How to prevent attacks on Church institutions

By Varghese Alengaden

Indore, Dec 7, 2021: Propaganda by the Hindutva forces with false allegations of conversion against many of Christian institutions across the country has increased recently.

The RSS led organizations are active both in anti-Christian propaganda and religion based polarization of the whole country. In the past, anti-Christian propaganda and attacks were limited to northern India. Now it has become intense in south India also. Attacks by Hindutva right wing groups are taking place continuously on Christians in Karnataka. The BJP governments both at the Centre and in states are supporting these vigilante groups.

Recently I visited a diocese in a backward region of northern India and came to know that in all the mission stations, priests and nuns are living under the threat of Hindutva forces. Priests had told me that the Hindutva forces are repeatedly spreading false news against those who run educational institutions and do social work for the marginalized. They are threatening to pull down a big church under destruction.

The Church in that area had experienced attacks several times in the past. There was neither any serious analysis nor any strategy devised to deal with these hostile situations.

As part of crisis management dioceses and religious congregations need to explore legal options against defamation and false allegations. But it has been observed that the law enforcing agencies, police and lower judiciary are dictated by the Hindutva forces and their government. These forces will continue spreading falsehood and hatred. In the present situation, these vigilante groups will not be stopped by the police. Terrorizing the minorities is their agenda.

As we explore the possibilities of managing crises, it is important to find ways of preventing crises. Without the first the second will be ineffective. The Christian community has been facing these kinds of attacks for many years. The first anti-conversion bill was passed by Madhya Pradesh soon after Independence of our country when the Congress government was in power. In recent years, there were many incidents of attacks on Christians and false allegations against them in different parts of India.

I had foreseen the threats when the Hindutva forces pulled down the Babri Masjid in 1992 and massacred more than 2,000 Muslims in Gujarat in 2002 when Narendra Modi was the chief minister. After Modi became the prime minister he was given a clean chit by the courts. Now he and his government and party are experimenting with the Gujarat model of alienating and persecuting minorities all over India.

When communal violence was taking place between Hindus and Muslims the Christians, especially the Catholics, never thought that one day it would happen to them also. Church leadership never initiated any discussion and planned any new strategy to prevent such incidents. After Modi became PM with a brute majority, I had suggested to some important bishops to organize a state or national level meeting to prepare strategies and action plans to be prepared to face the challenges.

The bishops responded saying, “There is no need for such a strategy now.” Until today, the Church in India has not made any such strategy; instead it is suffering from internal conflicts and divisions over flimsy issues. Initially, some bishops were admirers of Modi, blindly believing the propaganda by the pro-Modi media.

When Hindutva forces destroyed more than 300 Church institutions, killed many men and raped women, including a nun in Kandhamal, the Church did not hold any serious discussions in their numerous meetings and retreats. Church bodies such as Conference of Religious India (CRI) and Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) did not take these events seriously.

Year after year they organize routine meetings. The affected congregations and dioceses were making their own temporary solutions without thinking of making long term strategies and action plans. Anti-Christian propaganda and attacks were not included in the agenda of their meetings and plans. I had visited the Kandhamal region three times to study the situation after the violence. I observed that everything was happening in the old routine ways.

Envisaging serious trouble ahead, I had made an option to launch the USM mission (Universal Solidarity Movement) with people of all faiths and walks of life in 1993 as a proactive response to the demolition of Babri Masjid with two objectives.

First, influence the secular society through the youth of our educational institutions, their parents, teachers and civil society through networking with secular organizations. Second, create awareness among the Church personnel, priests, religious and bishops for a paradigm shift in evangelization methods in order to influence the first group. The methodology and content were rooted in the way of Christ: His teachings and policies.

Hundreds of priests, nuns and bishops appreciated and participated in these programs. However they failed to sustain the proposed strategies and action plans. On the contrary, they were happy to follow the old paradigm (in Christ’s words the “old wineskin” method). Doing what everyone is doing is easy.

When attacks were taking place repeatedly I was thinking of the mission we had launched way back in 1993. If only the priests, nuns and bishops had implemented the action plans which they had prepared with our help, today they would not have faced these troubles. By this time, they would have trained thousands of youth from other faiths who would be committed to the Indian constitutional values which are totally based on the Gospel values.

Unfortunately, many who are leading the campaign against the missionaries are those who were empowered by Catholic institutions. The Church personnel failed to train them to protect the Indian ethos enshrined in our Constitution. Instead, they had been making students say Christian prayers in the school assembly and bringing them to church and they obeyed as long as they were in our schools and boarding houses. The same students today as adults and professionals are leading these attacks against Christians.

Christ had envisaged these troubles two thousand years ago. He had also given solutions to face all kinds of troubles at all ages: “Put the new wine in new wineskin.” Very few retreat preachers or theologians give practical ways of applying the method of ‘putting new wine in new wineskins’ in different ministries. For the last thirty years USM has been suggesting practical applications of the solution which Jesus had given to us.

Unfortunately the bishops, priests and religious failed to make use of the new wineskin methodologies. On the contrary, they continued to follow their ‘old wineskin’ ways. Now the old wineskin (old ways of working) is getting broken and wine is wasted. In other words, all their efforts based on the old ways are met with failure and opposition.

Neither in their formation, nor in any of their meetings and retreats including crisis management meetings, do they go to the root of the problems. Root of the anti-Christian propaganda and hatred have their origin in the aggressive and forced ways of evangelization the Christians had followed in the past with the support of colonial rulers.

Now there is a Hindu Rashtra and a government which supports all kinds of violence against minorities. It is high time Christians abandoned the old and familiar ways related to colonial mission and adopt “new wineskin ways.” The earlier they take up these corrective measures the better for them. Now the government, its law enforcing agencies, the judiciary, administration and police are saffronized. The RSS has been working hard with a clear strategy and focus over the past 90 years.

I have written these thoughts after much reflection. Since I have been following the prophetic way of ‘a cry in the wildernesses’ for the last 30 years, I take courage to write with convincing power of the Spirit. During the last forty years I have been crisscrossing the whole country and seeing and learning the missionary activities of many dioceses and religious congregations. I have developed the Christocentric vision and strategies for making the Church once again relevant in this country.

Many who read my articles criticize me that I am very negative towards the Church and its leaders. I express my views and reflections after analyzing various issues which block the mission of Christ. I make constructive criticism after experimenting and living as per the teachings of Christ over the last four decades. Hence the USM community dares invite bishops, priests, nuns and lay people to come and see how Christocentric life and mission is possible with people of other faiths and walks of life.