheeler. In the same time he met also a lady ready to share his life: they got married and they left together.

    Ismael, that for 18 months had been our faithful and honest watchman, also left with the idea of starting some business. Staying with us in Swarga Dwar, gaining some money, give them confidence and courage to go out and face once again the world outside. That is what we want. The full rehabilitation comes when a person goes out in the open society.

    Many of you wrote asking me my impressions on the visit of the Pope to India. He came also in Bombay and I was present at his meeting in Shvaji Park. It has been an extraordinary event. Particularly the gathering at Ranchi has shown the growth of the Church among adivasis. All the meetings had given a conscience of the strength of the Christian community, but it has been also an irritant to the militant Hindu organisations.

    According to me the most significant moment of his tour in India has been his long silent pause kneeling in front of Gandhi mausoleum in his first day in Delhi. All the other events and speeches had been prepared in advance, but this long pause and keeling down of a pontiff surprised everybody. In 1931 Pius XI refused an audience to Gandhi because of the political implications, so that now a successor kneels for such a long time has a deep and symbolic significance. Silently ha recognised the mistake of his predecessor. A Pope who listens and learns, as he told the press during his return trip on the plane: “I learned a lot from him and I am not ashamed of telling.” A Pope who does not teach but learn, or teaches that we should learn from people of other religions. He went on praising Gandhi: “I think that Gandhi is still alive. Not only he is alive but also his example is very much needed for us in the West. He has never been a Christian and he never pretended to be but I learned a lot from him. The Christians can learn from him how to be Christians. The prove is that I quoted him in my sermons.”

This attitude and these words of the Pope should open the eyes to all the Church. The encounter with the East should enrich the Church. The missionary movement should lead to a change of the Church in the West. The Pope “learned” let us hope that all the Church may learn.

Our conversion should come before theirs.