CATHOLIC PRIESTS PROMOTE OUR LADY AS ‘HINDU GODDESS’

Pro-syncretism cardinal given job at Vatican Dicastery for Evangelization

Catholic priests in the traditionally Catholic stronghold of Goa are endorsing a syncretistic festival that recasts the Blessed Virgin Mary as a Hindu goddess.

During a local festival known as "Our Lady of Miracles," celebrated on the third Monday of Easter, clergy from St. Jerome's Church in the town of Mapusa, erect an image of Mary for Hindus to worship by bathing the statue in oil. The festival is being revived after a 13-year hiatus.

Hindu worshippers of "Milagres Saibinn" (Our Lady of Miracles) believe that Mary is a Hindu goddess who originally bore the name of the goddess Mirabai but was converted to Christianity by the Portuguese missionaries.

Milagres (or Mirabai) has a sister, the Hindu goddess Lahirai, who resides in the temple at Shirgao around 15 kilometers away and is worshipped by the same Hindus who revere Mary as a Hindu goddess.

The local myth on which the festival is based holds that Mary and Lahirai are part of a family of seven divine sisters. The other five who are worshipped in other parts of Goa are identified as the Hindu goddesses Mahamai, Kelbai, Adipai, Morzai, and Sita.

Catholics reciprocate by visiting the village of Shirgao and worshipping the idol of Lahirai on the day of her annual festival, which falls on the fifth day of the Hindu month of Vaishaka (April–May). Here, Hindu and Catholic devotees join in a ceremony of walking through fire.

https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/our-lady-as-hindu-goddess

THE CATHOLIC CHURCH HAS LOST ITS HERITAGE

The Mass for dummies.

Today's Vortex features a look back to January 2013, following the Vatican's efforts to recoup the losses inflicted upon the Church by secularists and cultural Marxists. Today, the Church's failure to promote Catholic identity has come to a head — proving its damage-control efforts have, unfortunately, failed.

The article to which Michael refers is Vatican Preparing a Manual to Help Priests Celebrate Mass, published by Zenit on January 16, 2013.

https://www.churchmilitant.com/video/episode/vort-the-catholic-church-has-lost-its-heritage-the-best-of-vortex

VATICAN-HINDU TALKS AIM AT BUILDING ‘NEW HUMANISM’

Hinduism scholars attack false premises of 'Fratelli Tutti' based dialogue

The Vatican has held talks with Hindu leaders with the goal of building a "new humanism" by drawing together Pope Francis' encyclical Fratelli Tutti (All Brothers) with the contested Hindu concept of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" (the whole cosmos is one family).

On Wednesday, the Vatican's Dicastery for Interfaith Dialogue joined with representatives from the Hindu Forum of Europe and the Italian Hindu Union for a meeting on the theme of "Hindus and Christians in Europe: Building together a 'fraternity-based new humanism.'"

Participants from the World Council of Churches — the world's largest organization of non-Catholic churches — also addressed the conference, a press statement from the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue announced.

"It was acknowledged that the Hindu concept of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam and Pope Francis' encyclical Fratelli Tutti serve as compasses to guide Hindus and Christians towards a 'new humanism' in an increasingly intercultural and interreligious Europe," the statement said.

"Participants reflected on the changing dynamics of the Hindu–Christian relationship in Europe and envisaged ways of enhancing cooperation on issues that would foster human flourishing through interreligious dialogue, solidarity and hospitality," the dicastery added.

Organizers did not release details of papers presented or respond to queries from journalists about the Rome gathering, which was attended by some 55 participants and hailed by the Vatican as "the first of its kind."

https://www.churchmilitant.com/news/article/vatican-hindu-talks-aim-at-building-new-humanism