Spanish Jesuit Fr. Peter Julia, above, became a priest in 1960. In 1966 he was assigned to missionary work in Nasik, India. There, Peter, who changed his name to Shilananda and adopted Hindu customs, said he found "the ideal place for blending Christian faith with Indian culture"
("Mixing Religions: Cross on Shiv Ling," The Week magazine, Oct. 20, 1996).

In Nasik he also built a church in a shape inspired by the most common symbol of the Hindu deity Shiva, the Shiva Linga, below. The Tabernacle where he keeps the Holy Sacrament has this same form, above.

Now then, the Shiva Linga or Shivling is an unequivocal symbol of Shiva. Its origin has many interpretations [Wikipedia], including the one of the Tantras which considers it to be the symbol of Shiva's male organ.

It is quite impressive that, to our knowledge, neither the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship nor the Society of Jesus has forbidden such blasphemous experiments.

The Week

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