The notification, issued eleven years after the priest's death, has come as a surprise to Indian Jesuits, who, while acknowledging that some of Fr De Mello's works may be objectionable, say the Vatican's position reflects a `tragedy of understanding.' Some of the priests feel they should come out in support of Fr De Mello, but realise it would compromise the Jesuit order in the eyes of the powerful Vatican. At least one priest, Fr Joe Antony, has chosen to openly express his disappointment. In an editorial And all shall be well, Fr Tony? published in the Catholic fortnightly The New Leader, hewrites, quoting Fr Tony: ``Everything that seems to be an evil may be a good in disguise. So we are wise to leave it to God...'' The notification, issued on August 22 by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, with the approval of Pope John Paul II, stated that Fr De Mello's works were incompatible with the Catholic faith and could cause great harm. His works `presented organised religion as an obstacle to self-awareness and Jesus as one master among many,' the notification said, adding that his later works and conference presentations `showed a progressive distancing from the essential contents of the Christian faith and contained indiscriminate criticism of church institutions.'

Reacting to the notification, Fr Parmananda Divakar, a city-based Jesuit priest and a close associate of Fr De Mello, says in an editorial in the Catholic weekly The Examiner, ``We should ask, has anybody been harmed in faith or morals because of Tony De Mello? We can only speak of India, and there is no evidence ofany permanent damage...Like other brave souls that have ventured into the unknown pursuing an ideal, he made some blunders. Yet humanity is grateful to them all, and we are proud of Tony, for so much that is positive.''

Another Jesuit priest, one of Fr De Mello's earliest students at the Vinayalaya seminary at Andheri, said, ``There has always been a conflict between Eastern and Western philosophy. Fr De Mello taught us to be free in spirit, thereby deviating from the classic Western church, which was governed by rules and laws.'' He explained that in recent years, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who issued the notification, and other Vatican officials have expressed dissatisfaction that basic church teachings in India and other Asian countries were being diluted to make them more compatible with a pre-dominantly non-Christian culture.'' Jesuit theologian Fr Samuel Rayan has said that by issuing the notification, Vatican was using sword against pen. ``Instead of declaring Fr De Mello's works as incompatible withthe faith, the Vatican should have lifted the objectionable passages and properly studied them. What we needed most is a theological judgment and healthy criticism on the objectionable writings of Fr De Mello,'' he says in The New Leader.

Father De Mello grew up in Bandra and studied at St Stanislaus School, Mumbai. He wrote nine books before he died, at 55, in 1987. His most popular work Sadhana has seen 23 reprints (115,000 copies) in English, has been translated into 22 languages, and was described in the Catholic Theological Society of America as `perhaps the best book available in English for Christians on how to pray, meditate and contemplate.' Combined sales of all his books is over 5 lakh. His work has tremendous international following, especially in the US, earning him a cult status, with Internet sites devoted to his parables.

Fr De Mello's works were always controversial, and the Vatican had unofficially blacklisted his books much earlier. The Vatican explains the notificationby pointing to the current demand for books offering do-it-yourself spirituality, and says Fr De Mello's books fall under the category.

What is so `controversial' about his works?

Fr De Mello said, ``Jesus has got a bad name because of what is said about him from pulpits. Our violent spirituality has created problems for us.'' To deconstruct religion of its rigidity, he used stories and humourous anecdotes. He later infused Zen and other Oriental flavours into his works, and often equated God with nothingness, a position not acceptable to the Vatican.