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On Contradiction of being Dalit Christians

1. Introduction: Context

There is yearning for renewal in the Church and among religious Orders/Congregations throughseeking the roots and creative fidelity in order to translate the vision of the founders of theChurch and of the Religious Orders/Congregations through theological, social and pastoral

reflections especially based on the current events in the Church. In this context this is a

reflection, based on study and research especially in Tamil Nadu, which would help the people

concerned, especially the authorities to make discernment for action-oriented faith-life.

In a world of social and moral evolution, Christianity came about as a paradigm shift. The world

is full of contradictions filled with tension and struggle: the rich and the poor, the powerful andthe powerless, the ruler (affluent) and the ruled (downtrodden), the discriminator and the

discriminated, the suppressor and the suppressed, the educated and the uneducated, the literate

and the illiterate, the vociferous and the voiceless etc. The economic development of the worlditself is seen as an uncomfortable coexistence of economic increase and decrease with the

outcome of the mutually exclusive opposites leading to mutual hatred and disharmony. These

contradictions could be internal, on the conceptual or ideological level, leading to external

conflicts. And the internal causes lead to external changes, sometimes violently and sometimesthrough alternate power-building, with the outcome as constructive or destructive.

Walking through the faith-lane one faces the contradiction between Christian faith and practiceand one realizes how the Church stands today as an anti-value and anti-witness to Christ and His

teachings, through discrimination and marginalization. And at the same time one is invited to see

the ray of hope of better tomorrow amidst contradictions in reality. When the broken say: Our

bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely (Ez 37:11) the Lord of the Universe assures them: When I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O mypeople, I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil;

then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act (Ez 37:13).

2. Jesus: Fulcrum of Unity

When Jesusproclaimed, I am the Truth, the Way, the Light, and the Life (Jn 14:6 and Jn 8:12),

He opened up a new meaning of mission and ministry. It was a way different from eye -for-an-

eye (Mt 5:38) but a way of holistic redemption with human dignity. It was a life different from

love-your-neighbour-but-hate-your-enemy (Mt 5:43) but it was a sinner-oriented and socially-

discriminated-centred mission. In a nut shell he would tell his followers: You have heard (Mt5:21) but would then add not so with you (Mt 20:25) or but I tell you (Mt 5:22). From the

concept of conformity to class-distinction, he brought out a dynamic contradiction where

people mattered and all are equal and the discriminated in the society are more equal. The richJoseph of Arimathea (Jn 19:58), the influential Nicodemus (Jn 3:1), the powerful Roman

Centurion (Lk 7:2), the learned Pharisee Simon (Lk 7:36), the sinner Mary of Magdala (Mk

16:9), the blind-person C/O road-side (Lk 18:35), the leper/s at the outskirts of the villages (Mk1:40, Lk 17:12), the paralyzed of 38 long years (Jn 5:5), the Samaritan woman at the Jacobs


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well (Jn 4:7), the dog-eats-bread-crump-from-table Canaanite woman (Mt 15:27), workers who

came to work in the vineyard at the eleventh hour and those who came early in the morning (Mt20:8) etc are all the same for him. But his heart went out for the needy the two-copper-coin

widow (Lk 21:2) is a model of generosity since blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is

kingdom of heaven (Mt 5:2); the crying-and-wiping-feet-with-hair sinner (Lk 7:38) is a role

model to be proclaimed all over the globe since the pure in heart will see God (Mt 5:8); theignored Lazarus at the door-step of the Millionaire (Lk 16:20) is the ultimate winner since themeek will inherit the earth (Mt 5:5) and the heaven as well. Jesus preached what he believed and

lived out what he preachedThat is why he could preach and teach with authority (Mt 7:29). Heeliminated the contradiction between his preaching and his practice.

2.1. Struggle for Justice:

In world of contradictions the Church took roots and spread her wings: It is a universal

phenomenon that largely the poor and the socially discriminated embraced Christianity since it

promised a society with a difference where what you have matters nothing but what you are

matters everything. Even now they very much hesitate to leave the faith for the sake of monetarybenefits. The Church grew out of poverty but she seems to have today distanced herself from the

poor. The foundation stones of the Church were the neglected in the society, namely the poor andthe downtrodden, but today the socially discriminated are sidelined and ignored in the Church.

Jesus did not say in vain: The stone rejected by the builders would become the corner-stone (Mt

12:10). Today we are in the turning point of time where the people, especially the marginalized

and the discriminated, would reject those who proclaim themselves as the builders and stewardsof the Church and they would found a Church anew based on the original model of Jesus, namely

a Church of the poor, by the poor, and for the poor. Then the Church would not mean the

towering buildings and the Shepherd would stand alone without the sheep. And the heart-beat ofthe Church, in our Indian context, would be the economically poor, religiously neglected,

socially discriminated, culturally humiliated and politically ignored.

During the recently concluded 12th

Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops inRome the Asian delegate Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil of Guwahati said:

"Missionaries have remained creative and kept entering into new areas of work. Their

services in the fields of education and health are greatly esteemed. [...] They are active inthe struggle for justice for oppressed groups; in the work for social change, cultural

promotion, protection of environment, defense of life and family; in advocacy on behalf

of the weak, downtrodden and the marginalized, and giving voice to the voiceless. [...]Even where the Gospel is resisted most, the evangelical witness of socially relevant

works find welcome." (Cf. Zenit.org, Oct 7 08)

We could reflect on how much the Church in Tamil Nadu has been active in the struggle for

justice for oppressed groups and how much progress has been so far made in the work for

social change.

2.2. Towards the Parousia:

We could reflect where we come from and where we are heading to. We revisit the facts that the

missionary spirit has frozen into institutions, the dynamic spirit of seeking for truth has become


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static in comfort, and the parousia of Jesus, when he would ask for an account of our life,

mission and ministries, appears to be conveniently sidelined and seems to be a long forgottenconcept (which is perhaps taught in our theologates for academic exams). There is an urgent

need for renewal in the liberative fundamentals of our faith, especially when a lot of

misconceptions and deliberate distortions are let loose opposed to the integral emancipatory

efforts of the Dalits. In the words of Martin Luther King: we are not satisfied, and we will not besatisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream (Amos5:24).

