The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Proclaim good news `with respect for listeners'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Dec 13, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Proclaim good news `with respect for listeners'

By Our Special Correspondent

The Most Rev. Pedro Lopez Quintana, Apostolic Nuncio, India (centre), pays homage at the tomb of St. Thomas in the San Thome Cathedral Basilica on Sunday. Also seen are Rt. Rev. Dr. Lawerence Pius, Administrator, Madras Mylapore Archdiocese (left), and Rev. Fr. Lawerence Raj, Parish Priest. — Photo: K. V. Srinivasan

CHENNAI, DEC. 12. The ancient Santhome Cathedral Basilica in Chennai is a reminder to "us [that] like St. Thomas, we too should open our hearts and minds in loving dialogue, to our fellow men in the region, whatever religion or group they belong to," Pedro Lopez Quintana, Apostolic Nuncio, India, has said. Blessing the renovated basilica, His Excellency the Most Rev. Quintana, said the cathedral stood testimony to almost 2,000 years of faith, and nourishment from the Word of God. It constantly reminded "us of our own calling to be announcers of the Good News of Jesus Christ all around us," besides stressing the urgency of "proclaiming the greatness of the Lord" in grateful appreciation of the past, as well as launching into a renewed future towards a new society, he added.

But he made it clear that this proclamation was "not prompted by sectarian impulse or the spirit of proselytism or any sense of superiority and is never to be done by force, since Christian truth by its nature is to be proposed, never imposed and has as its solid point of reference a deep respect for the sanctuary of conscience. The Church proclaims the Good News with loving respect and esteem for her listeners."

The Most Rev. Quintana said the milestone in the history of the cathedral would also be an occasion for taking up the evangelical mission with fresh enthusiasm, for a fresh blossoming of holiness "in your personal lives and in your church, for a profound and comprehensive spiritual renewal." The Administrator of the Archdiocese of Madras-Mylapore, Rt. Rev. Dr. Lawrence Pius, inaugurated the museum in the cathedral complex. His Eminence Cardinal Ivan Dias, Bombay, blessed the mini-auditorium within the complex.

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