Preaching to bishops from across Asia, Cardinal Anthony Poola of Hyderabad, India, said today that “the apostolic office is not a seat to occupy but a cup to receive. It is not first about a visible position, but about participating in Christ’s self-offering.”
“For the Church in Asia, leadership is not supervision from a distance but missionary closeness; not self-centered administration but pastoral conversion,” Cardinal Poola, the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, preached at Mass during the plenary assembly of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences in Jakarta. “The Church cannot proclaim Christ through power, but through humble service, sincere dialogue, courageous witness, and compassionate presence.”