3. Contradiction of Mission and Ministry:

The mission entrusted by Jesus to his followers was to go all over the nations and proclaim thegood news to the poor and to set free the oppressed (Lk 4:18). This freedom and liberation is

holistic: the economically crippled should be able to walk, the socially timid and dumb should be

able to speak voicing forth their rights and attain their dignity, the eyes of those blinded by

prejudices and hatred should be open, to bombard those who turn a deaf-ear to the cry of the

needy and the suppressed. He insisted that the quality of the tree of mission would be judged bythe fruits of the ministry of liberation. When disciples of John the Baptist came and posed the

question: Are you the one or should we look for someone? Jesus asked them to decipher forthemselves what he was doing for the people, namely curing individual diseases, challenging

social sicknesses, addressing political evils (Lk 7:21)He said: go and tell John what you have

SEEN and HEARD (Lk 7:22). And he set the doing and not mere preaching as the crit eria on

the last day (Mt 25:31-46).

Today we need to see around how much we talk and how much we walk the talk. The Church,

especially the hierarchy with the claim as the direct successors of the Apostles of Jesus, shouldstand for the poor and the oppressed. Both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament we

see God taking the side of the poor and the exploited and Jesus sharing the lot of the poor and the

discriminated. Yahweh made out of the slaves of Egypt a great and powerful nation It is for

that he brought them out of slavery with mighty hand and outstretched arm (Dt 26:8). Theoutstretched arm was to protect the Israelites and the raised hand was to smash any obstacles or

threats on the way to the Promised Land. And today we need to reflect on our own mission and

ministry in the Church of Tamil Nadu and see if Tamil Nadu Church has extended this

outstretched arm and raised hand to all its people and especially the weak. We could, for

example, revisit the recent incidents in Eraiyur in the Archdiocese of Pondicherry-Cuddalore.

The Eraiyur incident is not an exception. On the contrary it is the tip of an ice-berg that is foundhidden in the hearts of the Christians of Tamil Nadu in general and the Church authorities and

Religious Superiors in particular. Hence this deserves a theological analysis in itself.

3.1. Eraiyur

Voice against discrimination:

In Eraiyur even in the past the Dalit Catholics have been discriminated: Already there was

tension brewing up in October 2007 which exploded as attack on the Dalit Cathoics in March

2008 (For further study on Eraiyur, Cf. A. Kulandai, Eraiyur Oru Siraiyur, Chennai: Payani Pub.2008). Even the funeral procession of the Dalits would not be tolerated along the main road

since it was assumed to be polluting the area. Even when the mother of a Dalit priest (of the


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Archdiocese of Pondicherry-Cuddalore) died (in 1999) the funeral Mass could not be celebrated

in the Parish Church. The Canon 1177/1 prescribes that the funeral of any deceased member ofthe faithful should normally be celebrated in the church of that persons proper parish . And the

Canon 1365 states one who is guilty of prohibited participation in religious rites is to bepunished with a just penalty. (But it has been ignored). The Archbishop, instead of breaking this

social discrimination, seemed to have celebrated Mass in the Dalit cemetery (supposed to beexclusively for the Dalits) without any penal sanction for the offence committed (Can 1311). A

group of the so called touchable Christians seemed to have told their Archbishop: Caste is more

important for us than religion. Blood of caste seems to be thicker than the waters of

Baptism!The discrimination has reached a culmination when the Dalits made a request for a

Dalit parish. This could be the beginning of a Dalit Church in Tamil Nadu dreamt by Fr Antony

Raj SJ, the founder of Dalit Christian Liberation Movement (DCLM). In Eraiyur there werepeaceful demonstrations for many days and the Church authorities remained indifferent. The

tension broke into violence. The Marian grotto in the locality of the Dalits was destroyed and the

statue of our Lady was damaged. The Dalits were so mercilessly manhandled and their houses

destroyed that the police official, who was a Catholic, gave shooting-order since he could not

tolerate Catholics destroying Catholics. Even in the melee the certificates of the educated DalitCatholics were hunted and destroyed but the incident has been termed by a hierarchy as

engineered by a group of Dalit priests who have access to foreign money. This sounds the samewhen the BJPs and Bajrang Dal Parivar (the self-appointed fundamentalist Hindutva outfits)

accuse the Catholic Church of foreign money for forced conversion. Instead of doing justice the

demands and cry of the Dalits for justice is labeled by the hierarchy as emotional. Even the

bishops of neighbouring dioceses were denied access to visit the area or the victims. Vatican IIwould assert that the cry of the afflicted (Ps 9:12) should find an echo in the lives (ET 18) of

the disciples of Jesus who identified himself with them (Mt 25:35-40). But the reality seems to

be different.

Instead of taking action against the perpetrators of violence and social discrimination the

hierarchy laments that the Tamil Nadu Church is helpless since it has only a spiritual power

(Interestingly the Code of Canon Law states: The power of governance is divided into

legislative, executive and judicial power Can 135/1). When the Dalits demonstrated in front of

the Bishops houses the police force could be used to remove them or to press legal actions

against them but when it comes to social atrocities helplessness is cited. During the consecrationof Bishop Gabriel (in Trichy) the demonstrating people, about 700 in number, were rounded up

by the police force and were kept away till the ceremonies were over. Walking down the

corridors of time we could see that the Church authorities resorted to legal force, just to cite twoexamples, Pastor Bartholomaeus Zieganbalg in Tranquebar Mission and Archbishop Leonard of

Madurai, but in favour of establishing human rights.

3.2. Assertion for equal Rights:

In Panipulan Vayal of Sivagangai Diocese (in May 2008) the Dalits who had tried to assert their

rights and struggled for independence were suppressed. Everywhere the Dalits are suppressed

since they should not ask for their rights. The background of the violence against Christians inOrissa, in spite of the Maoists taking up the responsibility of killing of the Hindu Swamy, is not

conversion as they say but the fact that the Dalits and Tribals are given education which would


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empower them in the society and that should be sabotaged. It is with the same attitude that the

Church hierarchy try to suppress the Dalits who try to come up through education and who openup their eyes to the reality of suppression and discrimination and who begin to raise their voice

for their dignity and equality.

