The trials & tribulations of being a Catholic in India

José Colaço

Introduction:

India is a country of over a billion people. About 30 million of these are Roman Catholic. There  are a few million of other Christian denominations and Buddhist and a significant number of Muslims, but the vast majority (83%) of people in India are Hindus.

Roman Catholicism came to India with the arrival of the Portuguese in 1497. The much smaller Syrian Catholic Church has been in India since the arrival of the Apostle St. Thomas some time in AD 40.  For the purposes of comparison, Judaism has been in India since before Christ & Islam came to India around  800 AD.

What & How the original inhabitants of India first worshipped  is not clear.

The Dravidians of North India (before they were pushed South) and the Aryans (who  pushed the Dravidians south) are both Hindus but practice slightly different forms of worship.  Buddhism,  a revolt against what the Buddhists call Brahmanism (Hinduism based on the superiority of the Brahmins),  once flourished all over India. After many centuries in the doldrums, Buddhism is
making a comeback.

The vast majority of people from the Indian subcontinent who converted to Buddhism, Islam and Christianity are from the lower strata. They did so mainly to escape the caste based oppression by the upper castes.

The elite among the Muslims belong to the invading Moghals or are Turkish in descent. As far as Christianity is concerned, Goan Catholics and the Syrian Catholics of South India are exceptions. Members of all castes converted to Catholicism in these areas. In Goa, caste based discrimination continues to be practiced among the Catholics, even within the precincts of the Church.

The Catholic Church is one of the largest contributors to the development of top quality education in India. There is hardly a city or town in India where the top high schools are not run by the Catholic Church. The Jesuits, Jesus & Mary and Carmelite nuns have contributed the most to this effort along with the Salesians. They were assisted after 1947 by the  "education  for all"  policy espoused by the Nehru Congress party.

Of interest is the fact that the Catholic Church and the Congress Party are the two major targets of the right Wing Hindu fundamentalists  -  the other coincidentally convenient reasons notwithstanding.


The challenges a Catholic faces:

In modern times, the only problem Roman Catholics faced in India with their practice of their  faith, was with the Church's stand on Birth Control.  That has  changed over the past 17 years.  Other problems which have come to the fore.

What follows is a personal impression of the major problems that a Roman Catholic faces in India today.


1. Rise of Hindu Fundamentalism

It was a Hindu fundamentalist who gunned down the disciple of peace, Mahatma Gandhi in 1948. In the face of severe backlash, the Hindu fundamentalist organizations decided to lay low for a few decades. As the 1990s began, the political maestros associated with Hindu fundamentalism became restless and struck their first decisive blow with the destruction of the Babri Masjid.

The fabric of relative calm and religious tolerance in India was torn to pieces. The country has not been the same since and is unlikely to be the same, anytime soon.

After having dealt a first strike at a Muslim religious site, the Hindu fundamentalists then  turned their attention towards the tiny Christian minority. In January 1999 an Australian missionary, Rev. Staines was burnt alive in his jeep along with his sons. Later that year several Catholic priests were attacked and nuns raped.

The ruling Hindu BJP which is the pleasant political front for the Rt. Wing Hindu outfits, did the "fiddle a la Nero" while Catholic priests, nuns and faithful lived in fear.

The Christians were easier to attack than the Muslims who were numerically greater and infinitely less tolerant of abuse than the Catholics.

The Hindu fundamentalists however had a particular interest in the Catholics. It is the Catholic Church which has afforded top quality but inexpensive education to hundreds of millions of Indians, irrespective of Caste or Religion.

Suddenly, there was a cadre of bright young, Catholic-school educated Indians. Unfortunately for the fundamentalists, this group included members of the so called lower castes. (Please read The Horrible Caste System of India).

In the year 2000, the ruling BJP produced a draft Christian Marriage Bill 2000. This bill when passed into law would allow only Christian couples to be married in church.  Mixed couples would now be compelled to marry under the Special Marriage Act.  In a blatant attack on the freedom of religion, various Hindu fundamentalist governed Indian States demanded that those who wanted to convert to Christianity have special permission from the government to do so.

