CHURCH 20/09/05 Dalit Catholics threaten to start new Indian church - Vatican warned of breakaway if Dalit priests continue to be ignored in the selection of

[성기화 요셉]

Dalit Catholics threaten to start new Indian church

Vatican warned of breakaway if Dalit priests continue to be ignored in the selection of bishops

Bijay Kumar Minj, New Delhi

Updated: September 08, 2020 03:43 AM GMT

Trending

1

Dalit Catholics threaten to start new Indian church

Sep 7, 2020

2

Hong Kong Church divided as Beijing turns the screw

Sep 7, 2020

3

NGOs targeted in Cambodian clampdown

Sep 8, 2020

4

The telling silence about an abducted Lao activist

Sep 8, 2020

5

India bans four Christian groups from accepting foreign funds

Sep 8, 2020

6

Young Indians play increasing role in India-China relations

Sep 8, 2020

7

Vietnam diocese marks 350th anniversary of bishop's arrival

Sep 7, 2020

8

Oblate missionary walks with Hong Kong street sleepers

Sep 7, 2020

9

Indian Christians welcome new church in Telangana

Sep 8, 2020

10

What is the driving force of Francis' pontificate?

Sep 7, 2020

Dalit Christians, activists and civil society protest in New Delhi on Dec. 4, 2018, demanding that the Indian government give them the same rights as enjoyed by their Hindu counterparts. (Photo: Bijay Kumar Minj/UCA News)

Share this article :

    

Dalit Catholic leaders across India have threatened to start a new church if their demand to end casteism and discrimination against Dalits in the Catholic Church is not met.

Around 30 speakers and 150 participants attended a virtual meeting on Sept. 5 organized by six Dalit Christian organizations from the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

“If the Vatican does not immediately remove the discriminatory process of bishop selection that neglects qualified Dalit priests, we could announce our own Indian Dalit Catholic Church or the Indian Dalit Catholic Rite,” Franklin Caesar Thomas, coordinator of the National Council of Dalit Christians (NCDC), told UCA News.

“The new church will separate Dalit Catholic Christians from the Indian Catholic Church's casteist leadership.”

During the virtual meeting, Dalit leaders appealed to the Catholic Church, the apostolic nuncio to India and Pope Francis to curb the visible and invisible untouchability practices that exist in the selection of bishops.

Related News

-

Hair sacrifice for dalit rights

Indian Christians demand equality for Dalits

Indian state passes resolution to help Dalit Christians 

Indian politician slams abuse of Dalits

They said that none of India’s four cardinals and 31 archbishops have a Dalit background. Similarly, among 188 bishops, only 11 are from the Dalit community. In caste-ridden Tamil Nadu, only one of 18 bishops is from a Dalit background.

Dalits, formerly untouchables, are the lowest caste within Hindu society. Huge numbers of Dalits have converted to Christianity and Islam over the decades, though the religions offer limited protection from societal prejudice.

The word Dalit means "trampled upon" in Sanskrit and refers to all groups once considered untouchable and outside the four-tier Hindu caste system. Government data shows 201 million of India’s 1.2 billion people belong to this socially deprived group. Some 60 percent of India's 25 million Christians are of Dalit or tribal origin.

Vincent Manoharan, national convener of National Dalit Christian Watch (NDCW), told UCA News that years of protests by the Dalit Christian community had not brought any positive changes.

He said protest marches are planned near the nuncio’s office and the headquarters of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI).

“Dalit Christians are fighting for their respective place in the Church as well as fighting in the Supreme Court for their scheduled caste status in society,” Manoharan said.

“From now onwards we will have national and international conventions to press our demand to end casteism and discrimination against Dalits in the Catholic Church. Unfortunately, our brethren are suffering in both the Church and society.

“We are also planning to send our representative to the Vatican, United Nations and the European Union so that we can build a pressure group at international level.”