The education and development of the Dalits and the Tribals will

make the caste hierarchy crumble and the dominant castes can not sit at the top of social and

administrative ladder and lord over or master them. Something similar is happening in TamilNadu. Some dominant caste hierarchy do not want to see the Dalits come up in their education

and take part in the decision making bodies of the Church. So they lament and accuse the Dalits

of so many baseless allegations. They are only afraid that their fort is already crumbling and the

false images that they maintain and propagate among the pious, innocent and obedientChristians are fading away. They take all preemptive attempts to prevent the untouchables to

reach unreachable heights in social and religious status through empowerment via educationand employment. Dominant-caste Catholics destroying Dalit-Catholics is worse than Bajrang

Dal destroying the Dalit and Tribal Catholics!

4. Anatomy of Humiliation:

In India the caste system, known as Varnashrama Dharma, is based on discrimination. Initially

the fair-skinned invaders from the north drove down to the south the dark-skinned natives of theland (This is the VarnashramaOrigin of colours and social status) and later when the invaders

became powerful they introduced the caste system and added an appendix: out-of-caste group.

4.1. Caste-system:

The four caste-levels, as per the hierarchy, would be the priestly clan, the warrior group, the

commercial agents, and the working class. The priestly clan, as per the myth, were born of thehead (Brahmins); the rulers and warriors (Kshatriyas) were born of the shoulder; the merchants

(Vaisyas) were born of the thigh; and the working class (Sudras) were born of the feet of Lord

Brahma, the Creator. The dharma (duties) follows the caste-system: the Brahmins are to learn

and teach, the Kshatriyas are to rule, the Vaisyas are to do business, while the Sudras are down-to-earth doing all works needed for the other three dominant varnas [Cf. The Hindu SocialOrder and Its Unique Features in: Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Writings and Speeches, Vasant

Moon (ed), Mumbai: Education Department, 1987, Vol.3, pp. 116-129]. The unwanted appendixbut necessary for life, namely the out-of-caste, are the untouchables (also known as Panchama,

the fifth category). As Narendra Jadhav would put it:

They were denied human rights and were forced to scrape together a living fromdenigrating chores such as carrying human manure and removing the carcasses of cattle.

They were powerless to change their caste-based social status. There was no scope for a

revolt. How could mere mortals challenge a structure ordained by God himself? Social

and religious sanctity had ensured unquestioning perpetration of the age-old system. Aperson belonging to a sweeper caste had to dutifully carry human excrement on his head

with the hope that he could look forward to bettering his lot in the another life (Cf. N.

Jadhav, Untouchables, New York: Scribner, 2005, p.4).

They would work but in work-hierarchy theirs would be below the works of the Sudras, namelyto till the soil, to handle the dead-animals, to clean the human excreta etc. Since they do the

unclean works they are polluted but the produce of the land, fruit of the labour of the


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untouchables etc are not unclean! These are the exploited group without any human dignity

They do not enjoy human rights nor equality. They are just commodities, like the slaves,

employed as bonded labourers. (At least a slave could be set free but these out-caste-people can

never be freed from untouchability!) They are the Dalits, which literally means the broken (the

crushed and torn asunder). The caste system is in existence from the Vedic age. Even education

and economic affluence could not break the caste-system. According to this dharma, a Dalitonce born a Dalit would die a Dalit!

The condition of the Dalits could be well described by the concept of anthropological poverty,proposed by Engelbert Mveng, an African theologian: When persons are deprived not only of

goods and possessions of a material, spiritual, moral, intellectual, cultural, or sociological order,

but of everything that makes up the foundation of their being-in-the-world they sink into akind of poverty which no longer concerns only exterior or interior goods or possessions but

strikes at the very being, essence, and dignity of the human person.

4.2. Pro-active response:

Buddhism came into existence as a pro-active response to the caste-ridden Hinduism but

Hinduism saw to it that Buddhism was expelled from India Buddhism instead spread to othercountries via Sri Lanka, Japan, China etc. Christianity which claims that there is nothing

unclean created by God (Acts 10:15) could not make inroad with regard to the first threecategory of the caste-system. It is the Sudras and the Dalits (with the Dalits as the majority) who

embraced Christianity with the hope that this religion would free them from the caste oppressionunder which they have been suffering for centuries. Even according to the Bishops Conference

of Tamil Nadu, the Dalits make at least 65% of the Catholic Church in Tamil Nadu (Cf. Minutes

of TNBC 1992-meeting). Christianity could not go beyond about 3% of Indian population Neither could it break the caste-barrier in India in spite of the fact that about 85% of schools are

run by Christians in India. The Catholic Church in Tamil Nadu, as in India, has produced

efficient clerks and middle-level work-force but did not set eyes on forming political leaders,

business magnates, social or religious reformers. The followers of Christ in India are mostly thesudras and the untouchable Dalits but now the Church authorities prepare the future generation,

ignoring the Dalits, in the society. This is so because the Church also holds on to the caste-

system. The Church authorities see to it that the mission and the vision of the Tamil NaduChurch do not go beyond schools and a few colleges. And there is no evolution of farsighted

projects to bring these people, who are the artery of the Catholic Church, into the mainstream of

the nation through employment. They were, instead, made to be dependent on the Churchhierarchy all through their life. (Tamil Nadu Bishops Conference along with the TNPCRI

brought out the 10-point programme and later 8-point programme but not much has taken off!)

The discriminated are more discriminated and the exploited are more exploited. The

proclamation of Jesus in the Synagogue of Nazareth, namely good news to the poor (Lk 4:18)still remains a distant echo in India. The echo, namely integrated liberation and holistic dignity

for the Dalits remains only a talk (and an empty slogan) but the Church in Tamil Nadu is yet to

walk the talk. Vatican II clearly spells out the need and meaning of human dignity:

We cannot truly pray to God the Father of all if we treat any people in other thanbrotherly fashion, for all men are created in Gods image. Mans relation to God theFather and mans relation to his fellow-men are so dependent on each other that the


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Scripture says, he who does not love, does not know God (I Jn 4:8). There is no basis,

therefore, either in theory or in practice for any discrimination between individual andindividual, or between people and people arising either from human dignity or from the

rights which flow from it (NA 5).

