By Isaac Harold Gomes
Kolkata, May 4, 2022: On April 23, during his two-day pastoral visit to Bengaluru, Apostolic Nuncio to India Archbishop Leopold Girelli’s exhorted Indian Catholics to be “vocal” about the rights of all minority groups in India.
It’s a `wake-up’ call because the nuncio has noticed that in spite of comprising more than 95 percent (99 percent according to Bishop Stephen Lepcha of Darjeeling) of the Catholic Church, the laity prefers to be in slumber (Sleeping Giants). It is, therefore, difficult to figure out how the nuncio expects Indian Catholics to be “vocal” about minority rights.
For, from early childhood onwards even in their advanced adulthood, Indian Catholics are indoctrinated (through Sunday schools, seminars, novenas) to be meek and submissive, especially to authority. So how can they suddenly stand up and be vocal when their rights are trampled upon by those in power? This characteristic simply does not exist in most of us.
Who are the Minority Communities? They are Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jain and Zorastrians (Parsis), according to Section 2 (c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. Minority Concentration Districts, Minority Concentration Blocks and Minority Concentration Towns, have been identified on the basis of both population data and backwardness parameters of Census 2001 of these areas.
As per the Census 2011, the minorities in India constitute about 19.3 percent of the total population. Christians (the government clubs Catholics, Protestants and all other sister churches in one category i.e. Christians) constitute 2.3 percent of the total population.
Out of this, Catholics form a miniscule percentage. Therefore in numerical terms, they simply do not cut much ice. Their voice does not matter to the party in power. One way to make their voice heard would be to feed them a special diet and mould them the Israel way to cultivate both brain and brawn including knowledge of self-defence and a mind of steel.
Please note Israel is 150 times smaller than India which is approximately 3,287,263 sq km, while Israel is approximately 21,937 sq km; and 0.53 times as big as Kerala. Yet the world holds such a tiny nation state in awe because of its innovative and indomitable spirit.
Raising our voices for Minority Rights also means being vocal against injustices meted out by our own Minority Institutes which take Article 30 for granted and think they have got a carte blanche to run their institutes as per their whims and fancies (hire, fire, exploitation of staff and clerical sex abuse).
The nuncio must have noticed this Achilles’ heel in the Indian Church and must be complimented for addressing issues which ail the Catholic community. Unlike his predecessors, he appears to have his ears to the ground. In October 2021 he issued a strongly-worded message to the Tamil Nadu clergy, asking it to stay away from holding positions in independent trusts and NGOs, saying that they become “financial and political power bases for the priests involved.”
A good start to being vocal about protection of Minority Rights would be to have a good understanding of the Indian Constitution. This can be done in a systematic manner in our Sunday classes, schools, and church conventions and in all lay associations with a view to making Christians aware of their Constitutional rights and also duties.
Every now and then when Minority Institutions’ interests are at stake, CBCI and some bishops espouse the need for study and dissemination of the Indian Constitution. But these lofty intentions evaporate within a few days of the conventions. The best approach to make Christians vocal about their Constitutional rights would be to invest in their training in various professional courses namely IAS, IPS, Judges, Lawyers, Management where they would be able to influence policy-making at the national level.
For this, a diocese-wise intensive approach is a must to identify meritorious students from parish or diocese-wise database of students. Financial details (creation of diocese-wise Corpus Fund) also need to be worked out with the aid of Christian finance professionals/businesspersons. This is possible when there is Diocese-wise strong Lay leadership with vision and without any axe to grind.
Mr.Isaac Gomes has highlighted a very important issue . He has also suggested importtant measures that need to be taken .
There have been several initiatives taken by Catholic Association of Bengal to help Christian students of the State to secure Minority Scholarships . Also, awareness programs in this regard have been organized . But a lot more needs to be done and , as Mr, Gomes says, a strong Laity group must be set up with Diocesan support in order to do this. The Diocese needs to acknowledge the efforts made by CAB in this regard and recognize that this Laity group can take matters forward with Diocesan support.
The Social Teachings of the Church right from Rerum Novarum (1891) of Pope Leo XIII until the present Pope Francis encyclicals give directions to uphold dignity and rights of all people. During the post Second Vatican Council whereas the Latin American Church called for conferences consisting of Bishops, clergy n the Laity, such ecclesiastical events were to empower the Church leadership to fight many injustices and dehumanisations of the voiceless. The Church in Latin America became vocal and vibrant. When the Church in India is gathering momentum to make Church Synodal we are still far behind in forming lay leaders who can voice the concerns of minorities. Many faithful are unaware of their own minority rights and there is lack of training in educating the fundamental rights of the citizens as per the Constitution of India grants. It’s a Herculean task to implement these at the grassroots to make the Church leadership effective and vibrant. This moment of ‘Kairos’ as the Church is moving forward towards Synodality, it’s the responsibility of all concerned to take up the cause of minority rights and to empower the church to live its Pentecostal charism.
The laity should not expect the hierarchy to empower them. Dr Ambedkar had said that knowledge is empowerment. The first step is for the laity to study the provisions of Vatican II, Canon Law, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and various other documents. No capitalist will educate the workers about their rights, nor will a police officer tell a detainee. One must learn for one’s self.
For centuries the laity has been told to just pray pay and obey. Now we want this suppressed section to become vocal for their minority rights. Their anger and frustration will be directed at the hierarchy more than the government. That is what happened in the French Revolution.