CBCI GENERAL BODY MEETING - SPECIAL Minutes of the meeting held in Varanasi from March 21 to 28, 1998
CATHOLIC INDIA Page no. 98 CASTEISM IN THE CHURCH: Christianity is not a caste religion. Church is the people of God and all the people are equal before God. The various Churches are also equal. There may be elder sisters and younger sisters among the churches but no superior and inferior. But it is a sad fact that caste system on which social organization has been built, has entered into the Church of India. The depressed classes of people belonging to the lowest level of the caste hierarchy were known as 'harijans'. Today the term Dalits is used to denote them. Literally the word means the weak, the broken the oppressed. In the Church today then name 'Dalit Christians' is used to denote Christians of scheduled caste origin. The problem of the Dalit Christians has come to focus today. The Dalit Christians are in fact discriminated by the government and the Churches. The rights and privileges given to the Dalits by the Government are denied to the Christian Dalits because they were converted to Christianity. It is a pity that in the Church also the Dalit Christians are discriminated because they are 'low caste or out castes'. In recent years the problem of the Dalit Christians is brought to the attention of the Church and the state. It seems that the Church has not offered opportunities to the Dalit members to come up educationally and socially. As a result even after hundreds of years of their existence in the church, they remain on the periphery of the community. There are few priests and leaders of the Church and from the Dalit section. In the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar where majority of the Christians are Dalits this problem is seriously felt. According to the reports 70% of the Tamil Catholics are Dalits. It is reported that out of 14 Bishops in TN only one is a Dalit. The percentage of Tamil priests are only 4%. There is no significant steps taken by the Church till recently to lift the socio-economic condition of the Dalits. Vocation from Dalit Christians have not been encouraged. A dalit priest's feelings have been expressed in the following words: 'We do understand that vocation is from God, but it boggles our mind why He should choose His priests from non-Dalit only. Is God too casteist? Does he also practice untouchability? Recorded from:- Cf. J. Kananaikal, "The Emerging Dalit Identity" Social action Vol. 43 Page 401 J. Massey, "The Role of the Churches inthe whole Dalit Issues" Religion and Society, Vol. XI page 94. Antony Raj, Dalit Christian Reality in Tamilnadu" JeevadharaXXII, page 128