4.3. Evolution of Church-structure:

Casteism is very much alive in the Church in Tamil Nadu. Just we could have a glance of the

Church buildings in Tamil Nadu: The caste-mindedness and caste-discrimination were so strongthat the Churches for the dominant caste people and for the Dalits were differentEven Masses

would not be held together for all the faithful, though they shared, according to Paul, one spirit,

one baptism, one faith and one Lord (Eph 4:5). Earlier, the Church in the area of dominant caste

would be the Parish Church and the Presbytery would be adjacent to the Parish Church. Theconsciousness (struggle) of the Dalits for equality started taking shape as missionaries with

social-equality thoughts tried their best for bringing the people together. The success-rate was

slow: Attempts were made to have double-decker Church (one floor for the dominant caste and

one for the lower caste) with one common altar. Then the so called trouser-church came in:One altar with V-shaped wings (one wing for the caste people and the other for the Dalits) so that

the caste Catholics do not cast their eyes on the Dalits (Cf. Siva Subramanian, Kristhavathil

Jathiayamfor discussion on the Vadakankulam Church). The evolution of human rights startedmaking its presence felt: The cross-shaped Church came in The main wing would be for the

caste people while the side wings would be for the Dalits. Then the Dalits were brought in the

main section but with a divider It is this divider that Archbishop Leonard SJ of MaduraiArchdiocese broke down symbolically breaking down the caste discrimination. (Already in the

time of French Governor Dupleux in Pondicherry the barrier-wall, dividing the dominant caste

and the Dalits, in the Samba church was demolished by the parish priest and the Governor and

his wife supported this bold step Cf. Pirabanjan, Vanam Vasappadum, Chennai: Poongothai

Pub., 1958) Even until recently the Dalits were not seated together in many a parish Church inTamil Nadu. Even though they were able to take part in the common liturgy, Holy Communion

was first distributed to the caste people and only then the Dalits could take part in the banquet ofthe Lord. Even the altar boy who helped in Communion distribution would be from the caste

people for the caste people and a Dalit boy for the Dalit Catholics to take part in the

Communion. Even at the Lords banquet there has been discrimination. In the words of Paul

people come together not for the better, but for the worse (I Cor 11:17)!

4.4. Present-day Casteism:

Even today in many places when the Parish Patron/Patroness feast is celebrated the car-

procession would not go into the area of Dalits lest the patron-saint should become polluted. And

the Corpus Christi Procession would not see the light of the Dalit streets. The Dalits are

discriminated even in death. There are, in most places, separate cemeteries for the caste-dead andthe Dalit-dead and even the vehicle used to take the dead bodies to the cemeteries would be

different: one for the caste Catholics and one for the Dalit Catholics. (Even when the separating

wall in Trichy cemetry was demolished, the local Church came forward to rebuild it). Even deathcannot part with untouchability. We have to wait and see whether there would be a caste-heaven

and a Dalit-heaven! Not only the dead-Dalits are skirted off from others by a wall but the living


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as well: In Uthapuram, near Madurai, there is a wall separating the Dalit houses from other

houses. One wonders which side of the wall the Catholic Church and the hierarchy stand. Andthe Church hierarchy have not taken any efforts to break-down this social evil since they claim

they are only spiritual power. The hierarchy cannot offer spiritual solution to human rights

violations. In other words, the spiritualistic (superficial) model of the Church has failed. If one is

truly spiritual he/she cannot but play the prophetic role in denouncing whatever is unjust. Jesuswas truly a spiritual person completely immersed in the Abba experience (of the universal father-

/motherhood of God and therefore the universal brother-/sisterhood of the people) since each one

was created in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:26). In the words of Vatican II:

All men are endowed with a rational soul and are created in Gods image; they have thesame nature and origin and, being redeemed by Christ, they enjoy the same divine calling

and destiny; there is here a basic equality between all men and it must be given evergreater recognition (GS 29).

4.5. Vocation Promotion:

Regarding vocation promotion, under the pretext that the candidate should hail from goodfamilies, Dalits were turned out. The fifth Provincial Council of Goa (1606) stated:

For the dignity of the priesthood and the respect due to ecclesiastical persons, low castesshould not be admitted to orders. Only sons of higher castes, for example Brahmins,

Prabhus, should be ordained. The Synod instructs Rectors of Seminaries not to teach

Latin to non-Brahmins. But all Thomas Christians, being Christians of long and noble

standing, may be admitted to all sacred studies and to Latin (Accao Terceira, Decreto 40,December 4 - See J. Saldanha, An Historical Note: Christians of Scheduled CasteOrigin, in Indian Missiological Review (September, 1996, p. 55).

Taking in Dalits into seminaries and into many religious congregations is a recent phenomenon.Even when a few were admitted into the seminary, they are counted as: i. intellectually inferior;

ii. emotionally reactionaries; and iii. morally weak. They were easily shown the door as early as

possible. Most of the Dalits were sent away (by the caste conscious vocation promoters and

formators) saying they did not have vocation while boys and girls from dominant castes were

retained saying they had vocations as they hailed from good families. A study of when Dalits

were taken into diocesan seminaries and how many were allowed to survive the seminary

formation would be revealing to assert whether the Dalits were called by God to serve His peopleor not. A simple survey of why so many Dalit Catholics from Tamil Nadu have volunteered to

opt for working in northern India would be an eye-opener to say that Dalits were not accepted

here in Tamil Nadu. The fact that a few Congregations, especially women congregations, werefounded mainly for the Dalits is an indication that they were not even tolerated in other

Congregations. This raises the question whether the ministry of the Word is exclusively for the

caste Catholics. But they want the Congregations to minister from the Dalit community in big

number. It is to show numbers to the financial resources abroad, both religious and secular, andthus to increase the economic benefits at the expense of denial of human dignity and equality to

the Dalits. A theological question comes in: When a Dalit priest pronounces the words of

consecration, during the Mass, will there come down a Dalit Christ transforming the wheat-bread

into his Body? Why then many caste Catholics feel uneasy to receive communion from a Dalitpriest? Even the religious resist Dalit leadership in their Congregations. What has the Tamil


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Nadu Church done about this so far? Instead of fighting against this internalized social evil,

attempts were made to bifurcate dioceses on caste-lines and the Dalits have been neglected.

