WELCOME TO THE VICARIATE APOSTOLIC OF KUWAIT
His Lordship Bishop Camillo Ballin, MCCI, The Essential Characteristics of the Church
Like the peace greetings of Jesus to the Apostles in the Gospel of St. John 20: 19ff, "Peace be with you!" I would like to share with you His peace! The Second Vatican Ecumenical Council: DECREE ON ECUMENISM states: "Over the centuries differences between Christians have led to profound divisions, but modern times have seen a great movement towards unity and the decree begins by saying, ‘Christ the Lord founded one Church and one Church only." We in the Catholic Church considering different rites, nationalities, race and colour we belong to the same Church of God. We are all members of the Body of Christ (Eph 4:12), which is the Church. To discuss further, I would like to quote something from the Catechism of the Catholic Church about the Four Essential Characteristics of the Church (ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC AND APOSTOLIC CHURCH) which I found very appropriate in our discussions here. Part I. THE FOUR ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CHURCH (1) THE CHURCH IS ONE: she acknowledges one Lord, confesses one faith, is born of one Baptism, forms only one Body, is given life by the one Spirit, for the sake of one hope (cf. Eph 4:3-5), at whose fulfilment all divisions will be overcome. (CCC 866) (2) THE CHURCH IS HOLY: the Most Holy God is her author; Christ, her bridegroom, gave himself up to make her holy; the Spirit of holiness gives her life. Since she still includes sinners, she is "the sinless one made up of sinners." Her holiness shines in the saints; in Mary she is already all-holy. (CCC 867) (3) THE CHURCH IS CATHOLIC: she proclaims the fullness of the faith. She bears in herself and administers the totality of the means of salvation. She is sent out to all peoples. She speaks to all men. She encompasses all times. She is "missionary of her very nature" (AG 2). (CCC 868). (4) THE CHURCH IS APOSTOLIC: She is built on a lasting foundation: "the twelve apostles of the Lamb" (Rev 21:14). She is indestructible (cf. Mt 16:18). She is upheld infallibly in the truth: Christ governs her through Peter and the other apostles, who are present in their successors, the Pope and the college of bishops. (CCC 869) "The sole Church of Christ which in the Creed we profess to be one, holy, catholic, and apostolic, . . . subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the bishops in communion with him. Nevertheless, many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside its visible confines"(LG 8). The Bishops - Successors of the Apostles. The Church teaches that "the bishops have by divine institution taken the place of the apostles as pastors of the Church, in such wise that whoever listens to them is listening to Christ and whoever despises them despises Christ and him who sent Christ." (CCC 862)
Part II. ROLE OF THE BISHOPS IN THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH The DECREE ON THE PASTORAL OFFICE OF BISHOP IN THE CHURCH, Vatican II, Christus Dominus, 28 October, 1965 states: "In this Church of Christ the Roman pontiff, as the successor of Peter, to whom Christ entrusted the feeding of His sheep and lambs, enjoys supreme, full, immediate, and universal authority over the care of souls by divine institution. Therefore, as pastor of all the faithful, he is sent to provide for the common good of the universal Church and for the good of the individual churches. Hence, he holds a primacy of ordinary power over all the churches. The bishops themselves, however, having been appointed by the Holy Spirit, are successors of the Apostles as pastors of souls. (4) Christ gave the Apostles and their successors the command and the power to teach all nations, to hallow men in the truth, and to feed them. They exercise this office individually in reference to the portions of the Lord's flock assigned to them, each one taking care of the particular church committed to him, or sometimes some of them jointly providing for certain common needs of various churches. Part III. BISHOPS AND THEIR PARTICULAR CHURCHES OR DIOCESES Diocesan Bishops: A Diocese is a portion of the people of God which is entrusted to a bishop to be shepherded by him with the cooperation of the presbytery. Thus by adhering to its pastor and gathered together by him through the Gospel and the Eucharist in the Holy Spirit, it constitutes a particular church in which the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church of Christ is truly present and operative. Individual bishops who have been entrusted with the care of a particular church-under the authority of the supreme pontiff-feed their sheep in the name of the Lord as their own, ordinary, and immediate pastors, performing for them the office of teaching, sanctifying, and governing. From these texts we can deduce that the Bishop of a particular Church has the responsibility of all the faithful who are within his boundaries. Bishop Gregory Karotemprel and myself are happy and honoured to be the guests of our brother Bishop Paul Hinder. In Kuwait I am trying to do my best to serve all the faithful who are there, with respect for their rite and spirituality. A Bishop who doesn’t take care of all his faithful has to respond one day to God. It is the local Bishop who has authority to call for helpers for some specific cases, but it is only he who is responsible for his Church. It seems that the Syro-Malabars are happy in Kuwait, satisfied with the service that the Church is providing them. So, it seems that they have reached their eternal peace and they don’t look for other opportunities, except maintaining what they have been doing since the beginning of their association. In this way, the Syro-Malabar community in Kuwait is at risk of a very dangerous sleep. A Church must not rest on her results, she has to move towards other horizons, as Jesus Christ did. He did not stop in a place to enjoy the company of his disciples but went around all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom (Mt 4,23). Jesus, the missionary of the Father, invites us to be missionaries like Him. What can be the mission of the Syro-Malabars in Kuwait? What is possible is for us to have meetings of the Celebration of the Word. I have conducted many of these meetings with the Syro-Malabars. But these meetings are still exclusively with the Syro-Malabars themselves only and in doing so the Syro-Malabar community is not missionary, but stationary. The celebration of the Word should be conducted not only with members of the same Rite but with all those who speak the same language, in our case, Malayalam. In this way, the Syro-Malabars remain open to receive other people who are not Syro-Malabars but are in need of help in their spiritual life. The Syro-Malabar is the largest Oriental community in Kuwait, so you have more possibilities to help other communities rather than to be helped. I therefore invite the Syro-Malabars to be open to others, and to invite all their Catholic neighbors to join in their prayer meetings, in other words, to be missionaries. We ask God to give us wisdom and patience. + Camillo Ballin
Qatar, Oct 2007
addresses the Syro-Malabar Community in Qatar
Vicar Apostolic of Kuwait
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