Derek O’Brien writes: Will the church please speak up?

A former Provincial (head of a province) of a large religious congregation told this columnist: “Bishops must continue to lead the Church on all spiritual issues. But is it time for the lay Catholic leaders to unite and set the direction for the church in social and political spheres? It is time this is debated. It is time Christians from the grassroots (referred to by the Church as the laity) start openly asking direct questions of the few hundred bishops who comprise the key decision-making body of the Catholic Church in India.”

More priests and nuns, usually bound by strict rules of discipline, have also begun to speak up. A nun, who is a leading educationist, told this columnist: “That the bishop’s body gave the Prime Minister a platform during Christmas for a photo-op is unacceptable. I only saw videos of the PM in the media. Just platitudes, nothing on the real issues”. She added: “They can choose to invite whoever they want, but why was not a single MP from among the 20 elected Christian MPs invited? Was that a condition laid down by Mr Modi to grace the occasion?”

Spreading festive cheer is always welcome. But now, these are the hard questions that must be asked of the prime minister of India, Narendra Modi. Many Christmases have gone by, now answers have to be demanded.

(i) Why did you attempt to turn Christmas Day into “Good Governance Day”?;

(ii) Why are you weaponising the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) to specifically target institutions run by the Christian community?;

(iii) Why have you totally ignored the people of Manipur?;

(iv) Why are you encouraging and passing anti-conversion laws that violate Fundamental Rights under Article 14, 15 and 25 of the Constitution? Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan;

(v) Why are you pushing the Waqf Bill and playing minority versus minority, especially in Kerala?;

(vi) Why don’t you ever say a word condemning hate speeches and crude communal slurs?;

(vii) Why have attacks on institutions run by minorities been on the rise?;

(viii) Why are incidents of violence against Christians increasing?;

(ix) Why did India’s National Human Rights Commission lose its United Nations accreditation twice since 2014?;

(x) Do you remember Father Stan Swamy? Sipper? Straw? Death?

This year, 20 Christian MPs were invited for dinner on December 3 by the Bishops’ body. To put it more accurately, these were not Christian MPs but elected MPs who happened to be Christians. Many MPs insisted that the meeting had to go beyond breaking bread together. There needed to be an agenda. The Bishops’ body then circulated, in writing, a nine-point agenda to the MPs. When news of what was discussed at the 90-minute meeting found its way into the media, the Bishops’ body went into damage control mode and issued a public statement denying that any meeting had taken place. Too clever by half!

Truth be told, the meeting did take place. There was an agenda circulated as well. Some of the points raised by the MPs included: (i) Need to stop photo-ops. Christian leadership should take a stand to call out those who are not protecting the Constitution; (ii) Support the Muslim community, in principle, on the Waqf Bill, acknowledging that there may be some clauses in the Bill that are contentious in a state or two; (iii) Christian organisations being targeted and FCRA licenses being cancelled; (iv) Issues of reservation, interference in educational institutions and repeated attacks on places of worship and personnel.

One suggestion made by this columnist, who was present at that meeting, was the need to be proactive and focus on a positive narrative, rather than only be reactive to negative incidents and news. The focus could be the community’s significant contribution to education, healthcare and social welfare. Here are just two among the many heartening facts: (i) Seven out of 10 religious minority schools in India are helmed by the Christian community; (ii) Three out of four students studying in institutions run by Christians are non-Christians.

Internationally renowned Jesuit human rights and peace activist and writer Father Cedric Prakash, speaking to this columnist, does not mince his words: “The Church leadership in India seems to have missed the bus. Their hearts and ears are not listening to the cries of the millions suffering in the country — particularly the minorities. Even if they are aware of these ground realities, they seem to be totally frightened of the ruling regime to take a visible and vocal stand — just in case the powers bring out the skeletons in the cupboard. All this does not augur well for authentic Christian discipleship in today’s India.”

The writer is MP and leader, All India Trinamool Congress Parliamentary Party (Rajya Sabha)