Even after surviving all these ordeals if someone comes up either academically or

administratively the comments would be: After all he/she is a Dalit or he/she became an

administrator/leader because he/she is a Dalit (meaning Dalits cannot have any merit inthemselves). Even if they are successful in administration their names would be smeared by

negative criticism, misinformation, non-cooperation, and character assassination. All attempts

would be made to discredit the person. Not only they would not be appreciated but rather theirmistakes would be blown up. A Dalit has to work 200% percent in order to get perhaps 10%

recognition or approval or appreciation. But for others it is the other way about. There are many

a Dalit priest and religious who exhibited fine leadership but suffered humiliation. And a few

became broken withinThey were the Dalits (meaning broken) both in and out.

Gutierrez would tell the rich, who accuse the poor to be immoral and therefore they have no right

to demand their equal rights, that the poor are not saints but they are loved by God because they

are exploited and discriminated by humans. The Church hierarchy need s this basic theologicalunderstanding.

4.6. Sharing the lot with the Marginalized:

The fast changing social consciousness is able to affect the secular Governments, both in the

Centre and State, and even the public sectors but not the Catholic Church. There is more andmore awareness as well as demand for affirmative action in public and private sectors but the

Church is busy blocking or twisting the affirmative action for the socially marginalized.

Universally there are efforts of Affirmative Action to atone for centuries ofdiscrimination. In

India the Government has reservation for the BC, SC/ST as the Dalits fall in one of the

categories but the Church of Tamil Nadu has not come up with a clear policy with regard toadmission as well as appointment in Church run institutions. Even the attempts made by some

Religious Groups, namely affirmative action for the Dalits, are not appreciated. For example, theCorporate Policy of the Jesuits in Tamil Nadu, that all Dalit Catholics applying to the Jesuit

educational institutions would be admitted making sure of financial assistance and 50% of the

appointments in their schools and colleges would be ensured for the Dalits, has been criticized by

the hierarchy as rocking the boat. Even when the peoples movement is strengthened, educatingthem in social consciousness, training them in human rights, and organizing them to fight for

their dignity, it is decried by the hierarchy as dividing the people (as if the Church otherwise

stands so united). When people-movements question the temporal administration of the Churchauthority it is branded as interference in the administration of successors of the Apostles: It is to

be ascertained that there is to be finance committee in each diocese with at least three of thefaithful as members (Can 492/1) and every parish has to constitute pastoral council (Can

536/1) and a finance committee (Can 537) to facilitate the temporal administration. This wouldgive the faithful, especially the suppressed, participation in decision-making. Unfortunately, in

actual practice, the Catholic Church is far from these democratic expectations. Much has to be

done in this respect.


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Even when our Church leaders go abroad, as we hear from the funding agencies and Church

organizations, they speak only about poverty of the Dalits in particular but they deny theexistence of casteism and caste-discrimination in Tamil Nadu. Even the funds raised abroad in

the name of the Dalits have not been spent for their upliftment: As per the Foreign Contribution

Regulation 2005-06 accounts the Church has spent only 0.12% and 0.32% for SC and ST welfare

respectively (Cf. The Hindustan Times, November 4, 2006). Fortunately, Jesus did not belong tothe caste system here. Otherwise only his caste people would have followed him with conviction.

Jesus, who not only broke himself for the unity of his Church, remains broken into pieces of

caste-groups in Tamil Nadu. The One, Catholic, Apostolic Church is fragmented into multi-,casteistic-, broken-Church. As V.R. Krishna Iyer wrote:

The Kingdom of God that Jesus held up was the forerunner to social justice: The

movement of Jesus was from the people and This rare man of Nazareth resisted Jewishecclesiastical domination, opposed discrimination among brothers and demanded, in

Gods name, socio-economic justice He outraged the hypocrites who did theircommerce inside the temples and the shrines. He drove them out with rare daring. Now,

right before our eyes, our temples and churches are again centres of big business

(Remembering a glorious Rebel, The Hindu Dec 24 2008).If Jesus were to come to Tamil Nadu Church today he would take up again the whip of assertion

to fight for human rights as well as human dignity and equality since as Martin Luther King

would put it our churches are again centres of big business. And of course, Jesus would be

excommunicated and crucified again for taking the side of the discriminated.

5. Multiple Discrimination of Dalit Christians:

Kushwant Singh, former editor of Illustrated Weekly of India, writing in the Hindustan Times

(dated Oct 03rd

08) indicates, in the context of recent incidents of violence and vandalism againstChristians and their Churches in Orissa and elsewhere, that in India the largest number of

converts come from communities discriminated against. He cites the examples of Dr Ambedkar

who led his Mahar community to embrace Buddhism because they were discriminated against

by dominant caste Hindus and Indian Muslims whose ancestors being lower caste embraced

Islam which gave them equal status. This is true also with regard to Catholic Church. Most of

the Catholics in India are of lower castes and of Dalits. But the Dalits are today multiply

discriminated. The International Conference held in the Hague in Nov 2006 also discussed thediscrimination of the Dalits, especially of women. The Dalits are socially discriminated,

religiously neglected, and politically ignored As a consequence they are mostly economically

poor. One can change ones nationality, one can change his/her religion, and one can climb theladder of economic affluence but one cannot change ones caste. Once someone is born a Dalit

even the Ganges waters cannot wash him/her off his/her untouchability and even the baptismal

water has not removed the stigma of ones Dalitness though it could wash one off original sin.

Dalitness is much stronger than the original sin! It looks as though Christ redeemed people fromall sins except the sin of being born a Dalit! And it seems that we could even renounce satan in

baptism but we are not able to renounce the evil of casteism and untouchability in the CatholicChurch!

