NOT ONE FOR STEREOTYPE | KAIROS GLOBAL | FEBRUARY 2022

Author: Alina Ann Mathew

Intro: Alina Ann Mathew speaks with Bishop of Punalur, Dr Selvister Ponnumuthan about his mother, vocation to priesthood, the Church, advocating for the marginalised, and the youth. 

An unusual example of simplicity, the epitome of love, an extraordinary vision, versatile and a person of grace-filled interaction, Bishop Dr Selvister Ponnumuthan surprises and blesses everyone who comes in contact with him. He was born on 10th August 1956 in Uchakada village in Thiruvananthapuram¹ as the fourth son of Ponnumuthan Nadar and Thankamma.

He joined St Vincent's Minor Seminary and completed his pre-college education in St Xavier's College. In 1975, he joined St Joseph's Pontifical Seminary, Carmelgiri and was ordained a priest on 19th December 1981, by Bishop Jacob Acharuparambil and served four months as assistant parish priest before taking over the charge of prefect of St Vincent’s Minor Seminary for eight years. Later, studies for his doctorate degree brought him to Gregorian University Rome. In 1996, he joined Carmelgiri Seminary as lecturer and was appointed vice rector of the seminary in 1998, and its rector in 2008. He was ordained the third bishop of Punalur diocese on 28th June 2009.

When your mother decided to embrace the Catholic faith, the Church got the gift of an extraordinary bishop, Dr Selvester Ponnumuthan. Please tell us about your mother.

My mother was a Hindu by birth and got converted to the Catholic Church on her marriage. Inter-religious marriages are common to the culture of Christians in the southern part of Kerala. Initially she was reluctant to practice the Catholic faith and the family neither compelled nor expected her to follow Catholicism. But the practise of faith and peaceful ambience in the family deeply moved her and within a year, she decided to own Jesus and embrace the Catholic Church with love. 

She surprised everyone with her love for the Holy Mass and in the number of Rosaries she would recite every day. She would constantly encourage us children to go for daily Holy Mass. Now she is 98-years-old and her strong Catholic faith is the foundation of our family. Each time someone goes out of the house, she still blesses them and begins her intercession for them as soon as they leave. I strongly believe that the precious five Rosaries she recites for me daily holds me together as a priest as well as the Bishop of Punalur Diocese.

How did you discern your vocation to become a priest?

One of the neighbouring families were devout Catholics and my mother was very close to them. They played a huge influence on our faith. Their daughter was my catechism teacher as well as my tuition teacher. On our way to Mass every day, she would speak often about the Eucharist. She too aspired to be a nun at that time. Her constant chats on the Eucharist on our way to daily Mass deeply influenced me and it was my initial motivation. Now she is Sr Nirmala FMCK, zealously continuing her missionary work for the Neyyattinkara diocese in Kerala. 

My mother's strong prayers and my love for the Eucharist finally motivated me to join the seminary in 1972, after completing my 10th standard. I am the fourth of seven children to my parents. Somehow, I strongly believe that it was a call from God. I became associated with the charismatic movement when I was studying philosophy at Aluva² seminary in 1975. Fr Augustine Pallikkunnel, a professor at our seminary, inspired me a lot, and through him I got closely acquainted with the charismatic movement in Kerala. 

I had been praying for a unique God experience during my philosophy days and one day the question from Mark 8:29 And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” struck me from within. This became my point of reference and my point of departure. I came to a realisation that I was called to give a personal response to God. Wholeheartedly, I pursued my studies from then on and was ordained as a priest on 19th December 1981 for the diocese of Trivandrum. 

What do you admire about the Catholic Church? What face of the Church is your favourite?

My love for the Catholic Church grew day-by-day as it has a universal outlook and an all-embracing nature, beyond cultural and language barriers. The compassion of Jesus is the compassion of the Church and this compassion is my favourite face of Catholic Church. Even when the Catholic Church is being tortured, criticised and hunted down, it holds on to forgiveness and mercy as taught by Jesus Christ; this is something unique and unusual.

Catholicism is not about looking into the eyes of Jesus, but being able to look and see through his eyes. Jesus was compassionate enough to go to the sick and heal them, to prepare dinner for his disciples even after rising from the dead, to be with them in their workplace and daily life – God is truly Emmanuel.

Music, plants, social work – you are breaking all clichés. We are not used to bishops like you.

It’s all personal interests and convictions that motivate me to take less travelled paths.

During 1997, when I was in the Aluva Carmelgiri Seminary, I had started a Musicology Forum to encourage and enkindle a passion for mission among seminarians. Their artistic skills too were nurtured in this forum, from which many superhit devotional songs were born.

The seminary was a powerhouse of zealous professors and enthusiastic aspirants at that time and it laid my music foundation. I had a very clear vision to build a Christian basis to Carnatic music so that our aspiring musicians could praise our Lord Jesus while learning and performing.  Along with Carnatic music veteran, Kumbalam Baburaj Bhagavathar I have penned around 30 Carnatic hymns and numerous other devotional songs. All this was part of my humble effort to contribute to Carnatic music literature from a Christian perspective for our coming generations. 

I really appreciate the way movements like Jesus Youth use music to evangelise. When we look at the agricultural sector, we need both short-term crops and long-term crops. We need both tapioca and coconut, both paddy and plantain for wholesome consumption. Similarly, we need all kinds of music and other tools to reach out to people of every type. Jesus Youth bands do an amazing job in bringing youth closer to the Church. But they should be able to include all types of youth in their groups and avoid falling prey to elitism.  

