{
  "bookName": "History of Christianity in India: Source Materials",
  "authorName": "M. K. Kuriakose",
  "publisherName": "Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge",
  "publicationYear": 2011,
  "chapterNumber": 193,
  "chapterName": "1969. Declaration of the All-India Seminar on the Church in India Today",
  "pageFrom": 408,
  "pageTo": 408,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 408,
      "ocrText": "408\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\ngifts from God and had borne special witness to certain elements of\nthe truth; yet all believe that the perfecting of the whole Body\nrequires the heritage of each, and also of every part of the Universal\nChurch.\n(b) They also acknowledge one another's ministries to be\nreal ministries of the Word and Sacraments and recognise the\nspiritual efficacy of Sacraments and ministrations which God has\nclearly blessed. Yet they believe that God who wills His Church\nto be one also wills that its ministry should be one ministry, acknow-\nledged by every part of the Church. So long as the Churches are\nin separation, there can be no ministry which fully corresponds\nwith the purpose of God: the ministry can only possess the fullness\nwhich God intends for it when all the parts of the Body are one.\n(c) In the light of these convictions we do not desire that any\none Church shall absorb other Churches, nor that one tradition\nshall be imposed upon all; but rather that each Church shall bring\nthe true riches of its inheritance into the united Church to which\nwe look forward. We intend that it shall be a Church which, while\nholding to the fundamental Faith and Order of the Universal Church,\nshall assure to its members freedom of opinion in all other matters,\nand also freedom of action in such varieties of practice as are\nconsistent with the life of the Church as one organic body.\n193. DECLARATION OF THE ALL-INDIA SEMINAR ON\nTHE CHURCH IN INDIA TODAY (1969 A.D.)\nThe Declaration of the Roman Catholic All India Seminar on\nthe Church in India Today, held at Bangalore in 1969, reflects the\ninfluence in India of the ecumenical attitudes fostered by the Second\nVatican Council. Extracts are reproduced here. All India Seminar,\nChurch in India Today, Banaglore, 1969, pp. 240-241.\nWe Belong ng Together: Our commitment to Jesus far from\nseparating us from our brothers and sisters puts us at their service\nafter the example of the Master. The Christian fellowship is an\nopen fellowship, open to all men and open to every human value.\nWith the second Vatican Council we recognise the wealth of truth,\ngoodness and beauty in India's religious traditions; it is all God's\ngift to our nation from ancient times. Moreover, we believe not\nonly that God is the source of the inspirations of the past, enshrined\nin sacred writings and alive today in manifold spiritual traditions,\nbut that his saving love is manifest in the great movements of\nrenewal, of solidarity, of special responsibility and self-sacrifice\nfor the underprivileged, which cut across all barriers of caste and\ncreed and make us feel one in selfless dedication.",
      "status": "completed"
    }
  ]
}