Just because one is born in a society as a Dalit he/she continues to be a Dalit. And the social

discrimination continues with full force. Thinking that the Word of God would make them


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partakers of the one and the same Jesus they embraced Christianity. But they still remain

untouchables though at times untouchability becomes a kind of social isolation They aretreated in the Church just as they are treated in the society outside. They cannot think of taking

part in the eternal and royal priesthood of Jesus. Not only are they considered as untouchables

but they lose the benefits that the Government extends to their fellow Dalits who were smart

enough not to become Christians. And even if the Dalit Christians convert back to their formerreligion they would not get back the social benefits. So socially they remain, Christians or not,

Dalits Embracing Christianity has not offered anything better to them. Instead, they lose all

benefits offered by the Government for their non-Christian fellow Dalits. They are thus triplydiscriminated. All these reduce them to remain in the lowest rung of the economic ladder.

Instead of fighting and mobilizing all possible energy and sources, as a unified force, to get the

constitutional amendment or Supreme Court verdict in favour of the Dalit Christians (to beincluded in the SC list), the long struggle of the Dalit Christians have been sidelined, silenced

and forgotten. Is there any unity among the leaders of the Church or are they really interested in

the empowerment of the Dalits?

5.1. Dalit

indelible Stigma:

Even when some Dalits rise against the current of discrimination, their Dalitness becomes anindelible stigma. They are not respected for their talents and capabilities but they are branded as

Dalits meaning Dalits cannot and should not become leaders of the society. Just to cite one or

two examples, when R. K. Narayan became the President of India he was not appreciated for his

decades of statesmanship and diplomatic services in many countries but he was just introduced,in the media especially in the dailies, as the Dalit President. When the present Chief Justice of

India assumed office there was no singing of his praise, as done for others, but simply it was

noted that the Chief Justice of India is a Dalit (none of his credentials would matter). If this ishow the President of India and the Chief Justice of India could be treated, what about other

leaders? One could imagine how the Dalit-people of God would be considered and treated. When

a caste person assumes office his/her glory and merit are highly praised but when a Dalit

assumes office his/her only merit seems to be that he/she is a Dalit!

5.2. Atrocities against the Dalits:

According to 2001 statistics 20% of Tamil Nadu population are Dalits and according to the

Tamil Nadu Bishops Conference the Tamil Nadu Catholic Church comprises of 65% Dalits. 82%

of Dalits and 87% of tribals are agricultural labourers. The average income is less than Rs2,000/- per month and 80% of them do not have any savings and in addition, about 72% are in

debt. Due to the utter economic poverty the school drop-out (from high school) is about 80%.

State Adidravida Welfare Department (2001) has indicated that every hour two Dalits are

attacked, every day three Dalit women are raped, every day two Dalits are killed, every day atleast 2 huts of Dalits are burnt. Every year hundreds of cases of atrocities against Dalits and

untouchability are filed. Even now in many villages there is the two-tumbler system in some

rural tea-shops: caste people use glass-tumbler for tea/coffee whereas the Dalits use either

aluminum-tumbler or coconut-shell (and they themselves have to wash it after use). In TamilNadu in about 100 parishes the practice of untouchability, in one form or other, is still there.

Everywhere as Dr Ambedkar would say: There is ascending order of reverence and descending


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order of contempt. This is because the Dalits are considered to be children of a lesser god! But

the future of the Church would be a Dalit-Church. In the Catholic Church when there is Syro-

Malabar Church, Syro-Malankara Church why cannot be there the Dalit Church in

communion with the Roman Catholic Church?

The recent atrocities and violence against Christians in Orissa, Jharkhand, Karnataka etc are notprimarily against teaching and practice of Christianity. It is against the liberation to the poor. It

is to be noted that the Sangparivars did not attack the big and reputed institutions, educational

institutions of higher learning. Instead they pillaged orphanages and schools in the villages. Thatmeans that they do not want the Christians to educate the poor and the downtrodden. Educating

the dominant caste and class would be very much welcome. The allegation used by the

fundamentalists to justify their attacks is that Christians force conversion of Hindus but

according to the Indian Episcopal Conference it is merely a strategy developed by vested

interests in order to prevent Christian services of health, education, poverty alleviation and

development on behalf of deprived communities (Cf. Zenit.org, Sep 30th

08). Once the

discriminated communities are empowered they would become the leaders in the society which

would not be acceptable to the caste people. The same attitude is unfortunately found within theChurch as well. If the Dalits in the Catholic Church are educated and effectively employed,

through affirmative action, they would become empowered. They, who have been theuntouchables, should never touch the reign of power and leadership in the Church and society

since it is not acceptable for the dominant caste leaders and hierarchy. One is born a Dalit and

hence he/she is untouchable for ever. Therefore, nib in the bud of empowerment process , is the

attitude of caste leaders. They feel: Keep the Dalits where they are and let them suffocate in theirDalitness and die of humiliation. Even in death they would be buried away from the caste-

people. It is still to be established that the Dalit dead-bodies would be eaten away by Dalit-

worms! Or perhaps a Dalit Messiah has to still come in to set things right for the Dalits.

Even higher learning from international universities and ecclesiastical institutions have not

changed the feeling about caste-discrimination among the dominant caste people and even the

holy oil of consecration flowing on the head of some of the hierarchy could not remove thecaste-consciousness. Jesus was crucified once but the Dalits are crucified so often on the cross of

discrimination and the foot of the cross is still wet with their blood-shed. If the Church is not

able to address the untouchability and bring in effective measures, then the Church has failed inher mission here on earth. That is the reason why there is much exodus from the Catholic Church

to other forms of Churches. Even the 10-point programme which the Tamil Nadu Bishops

Conference undertook on itself to do is left undone.

6. Contradiction of Word and Worship:

Jesus was born Immanuel to be with us and he stayed on with his people in the form of theEucharist. He incarnated as Word of God and he became the healing Word of God and this

Word of service was broken on the Cross. Today the Cross is our model and inspiration since it

was there that the Word became our Way of Life. The Cross is a unifying force and Jesus prayed

for unityThe unity he wanted was not less than the unity between his Father and Himself. Buttoday the ONE, Catholic and Apostolic Church is fragmented in India and divided on caste-lines.