Three decades ago, various nuclei from among the Hindu fundamentalists commenced their slow but steady advances towards the Catholic Church. Under the guise of Inter-religion dialogue, they went to Catholic seminaries and schools, and engaged priests in dialogue. In a process akin to the Communist technique of gradual brainwashing, they managed to get 'into the minds' of a number of intellectual but very naive Catholic priests.

One step at a time, steadfast to their goal, chip by chip, they began their process of mind control. It was hardly a "dialogue". They routinely repeated the mantra about the Inquisition and colonialism. St. Francis Xavier, Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II came for serious vitriol. A la Goebell and the Nazis ( with whom they share the Swastika symbol), the Hindu fundamentalists repeated selective quotes from or about these Catholic icons. It did not have to be true; if repeated often enough, confusion-weary Catholics would believe.

It is important to note that many of these skilled debaters are alumni of Catholic schools.



2. The scandal involving abusive Priests especially in the US & Africa

If there was one issue which hurt Indian Catholics right in the heart, this was it. How on earth could the trusted priests turn into such monsters. To the Hindu fundamentalists, this was like manna from Heaven. Suddenly, they did not have to do much to destroy the faith of Catholics. The US press and the molesters who had infiltrated the priesthood were doing the job for them. The
shoddy cover up of this problem by the US Bishops didn't help very much. Instead of just going away, this problem got bigger and bigger thanks also to those who were adding fuel to fire.

Catholic organizations should have publicly condemned the molesters and distanced themselves  from these unconscionable actions. Most Catholic organizations remained silent, leaving rank and file Catholics to face the embarrassment on their own.

A few rogue elements who had infiltrated the Catholic religious orders had destroyed centuries of sweat, tears, sacrifice and blood by hundreds of thousands of Catholic priests and nuns. The silent inaction by those in charge left ALL priests suspect. Which priest could now be trusted?

Fortunately for the Church, the vast majority of uninvolved priests bore the cross and pain with patience and humility. They knew that "This too shall come to pass".

As the dust settles on this issue, the fundamentalists can be expected to start a fresh attempt to destroy Catholicism in India.

Even so, the Catholic Church and Catholic organizations must distance themselves unequivocally from these abusers.


3. The Church's rigid view on Contraception


This is a difficult problem. Most Indian Catholics are unable to afford large families. The only method by which they could achieve reasonably sized families in India without artificial contraception, is abstinence. Abstinence in marriage, is an unnatural state. After struggling with this mental tug of war between trying to live by the Church's teaching & what the pocket can afford, many Roman Catholics have decided to follow their consciences and use contraceptives.

Others just decided to abstain - from Church.



4. The loss of Latin from the Latin Church


The majority of Hindus neither speak nor understand Sanskrit. Yet, every single Hindu religious function is held in Sanskrit. With constant use and explanatory translation, a good number now know what the Sanskrit phrases mean.

Similarly, have you ever come across an Islamic function not in Arabic?

So, it does makes on wonder WHY Latin was suddenly "removed" from the Catholic services in India.  Is might be fine in a country which speaks one language. In India there are over 18 different but official languages and a zillion dialects. Presently, there is no way for an individual from one Indian State to effectively follow the Eucharistic service in another State unless the service is held in English or in a known language.

The Hindus and Muslims have it right. They have kept the single linguistic bond which maintains the universality of their respective faiths. The Universal (Catholic) Church, by favouring the vernacular over Latin, has allowed itself to be fragmented and weakened by the politics of language. India as a country is fragmented by language squabbles. In an effort to open the Mass to the populace at large in India, the Church has got inherited some of the difficulties which go along with language politics.

In Goa, the heartland of Catholicism, the Church in its infinite "wisdom" introduced as its liturgical language that was neither spoken nor understood by the vast majority of Catholics.  As this new artificially Sanskritized(S)  Konkani had to be taught to be learnt, ALL Catholics above the middle-school age group remained ignorant of the main language of the Church services.  So now, we have a situation where this service is held in (S) Konkani, the homily preached listlessly in S-Konkani and ordinary Catholics return home to their lives in Konkani, English or Portuguese; giving true meaning to the words "Sunday Catholics".  With at least three generations of Goan Catholics being unable to follow the Mass or homily, the Catholic Church in Goa shot itself royally in the foot and stubbornly refuses to see the gaping wound that its action has produced.

