Casteism in the Catholic Church of India
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A divided Catholic cemetery in Trichy of Tamil Nadu State,
India (the portion on the left is for the upper-caste and the one on the right is for the lower-caste Catholics)
Photo courtesy: bbc.co.uk/ |
What is casteism? Casteism is prejudice or antagonism directed against someone of a different caste in the Indian Hindu society. Hindus, even after their conversion to other religions -- including Christianity -- do maintain some sort of casteism among themselves.
Casteism comes from the word 'caste.' According to the Wikipedia, a caste is a form of social stratification characterized by endogamy (the custom of marrying within one's own caste or group), hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultural notions of purity and pollution.
According to the BBC, India's Hindu caste system is among the world's oldest forms of surviving social stratification. This caste system is more than 3,000 years old and it divides Hindus into rigid hierarchical groups based on their karma (work or occupation) and dharma (religion or duty).
Ancient India's religious texts, called the Vedas, speaks of the caste system that divides Hindus into four main categories -- starting from the top to bottom -- the Brahmins (priests, academics or teachers), Kshatriyas (warriors, kings or rulers, and administrators), Vaishyas (merchants, landowners or farmers, herders, craftspeople), and Shudras (manual labourers, peasants or farm workers, servants). Later, a fifth group or caste called the Dalits (outcasts or untouchables), emerged and they are persons, from the first four groups, who have been condemned and driven out of their individual caste because of their serious sins, transgressions, or crimes. They, then, sought refuge among other similarly condemned people, whose professions are considered 'dirty.' They work as street sweepers, latrine cleaners, leather workers, etc.
In later ages, some Indian Hindus converted to Christianity but did not abandon their earlier socio-religious caste system. In spite of Christ's teaching "love your neighbor as yourself," they hung on to the caste system, which is more or less present among both the Catholic priestly class and laypersons. In name, they are Catholic ("without any bias towards others"), but in practice, they are still caste Hindus.
During the 2003 'ad limina' (required periodic) visits of the Catholic archbishops of the ecclesiastical provinces of Madras-Mylapore, Madurai, and Pondicherry-Cuddalore of India, Pope John Paul II had reminded them that "It is the Church's obligation to work unceasingly to change hearts, helping all people to see every human being as a child of God, a brother or sister of Christ, and therefore a member of our own society."
Please read the following to see the situation of casteism in the Indian Catholic Church:
- India's Caste System (britannica.com)
- Christian caste (britannica.com)
- Caste System among Indian Christians
- Dalit Christian
- Caste, Catholicism and Indian Culture
- Catholics and Caste System
- Not even the Church escapes India's caste system (Sept. 10, 2013)
- Dalit Catholics continue to battle upper caste aggression (Aug. 2, 2015)
- Discrimination within the Church (June 6, 2016)
- Protesters decry caste prejudice within India's Catholic Church (March 24, 2016)
- 'Stop caste discrimination in the Church' (March 12, 2017)
- Catholic Church in India condemns caste system in new policy document empowering Dalits (Dec. 20, 2016)
- Indian Dalits find no refuse from caste in Christianity (Sept. 14, 2010)
- Is the Church finally acting against India's caste system? (May 5, 2017)
- The Indian caste system is based on racism (Feb. 6, 2016)
- Dalit Life in Catholic Church of South India: Dimension of Discrimination (July 2013)
- Kerala Christians and the Caste System (1976)
- Introduction to Caste in Christianity: Case of Kerala (Nov. 27, 2015)
- South Indian Christians, Purity/Impurity, and the Caste System (by D. Mosse) (1996)
- India: Catholic bishops issue document on Dalits, condemn caste system (Dec. 18, 2016)
- Papal intervention sought to end Dalit discrimination in India (Sept. 11, 2019)
- Caste off: The plight of Catholic Dalits in India (Feb. 8, 2013)
- India's Christian Untouchables: Christian Dalits fight for equality in their communities and nation (Nov. 2012)
- Dalit Christians in India file complaint with UN against the Vatican (Accuse Church of rampant caste-based discrimination) (June 29, 2015)
- Separate cemeteries for Dalits (June 4, 2011)
- Unchristian things in the Indian Church (a chapter of a book)
- Pope Francis' silence disappoints India's Dalit Catholics (Oct. 16, 2019)
- Dalit Catholics continue to battle upper caste aggression (Aug. 2, 2015)