Jesus promoted the Servant Leadership to spend oneself in the service of others. But today we


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see more and more promotion of Self-Oriented Leadership based on ego and fear Fear that

the Dalits might over-take others through empowerment is on the increase. Hence there is everymove to suppress the Dalits and every strategy to divide the Dalits saying there is casteismamong the sub-castes of the Dalits. When the Dalits are outside the caste-system, how do they

practice caste-system? The demands of the Dalits are labeled as emotional problems. When

Dalit political leaders raise any question about discrimination in the Church, then it is viewed asintrusion and violation of Churchs sovereignty but when people and priests of dominant caste

affiliate themselves with the political leaders, it is not a problem for the hierarchy. Again this is

the divide and rule policy on the part of the hierarchy. It is the same philosophy with the BJP andothers who are now busy dividing the Dalits and the Tribals and setting one against the others.

We are called to worship the Lord but the Lord is broken We no longer worship the Word

became flesh but we worship our own flesh of power and position. On the day of Ordination the

Bishop admonishes the Deacon: Read the Word of God, believe what you read, practice what

you believe, and preach what you practice. But we preach what we read but we practice what we

want. The Word of God and our practices seem to be oil and water Word of God to be read in

the Liturgy but our practice could be anythingaggression, suppression, discrimination. We saythat we are born in an unequal society but we should take upon ourselves the mission to leave the

society of equality. We have to reflect on the impact of the Word of God in the Bible in our lifeof mission and ministry.

7. Contradiction of Power:

Lord Jesus founded His Church upon the least in the society The poor and illiterate and

downtrodden and socially looked-down were his close circles of friends and disciples. It was to a

social sinner, at the well of Jacob, he revealed for the first time that He was the messiah (Jn 4:26)

and revealed the highest form of prayer, namely God, who is a spirit, can be worshipped in spirit

and truth (Jn 4:24). It was the socially discriminated and looked-down Samaritan who was cited

as the example of selfless service to ones neighbor (Lk 10:34). Jesus said: do like-wise (Lk

10:37). He empowered the discarded in the society The socially rejected stones became the

corner stone of His Church. And today where does one find the power of the Church? -

Definitely not on the side of the downtrodden people. It is time that the people are empowered.

7.1. Lay Collaboration:

Lay collaboration is the crying need discussed everywhere The Religious Congregationsexplore the possibility of sharing powers with the lay collaborators in their institutions. So far

they have been working for the laity and now they are coming to reconcile with the fact that they

have to work with the laity and they are scared of the future when they would have to work

under the laity. The same trend is picking up momentum in the Church - We see, especially in afew dioceses, that the Anbiyams (Basic Christian Community) and Parish Councils are becoming

decision-making bodies. There is coming in a paradigm shift in the power-grid of the Church

People of God are more and more becoming aware of their rights and their collective power. The

French revolution broke out since too much power was concentrated on the authorities, bothsecular and religious. There is silent revolution going on, starting with the exodus from Catholic

Church and soon the people of God would begin to assert their rights. The peoples movement is


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the need of the hour to rebuild the Church founded by Jesus on the foundation stone of the lay

people.

7.2. Affirmative Action:

It is high time for the hierarchy to realize that affirmative action is the need of the hour. Even thesecular Governments and profit-making corporate bodies are more and more becoming aware of

the importance of affirmative action. But the Church of God needs to learn from the children of

the world. Helping the poor and the marginalized to get educated, especially from the ruralareas, should be the priority of the Church authorities (Cf. All India Catholic Education Policy,

2007, especially Chapter Three). Once effective and employable education is given, the

marginalized and the discriminated would go up the economic ladder and consequently theywould become empowered. Then the fangs of untouchability would not be deadly on them.

8. Contradiction of Concepts:

The whole world is fast changing. The scientific and technological changes that have taken placewithin the last 20 years are more than the changes in the last 20 centuries. But the sociological

changes, especially with regard to casteism, seem to be on a snail-speed. We need to rethinkabout our Church, our concepts and our practices. The contradiction between our faith and our

life should be ever narrowed down.

8.1. Empowerment of the Powerless:

We need to rethink whether the Church is only a spiritual power which dispenses only with the

sacraments or whether it is the transforming yeast (Mt 13:33), as Jesus would expect it, to bringabout social change of unity starting with union of hearts and minds. There is need for critical

thinking about the existing Church model of hierarchy: The shift should tilt towards the

empowerment of the people Jesus came not to the socially affluent but the socially

discriminated and neglected. He was surrounded by the socially discarded people and even in thebeginning of the Church it was the poor and the socially discriminated (eg. Hebrew widows

versus Greek widows Acts 6:1) that were given the priority and importance. Down the

centuries and all over the globe it is the socially downtrodden who embraced Christianity. Andnow, among the caste people there is discrimination about the casteless. If the Church does not

address, or does not know to address, or is not willing to address then the present model is a

fiasco. There would be socio-religious revolution within the Church which would bring aboutequality on social level and the religious factor would be discarded. The Dalits by becoming

Christians lose the benefits which they would have enjoyed otherwise and they might rethink

whether it is worth losing them any more.

While dealing with the Dalit issues the impact of Dalitness should be addressed. Even if a Dalit

would scale Mt Everest or land on the Mars he/she would not be suitably recognized since he/she

is a Dalit. The Dalits should be given priority in authority-sharing and their merits and talents

should be recognized without any social or religious bias.

9. Towards Annihilation of Contradictions:


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There is need for soul-searching in the Church of Tamil Nadu. We have to examine our

conscience how Dalits are treated at all levels: Their role in the Parish Councils, theirempowered participation in Diocesan commissions, the power-sharing for the Dalit priests and

religious in dioceses and religious congregations etc should be consciously and without prejudice

reflected. There should be a grievance committee in every parish and diocese to address the

social and religious discrimination and marginalization and every form of untouchability. And aroad-map for the Church of Tamil Nadu for the holistic liberation of the people, especially the

broken, should be worked out and executed with time-bound programmes assisted by effective

monitoring.

