By Nirmala Carvalho
Pune, June 16, 2022: A Catholic bishop in India has reached out to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the umbrella organization of Hindu nationalists groups.
On June 12 in Pune, the cultural capital of the western Indian state of Maharashtra, Bishop Thomas Dabre of Poona took part in the launch of the Social Science Journal, a quarterly journal published by the Shripati Shastri Research Institute of Social Sciences, which is linked to the Hindu religious right.
“The RSS had published a periodical to promote research on matters Indian,” said the prelate, a former member of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue and a former president of the Office for the doctrine of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India. “They flashed my two-page message in their front page” and “invited me to attend the program,” the bishop told AsiaNews.
“In the meetings of the Indian bishops I have always said that we must engage them in dialogue. The late Archbishop Abraham Viruthakulangara of Nagpur wanted this dialogue, but he left us prematurely. Nothing has happened since then.
“I personally maintain good relations with the RSS. I have forged bonds of friendship with them and it was an honor for me that they published my message. I want to act as an intermediary between the Catholic Church and them because Pune is the main center of the RSS ideology.”
In his address, Bishop Dabre said that love for country unites the RSS and the Christian community, remarks that have been widely reported by the media and that aroused some negative feelings among Indian Christians, especially at a time growing intolerance on the part of Hindu nationalists towards religious minorities.
“I am reading all the reactions. It is like a storm in a teacup,” Bishop Dabre explained. “The reactions are most probably based on ignorance on what I exactly meant and what exactly is the RSS trying to say.
“If people are saying that RSS values are opposed to Gospel values, I would like to know which RSS values are opposed to Gospel values.”
As for his position, he said that when he spoke at the launch he insisted on “a need for a dialogue between the RSS and the Church in order to clear the misunderstanding and prejudices on either side. [. . .] Have those who are creating the controversies ever talked to the RSS? Do they know the RSS?”
“I think the principles of the RSS should be acceptable to Christianity because Jesus himself was a patriot: he loved the Jewish people; he loved the Jewish culture. [. . .] On that basis I made the point that Jesus was a patriot and his followers should also be patriots.”
In “the Holy Bible it is written that God gave the Jews the land of Israel, so He gave every Nation their land with fixed boundaries. It is in Deuteronomy, 32, Isiah, 34, and also in the Psalm that God has distributed land among all the people.”
This is why, “we Christians love our country and are patriots,” which “are the principles of the RSS: love of the land, love of the people and love of culture. In this context I said the principles and values of the RSS are acceptable to us Christians.”
At the launch, “I praised them,” saying “that their approach is quite correct and that everything should be research based. I told them that in a country where 30 percent of the population is in poverty, and with [. . .] widespread superstition, in such a situation we need objective facts.” which “will be brought to light by research.”
Dialogue is the logical step to clear the foul air that exists. I fully agree with commentator Isaac Gomez.
Congratulations Bishop for your bold initiative. RSS is not BOKO Haram as some other commentators want readers to believe.
Bishop Dabre :“If people are saying that RSS values are opposed to Gospel values, I would like to know which RSS values are opposed to Gospel values.”
I kindly choose to disagree with you Bishopji. Jesus would give the same treatment to the RSS as he gave the Pharisees of his time.
Talk to them, Yes please. Accede to their ideology, No thank you.
Gospel values are diametrically opposed to central RSS thinking.
By urging the Church (and its leaders) to “engage in dialogue” with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Bishop Thomas Dabre of Pune has no doubt stirred up a hornet’s nest. But he must be complimented for speaking “without fear” which is essentially what Pope Francis has urged the People of God to do while participating in parish-wise and diocese-wise preparatory process. Bishop Dabre’s call for dialogue is also in keeping with the Catholic Church’s stand of engaging in a dialogue with all sections of people, and not necessarily with only Religious heads/groups (as mentioned in his comments by one towering lay leader). The bishop’s very challenging call is all the more relevant in an increasingly pluralistic society like India, where Christians form only a minuscule 2.3% comprising 500+ church denominations! Admitting that RSS is not a religious group from the standpoint of Ecumenical or Unity Octave but isn’t it very much a part of the People of God? Bishop Dabre is right in his assessment that the Church cannot wish away RSS.
For fruitful engagement with groups with dogmatic or contrarian views, the Catholic Church must consciously produce quality leaders, especially to engage with the ruling dispensation and at the policy-making levels. For this the Church has to invest in career development courses (law, judiciary, administration, management, finance, medicine, artificial intelligence and other greenfield leadership courses) instead of squandering lakhs and lakhs of rupees on Bishops (?) Franco Mulakkal, K.A. William and such other black sheep in financing expensive court cases . We need many more Chhotebhais and John Dayals and that too hard core modern day street-smart professional avatars. But tragedy is day in and day out we see the same handful church leaders wear different hats for different occasions. The Church has tons of money to invest in Human Resource / Skill Development but its priorities are lopsided. Hope Bishop Dabre and his colleagues will have the courage to accept that the Laity constitutes more than 95% of the Church. Without concerted Laity development, the Church will fall apart and all the dialogues, dissertations and even Synods will be meaningless!
