Archbishop Cyril Mar Baselios, the President of Catholic Bishops' Conference of India was recently in Delhi to pay a Courtesy Call to His Excellency, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the President of India. MISNA correspondent, Mr. Ephraem Jacob interviewed the Archbishop on Friday, August 30 on various issues affecting the Christian Community in India.
The Church in India is experiencing difficult times. We have witnessed religious people being jailed for alleged conversions. We have recently been targeted by a section of the Sikh community too. How do you respond to these?
" First of all, I must say that we are living basically in sufficient liberty. Laws against conversion do exit in some Indian States but as a whole we are not affected by these laws. Conversion is carried out in many places. However in some states fanatic groups are making trouble. We can expect such misbehaviour from these fanatics because of the resurgence of the Hinduism and the neo-Hinduism. This can happen. Therefore we have to be patient and be prudent to face these fanatic groups. If the allegations of conversions are truly based on religious arguments then we may have to reconsider our strategies. But very often, these allegations are connected with other factors, for example, some of the atrocities committed on Christians are purely on social, racial and linguistic factors. I am very confident that a majority of the Hindus are with us and we should not blame the whole Hindu community for attacks on Christians. We have to make this relationship better and stronger so that we live in peace and harmony. We are for dialogue and sharing of our ideas.”, answered Archbishop Cyril Mar Baselios.
Christians are a minority in the Country. Do you think that they should please the majority who are Hindus in the country for their safety as proposed by the Chief of the Rashtriya Swayam Sewakangh (RSS)?
"First of all, the question of minority rights must be understood in its proper sense. I would say there is no question of minority rights. This is actually a protection. We termed it as rights at a later stage. For example when the Founding Fathers of our country made the Constitution, they foresaw that there would be minority communities. They wanted to protect the minorities from the assaults of the majority. This is the protection that was given to us in the Indian Constitution and we want to defend this protection. Nobody has any special right. All citizens have equal rights. But we need special protection because we are in a minority and the majority can overrule us. The Founding Fathers foresaw the danger of the minorities being made subject to the majority and therefore they promised us the protection. Later on this protection became our right. This is to be understood in the correct sense. When we ask for minority rights then we are asking for special rights whereas in the eyes of the law every citizen is equal. Therefore the Minorities should understand their positions well and not ask for minority rights but appeal for protection of minority rights”, said Archbishop Baselios. Though Christianity arrived in India almost two thousand years ago and we have been living with our Hindu brethren for the same period yet we have not been able to remove the misconceptions, which they have in their minds. Why is it so? "We can not generalise. There are places, for example, in Kerala, where our Hindu brethren really understand Christianity and the Christians very well. They acknowledge and agree that we are an ancient and Indian community. They accept us as ordinary citizens of the country. But in other places, where Christianity arrived later with the colonial power, Christianity is being misunderstood as part of the colonial power. Some people think that when the British left the country, they left a religion of their own with their reverence. These are their views and we need to clear these doubts at the earliest. So we have to show that we are originally and fully Indians and not foreigners.
"The contribution of the Church in nation building is very much and yet we are called anti-nationals or foreigners. Do you think that the Church in India has failed to make its true identity in the country? :
"We have not identified ourselves well. This is the reason for the misunderstanding in the minds of our Hindu brethren. We never had a real dialogue with them. We need to have dialogue with everyone. Christianity is yet to be known. Christian experience is yet to be experienced, We should not select special people for dialogue, but Christianity as a community should be able to dialogue with everyone and with all”.
How far do you agree with the concept of a National church?
“The concept of a National Church is misleading. It could mean many things. So when some people speak about a National Church, they mean that the boundaries should be defined, interests and people should be defined and so on. The Church cannot be placed in that category. The Church can never be national in a proper sense. The Church is a community of believers in Jesus Christ. It does not need any boundary for that. Anyone can believe in Jesus Christ from any nation, any language and of any colour. But certain configurations are always for the people. So as long as I am born in India, I speak an Indian language, I dress like an Indian and I have Indian culture. I have a religious heritage of my own country. So if this is my national patrimony and heritage, my Church should not destroy it. Church means faith. Christian faith should not destroy my national heritage. So Church basically means a community of believers. There is no question of class between the Church and the nation. But if there is a question of cultural integration and faith transforming the culture, then we can speak of the National Church”, said Archbishop Baselios.
Do you think that there is an anti-minority and an anti-Christian wave in the country?
“I do not think that there is an anti-Christian wave in the country on behalf of the Hindu Community. But there are certain groups, fundamentalists, extremists who create a certain amount of anti-Christian wave. As a whole, the Christian community is safe in India”, confirmed Archbishop Baselios. How can the Church play an important role in bringing various religions of the country together to live in peace and harmony? "Church is the symbol of unity and harmony, therefore it is based on its power given by God. The Church has spiritual power, superseding and transcending human limitations. If we are stressing on that reality, the inner power, the spiritual power, these human restrictions or what we call limiting or diminishing elements can be superseded. That way we can bring in an atmosphere of peace and harmony. But if religion is taken in its total meaning by transforming man, then it will certainly bring peace and harmony. When we speak of Christianity as a religion, there is some misconception, Christianity is not merely a religion. Faith can be practised in any religion provided it tallies with our convictions. In other words, faith as such, has no religion and it can not be identified with religion. But it can be of any religion for practice. Therefore the religion must hold the limits that are compatible with the faith. I cannot accept a religion that is against my faith. Whereas I can practice a religion that is tallying with my faith. This identification is very often a danger and Church has always made it clear that faith is not identified with any particular culture and it supersedes all cultures. Therefore it can be assimilated with any culture. So the Christian religion as such, is Christian faith and this faith transformed the religion in the West and therefore we have a 'Western Christianity'. So our faith transforming the Indian religion is 'Indian Christianity'”, concluded Archbishop Cyril Mar Baselios.