9.1. Capacity Building:

Capacity building for the Dalit youth should be taken care of. Due to economic inability and

social discrimination the drop-out rate among the Dalits is nearly 80% and they should be given

adequate assistance to continue with their studies. Dioceses and Religious Congregations are

running hundreds of English medium schools It would be an eye-opener to see what would be

the percentage of Dalits admitted in these schools and the percentage of Dalit teachers (while65% of the Tamil Nadu Church is of Dalits). It would be interesting to study when onwards

Dalits were admitted into the seminaries and how many were allowed upto Ordination; howmany professors and administrators are there in the seminaries and how many Dalit priests are

chosen to go abroad for higher studies. It would be very informative, to see the reality, to find

out how many Rectors and Novice Masters/Mistresses are Dalits and how many Social Work

Directors in the Dioceses are Dalits. And how many Major Superiors in the Tamil Nadu-Pondicherry Catholic Religious of India (TNPCRI) are Dalits? As per the report of the General

Body Meeting of the CBCI 1988:

The discrimination based on caste that is rampant in the rest of society continues alsoamong Christians. Most Christians of scheduled caste origin are still deprived of

economic opportunities, access to adequate educational facilities, leadership roles and

participation in decision-making.

We can also see whether our hierarchy talk about casteism or only about poverty when they visitthe funding as well as ecclesiastical authorities in Europe and the USA It would be good to

reflect this in the background of the Pope, during his visit to India, citing casteism and the

statement of the CBCI accepting casteism in the Church in India. Pope John Paul II said, while

addressing the Bishops of India during their ad limina visit (Nov 17th 2003):

Any semblance of a caste-based prejudice in relations between Christians is a countersign

to authentic human solidarity, a threat to genuine spirituality and a serious hindrance to

the Churchs mission of evangelization. Therefore, customs or traditions that perpetuateor reinforce caste division should be sensitively reformed so that they may become an

expression of the solidarity of the whole Christian community.

The CBCI General Body Meeting had already voiced forth this concern at Varanasi in U.P.(March 21-28, 1998):

The Church in India, particularly in recent years, has been actively involved in

denouncing caste system and discrimination against the Dalits. Further, it has taken

positive measures for their development. However, we have to admit that the situationstill remains a serious concern. The prevalence of the caste based practices, not only in

society but also in some parts of the Church in India even at the close of the 20th

century,


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is a matter of shame and disgrace to all of us. It is a cause of sorrow and expression of

our inability to live our Christian faith adequately. It is not only a denial of humandignity and equality, but also against the fundamental teaching of Christ who was a friend

of the outcastes of His time, and freely mixed with them.

The Church as a whole should also reflect how to annihilate the barriers to unity in the Church

and to fight for human rights and human dignity and equality.

9.2. Equality-Consciousness:

The Dalits embraced Christianity expecting acceptance as equals in the Church but the

disillusioned people are slowly leaving the Catholic Church as the reality in the Catholic Church

is not anything different from the social contradictions they left behind. If we do not effectivelyaddress this situation Church would mean the buildings and estates and the Shepherd would

stand alone without the sheep while the sheep would be enlightened to take care of themselves.

Jesus had a dream that all should be united just like He and his Abba (Jn 10:30) were united. He

wanted that all have lifelife in abundance (Jn 10:10). He came to this world to lay down hislife so that others have fullness of life. Jesus came to give His life as ransom for people (Mk

10:45). And the spirit of commitment for the members of the Church brought in the spirit of one

in mind and heart (Acts 4:32-35). If we do not stop the bleeding of untouchability and

discrimination of the Dalits, the Cross of Jesus would continue to drip down with blood and there

would be no resurrection of fullness of life for the Christians. St Peters counsel to the early

Christian community was Find a reason for your faith (1 Pt 3:15). The Dalit Catholics aretrying to find a reason for their faith in the Church If the reason is not human dignity and

equality based on human rights, then the faith may be meaningless. For this the discrimination

and marginalization should be abolished - then we could say with Paul, in remembrance of the

Pauline year, that in God we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). Then we would

be able to see God in everybody and we could find everyone in GodThen there would be one

Abba in heaven for us all.

10. Conclusion: Hope in ContradictionWe are able to go to the Moon and return but we are not able to reach out to the Dalits across the

road We are able to split atom but we are not able to break-down our prejudice against theDalits. In the secular world Barack Obama could be elected the President of the United States but

the status of the Dalits in the Holy Catholic Church has not changed much. Perhaps a Dalit

Messiah has to come to lay down his life again, on the cross of discrimination, for the liberationof the Dalits, especially of the Dalit Catholics! The other possibility would be, which might be

more relevant and practical, the struggling forces converge as a revolution to replace the existing

system of class or caste hierarchy and to create a world of human rights, equality and dignity.

This implies that the Gospel of Jesus needs to be re-interpreted (and truly explained as Jesus hasstated in the context of the marginalized) from subaltern perspectives and the structure of

hierarchy and administration in the Church needs revisit.

Christianity is a religion of hope: From the annihilation of the cross comes out the triumphant

resurrection. If Barack Obama could say in his inaugural speech a man whose father less than

sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take


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a most sacred oath it gives the Dalits confidence that one day their dream of equality and human

rights would come true. If Mayawati could emerge as the national force, it gives courage tomarch forward. From a student, who was made to sit in segregation in the class room because he

was untouchable, the father of Indian Constitutions could emerge, Dr Ambedkar infuses

enduring spirit to meet with the present ordeal of marginalization. From the apartheid a head of

the nation could emerge in South Africa, Mandela inspires light at the end of the dark tunnel ofhumiliation and discrimination. In the evolution of empowerment of the powerless, present

humiliation and suppression and exploitation are only the present phenomena. The dream that

one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the roughplaces will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; and the glory of the

Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together (Is 40:4-5) will become a reality. The

good news of Jesus, namely liberation to the broken (Lk 4:18), is now germinating in thesufferings of the marginalized. The hope that the stone rejected by the Church would become the

corner stone of the new Church (Mt 21:42) keeps us marching on. The glorious rebel Jesuspromise of equality and liberation is the dynamic force to keep going. A change is needed in the

Catholic Church and it has to come soon Tamil Nadu could be the epicenter of the

transformation. The dawn of the Dalit Church would rise upon the Church and then there will bea new heaven and a new earth and a new Church - Come Lord Jesus (Rev 22:20).

Francis P Xavier SJLoyola College, Chennai-600034

[email protected]

(2340040209)