Insipid leadership at the diocesan level and the continuation of the Hindu caste system, even within the precincts of the Catholic Church has added to the challenges.



5. Right wing Christian church activities

Almost every single Protestant denomination is represented in India. Many of the Protestant missionaries who arrive in India have no clue about the plurality of Indian belief or way of life. Their religious zeal blinds them to the reality of the situation. While the poor and oppressed might follow these zealots merely as a way out from Hindu Brahmanical oppression,  their activities attract the wrath of the Rt. Wing Hindus who oppose conversion for whatever reason.

 Conveniently for the Hindu fundamentalists, this wrath is also directed towards the  Catholics whom the Protestants oppose anyway.

The Catholic Church and Catholic organizations must distance themselves from these Rt. Wing organizations.



What is the major grouse of the Hindu Fundamentalists?

Depends!  There are overt grouses and a covert grouse.

What are the overt grouses?


1. Hindus of India object to forced or coerced conversions.

They have every right to object to these type of conversions. No individual who becomes a Catholic after being forced or coerced will remain a Catholic for long.  It is just too difficult to remain a good Catholic. If one is not truly converted to the Christian way of life, that individual is just NOT a Catholic. Fortunately, the Indian Catholic Church is NOT involved in forced or coerced conversions. They are merely taking the shots which should be directed at the
Rt. Wing Fundamentalist Christian Churches and their ways of proselytization.


2. Hindus object at being told that they are pagans who will burn in the fires of Hell

As a Catholic who has heard Indian Rt. Wing Fundamentalist Christians "sending" all others (Catholics and Hindus included) to Hell, must say that I too find it highly offensive.


3. Hindus point out that tribal areas under the guidance of Christian missionaries are organizing separatist movements

These tribals are the original inhabitants of the subcontinent just like the American Indians are of North America. They have been discriminated against for over a thousand years. They resisted those who they consider 'aliens' many centuries before they converted to Christianity. The Catholic Church is not involved with any of the separatist movements in India. Even so, It  behooves the Catholic Church to remain absolutely clear of partisan and separatist politics.


The real grouse:

Behind the overt set of gripes is the real reason why the Fundamentalist Hindus are upset with the Catholic Church. It is as follows:

For over a thousand years, Hindus of the upper castes have discriminated against others.  Whatever the public posturing, this discrimination remains on the basis of the Colour based Caste system. The Caste System of India is the first system of organized Apartheid in the world.

As long as the lower castes remained uneducated, subservient and poor, life was fine as far as the upper castes were concerned.

With Catholicism came education.  The Catholic Church runs the vast majority of top schools in India.  Jesuits are the most notable among the educationists in India. Top quality education for all and that too, at quite an affordable cost. This has resulted in the uplifting of the poor and lowly. Having been educated, youth from the lower castes were no longer willing to remain subservient like their forebears. They also were competing for top level jobs. This is something which was unacceptable to the upper castes.

Catholics were responsible for this. Catholics, especially the Jesuits,  needed to be "put in their place" .  Shades of the 18th Century Portuguese Marquis of Pombal who opined that "the Catholic Church as an enemy of material progress, and the Jesuits as the worst teachers to whom the youth of any country could be entrusted" .

The Muslims needed to be put in place too, but it is more important and easier to put the screws on the Catholics. They are after all non-violent. They are unlikely to strike back. The most they will  do, is emigrate!

Twinkle toes

If one sits down and ponders, this all looks like a game of chess and twinkle toes.

* Christianity is a Western religion: By western, the fundamentalists imply American, foreign, decadent and promiscuous.

When reminded that Christianity came to India in AD 40......twinkle toe

when reminded that the Aryans who form the upper castes among Hindus actually are foreigners, the twinkle toe answer: Aryans originated from India.

When reminded of the new DNA evidence which links upper caste Hindus to Europeans....twinkle toe

When reminded of the Caste System and its colour based discrimination ....twinkle toe

When reminded of the Laws of Manu and its degrading treatment of women ....twinkle toe



* Muslims and Christians destroyed Hindu places of temple and built mosques and churches in their place

When asked what happened to the Buddhist temples....twinkle toe or better still, the Muslims destroyed them.