We can have a mass impact through music, but a one-to-one impact too is important. Amidst the pomp of massive outreaches, we shouldn’t forget to recognise individuals.

We should learn this from Jesus Christ. He gave the Gospel to a crowd of 5000 as well as to a sick man abandoned for 38 years and to the one who hid on a tree-top too. There was space in his heart for both crowds and individuals, men and women, untouchables and critics, labourers and capitalists, sinners and gentiles, and even children.

And regarding plants:

We have more than 300 varieties of plants in the Bishop’s House garden and the credit goes to our Chancellor, Fr Johnson. I have a strong agricultural background and I love plants. I always encourage organic methods in the garden. In order to make it a bit more useful we have identified and labelled all the plant varieties in the campus in association with the botany department of All Saints College, Trivandrum. We have also published a book, Ortus Planta, Garden Plants at Bishop's House, Punalur in 2011 which includes all these details.

It would be nice and a great achievement if we could all have an interest in domestic farming and growing plants. But ultimately it depends on individual interest. It’s high time we realise the pitfalls of feeding culture and regain our self-sufficient culture.

Being with people and fighting for their rights may create more enemies and disturb your calm. So why do it?  

I feel fulfilled and happy. I was the chairman of the Dalit³ commission for 6 years. It's their constitutional right to live a life of dignity in this country and I am constantly trying my best to bring this point to the attention of political leaders and other policy makers in the state. 

We have to respect the dignity of every human person. Genesis 1:27 reminds, So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; we should be able to see his image in every human being.

Movements like Jesus Youth have a big role to play in this context. Dalits are a talented community in all aspects, especially music and crafts. We should be able to bring their inborn talent to forefront and deepen our fellowships to ensure that they too are identified and appreciated. Mission should initially begin here. We should have the broad-mindedness of Jesus Christ.

Do you still have hope in our younger generation? 

If we can orient them spiritually, youth definitely are our asset and strength. I am proud of the youth in my diocese and I strongly believe that youth are the backbone of the Church.

Most of our present-day youth may not be religious or serious about faith, but they all need God. It's our responsibility to travel the extra mile to make sure that they have a personal God experience. Faith comes from personal experience and conviction. Rather than bombarding them with too many messages, the compassion of Christ should touch them. Our life, compassion and love should motivate youngsters to build a rapport with Jesus Christ. 

We should be able to understand them and accept them – their style and attitude as Jesus Christ would do in our place. Love them personally and unconditionally. I am often surprised by their dedication and unity.

The Catholic Church is going through a difficult phase with criticisms and conflicts. What should our attitude and response be to this chaos?

Chapter 13 of Porta Fidei, the Apostolic Letter of Pope Benedict XVI has already answered this question.

‘One thing that will be of decisive importance in this Year is retracing the history of our faith, marked by the unfathomable mystery of the interweaving of holiness and sin. … 

During this time we will need to keep our gaze fixed upon Jesus Christ, the “pioneer and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2). … 

By faith, Mary accepted the Angel’s word and believed the message that she was to become the Mother of God. ... 

By faith, the Apostles left everything to follow their Master (cf. Mk 10:28). … 

By faith, the disciples formed the first community, gathered around the teaching of the Apostles, in prayer, in celebration of the Eucharist, holding their possessions in common so as to meet the needs of the brethren (cf. Acts 2:42-47). 

By faith, the martyrs gave their lives, bearing witness to the truth of the Gospel. … 

By faith, men and women have consecrated their lives to Christ, leaving all things behind so as to live obedience, poverty and chastity with Gospel simplicity. … By faith, countless Christians have promoted action for justice so as to put into practice the word of the Lord, who came to proclaim deliverance from oppression and a year of favour for all (cf. Lk 4:18-19). 

By faith, across the centuries, men and women of all ages, whose names are written in the Book of Life (cf. Rev 7:9, 13:8), have confessed the beauty of following the Lord Jesus … in the family, in the workplace, in public life, in the exercise of the charisms and ministries to which they were called. 

By faith, we too live: by the living recognition of the Lord Jesus, present in our lives and in our history.’

A close examination of church history reveals both sin and virtue competing for prominence all throughout. Both scandals and sanctity held equal positions and it’s going to be the same eternally.

Keep just one thing in mind: ‘Love and criticise the Church’. Criticism is a prophetic mission when done with love.

Pro-life mission is considered foolish by a large majority of young families and the older generation too. What is your opinion?

Life is the gift of God. If my mother had listened to society and stopped with two children, I wouldn't even be here.

No one talks about the challenges of small families and the scarcity of love in their homes. Movements like Jesus Youth and Neocatechumenate are giving notable contributions in this regard. Pro-life attitude should come from personal conviction. We should try our best to promote pro-life messages but at the same time we should respect the freedom of couples too. The Catholic Church respects every human being and their freedom of choice. I personally talk to young families and have observed that peer groups greatly influence their attitudes. We should make genuine efforts to ensure that life is respected.

^{1, 2} Thiruvananthapuram and Aluva are places in Kerala.

³  Dalit is a name for people belonging to the lowest stratum castes in India, previously characterised as ‘untouchable’.

A Catholic mother and science journalist, Alina Ann Mathew is also a soft-skills trainer and content developer. She lives in Kottayam, India with her husband and two kids.