Given the present climate and, above all, the attitude of the BJP and the RSS, even an attempt to dialogue with either of them is like throwing pearls before swine, with the added risk of having our hands chewed off by swine. Need one say more?
Mathew ch .28:19-20
“Go therefore make disciples of all nation,baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I commanded you”
In India RSS controlled government in various states closed the doors for other religion especially Christian religion and it’s values.Christian believe and worship one God, Hindu religion worship millions of God’s.Only Christian religion teach to love enemies as you love yourself and your neighbour .
There is a fundamental difference ,i feel pity on this Pune bishop.A leader in responsible position should comprehend his thoughts before delivery
Does the Bishop know the RSS View that all religions are equal and so no propagation of any religion,no conversion to any religion is required. India has Hindu religion and all can be Hindus.
A pure dialogue is appreciable.
It clears many hurdles.
The hardcore RSS ideology is: “one nation, one religion and one language. India is for Hindus. All those who belong to other religions must get out of the country”. BJP implements this. Are these in any way close to the Gospel values??? The bishop seems to have been thoroughly brainwashed by the RSS.
What is the stand of CBCI/CCBI on this matter?
Synod and Synodality encourage us to dialogue with all leaving none. Hindutva is certainly different from Hinduism. We can dialogue with both the groups at all times.
We know that RSS groups are guided by Two texts, namely, The Bunch of Thoughts and We or Our Nationhood Defined. We find some lead themes such as:
“India is a land of Hindus. India means that one is a Hindu. Establishing the Hindu Rashtra in our Birthright.” – Said Golwalkar, Muslims & Christians are alien invaders, The only useful people for the human race are the Hindus, The non-Hindus, though born are equivalent are like 2 legged animals
We the Hindus are the enlightened Aryans, The symbol of Indian Nation is Hindu culture, The pride of India lies in Hindu Religion, In case non-Hindus want to live in India they have to merge with Hindus.
V.D. Savarkar said, “Hindus share in the common blood. Those Indians for whom India is the Janmabhoomi, but who subscribe to other religions have fallen out of this mainstream of blood and belonging. They have thus lost their rights as equal members of this nation and should therefore be prepared for repression or even extermination.”
Hindutva Politics never considers social issues such as Caste discrimination & poverty as serious issues. But to maintain the status quo of Brahminism by safeguarding caste system.
Hindutva Politics denies
– Denies the pluralistic secular nature of India
– Tries to bring the Brahminic culture as the national culture
– Hides all discriminations of caste. Projects non-hindus as enemies.
– Tries to bring the Dalits, tribals and others under the umbrella of Hinduism for the sake of power.
In what way does the Gospel reflect the above ideas..??
“ I am the Way, the Life, and the Truth”. Said Jesus. In the dialogue RSS may be asked whether the bishop and his sheep can enjoy the freedom to believe in Jesus ‘ announcements and to live accordingly in our .country. Will we have the freedom to propagate Jesus and His Teachings ? It is good to find out similarities in many aspects and try to co operate for the common good
Religious dialogue is very much a part of Catholic teaching. However, the RSS is NOT a religious organization. It is more political in nature. Also recall how the CBCI in its naivete invited Arun Shourie to address them it resulted in the publication of his book Harvesting Souls in which he launched an all out attack against Christianity. So let us have the simplicity of the dove and the wisdom of the serpent as Jesus advised.
Hope bishop is not afraid of ED. While reading about him here I feel he needs doctor checkup. Bishop wants to know which RSS values are opposed to Gospel values. Can’t he see what is going on in India in the name of Religion? Today most of the importance is given to one particular Religion from all the sides. Have bishop closed his eyes? Hope he is aware of the things happening in our country. Religion is not important but important is GOD. RSS and any other organizations have no value when they remain for themselves and whatever they can do for their own organizations. Remember God is supreme and high. Religions are the means to know about Him. Hope bishop will take some moments to go through this following post (recent post) – https://mattersindia.com/2022/06/christian-forum-seeks-commissions-to-redress-anti-minority-violence/
Perfect.
Perfect
Perfect. Well said.
100% correct.
In my comments the phrase “But he must be complimented for speaking “without fear” which is essentially what Pope Francis has urged the People of God to do while participating in parish-wise and diocese-wise preparatory process.”
should read: But he (Bishop Dabre) must be complimented for speaking “without fear” which is essentially what Pope Francis has urged the People of God to do while participating in parish-wise and diocese-wise preparatory process for Synod 2023 at Rome.
As Christians and true followers of Christ we hate evil and not evil doers. Because there is every possibility for an evil doer to change and transform towards good. This invitation is open to all who seek goodness in life and welfare of others. With this understanding having dialogue with everyone irrespective of each one’s ideological differences is a good effort indeed. But in this process let us not make compromises or strategise survival techniques or make redundant the kingdome values of freedom, fellowship and justice assured to every citizen of this country. Beware of pseudo patriotism that we are capable of projecting both in our religious life and our life in a civil society.