When asked how the majority of Hindu temples survived the Islamic onslaught while the Buddhist temples just disappeared....twinkle toe


* Catholic Church is using its schools to indoctrinate young minds and converting them to Catholicism

When asked if they (the alumni of Catholic schools) faced any pressure to convert ....twinkle toe


It goes without saying that the rise of Hindu fundamentalism in India is gradually destroying a peaceful people,  like Christian, Jewish and Islamic fundamentalism is doing just that in other parts of the world.

This whole religious struggle is not about religion, it is not about peace or doing the right thing. It is about wealth, power and control.

Fortunately for India, the vast majority of people couldn't care less about the fundamentalists or their agenda. The vast majority consider ALL religions as private matter between man or woman and the Creator.


What should the Catholic Church need to do to assist Indian Catholics:

1. Review its position on Contraception

2. Abolish the practice of the caste system within the precincts of the Church. Admit that the Portuguese were right and that the Swami Jesuit de Nobili was wrong in requesting that the Hindu converts to Catholicism be allowed to practise the caste system.

3. Re-introduce Latin in the core section of the Mass.

4. Accept the plurality of India and reverse its policy of demanding that children of mixed marriages are brought up as Catholics.

5. Review present conversion activities of Catholic missionaries. Make absolutely certain that NO form of coercion is utilized.

6. Have resolute Individuals of Peace in leadership positions.

7. Continue the exemplary work in the field of education, health care and care of the disadvantaged.

8. Stay absolutely clear of partisan politics. It should however support good decisions of the civil authorities with the same hand it criticizes the unfair decisions.

9. Further involve the laity in the running of the Church.

10. Advise the seminarians and priests about the slick infiltration techniques employed by the highly skilled 'debaters' among the Hindu fundamentalists.

For the writing the above script I have drawn immense inspiration from my conversations with and the works of the following : Swami Animananda (Armando Alvares) SJ, Jorge de Abreu Noronha, Harbans Singh, Sunila Muzawar, Aloysius D'Souza, Prof. George Pinto, Dr. Santosh Helekar, Bambino Martins, Joel Almeida, Jose Oscar Noronha, Dr. Samir Kelekar, Fred Noronha, Msgr. Preston Moss, Archbishop Lawrence Burke SJ, Msgr. Patrick Pinder, Dr. Eugene Newry, Jeffrey Lloyd, Prof. Romila Thappar, Alok Rai, Ben Antao, Alfredo de Mello, Kanwal Rekhi, Sandip Heble, Dr. David Bratt,  Pravin Sabnis, Anthony V. Fernandes, Tony Correia-Afonso, Floriano Lobo, Fr. Romualdo D'Souza, Capt. A. K. Misri, Rowena Rao & Prof. Daniel de Souza.

July 17, 2002

 

State of Orissa, India: Amendments to the Orissa Freedom of Religion Rules of 1989  "any person intending to convert his religion shall give a declaration" to a magistrate that "he intends to convert his religion on his own will." The magistrate has to forward the declaration to police to see if there is any objection "to the proposed conversion" before permission for the conversion is granted. The amendments also lay down that "the concerned religious priest shall intimate the date, time and place of the conversion ceremony" to the district magistrate 15 days before it takes place.

Some quotes from the Conference on Christian Conversion Activities Among Hindus, Guyana, South America(1996)

We should remember that even in India, Hinduism was almost eclipsed by Buddhism, until the great Shankaracharya rolled back the tide through his superhuman efforts. Swami Aksharananda, Hindu Monk and Scholar, Guyana

The Christian church is not an ocean of compassion as they preach, but an ocean of viciousness. Ravindranath Maharaj, Journalist, Hindu Activist, Trinidad & Tobago

Language is a crucial factor in the formation of consciousness and we identify the destruction of Hindi as a spoken language as one of the prime factors in our defensive posture. We should therefore demand the teaching of Hindi not only in all our mandirs but also in all our schools, colleges and training institutions. Sri Deonarine Lilliah

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