Dalit Catholics in Tamil Nadu have urged Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli, India's new papal nuncio, to nominate Dalit bishops in the state's vacant dioceses.
In an open letter to Archbishop Girelli, the President of the Dalit Christian Liberation Movement (DCLM), M. Mary John, requested the nuncio to appoint Dalit archbishop and bishops in order to establish faith among Dalit Catholics.
“We appeal to appoint a Dalit archbishop and Dalit bishops immediately in the existing vacancies to restore confidence in Dalit Catholics to prevent their imminent uprising in Tamil Nadu as well as in other states of India,” the letter said.
“The demand for Dalit-origin bishops in the state has intensified after the recent appointment of a non-Dalit bishop in Salem by the Vatican,” John told the UCA News.
DCLM has been pressing this problem for the past three decades, sending countless letters and emails to the Indian Catholic hierarchy and nuncios that have gone unanswered, according to the Dalit organization.
“We have also been constantly making representation to the Vatican including the pope. We took to public protests to show our agony and anger, hoping to raise the consciousness of the Catholic Church over the caste injustice,” the letter read.
The silence, according to the letter, leads them to question if the communications were brought to the nuncio's notice since they find no indication that the nuncios looked into them, which highlight serious issues of caste prejudice that impact Dalit Christians.
“We took up more concerted public protests and street rallies because we realized that our silence, pious hope and prayerful appeals for decades and centuries have only defeated or buried our justice,” the letter added.
Furthermore, the letter stated that Dalit Catholics in India had been waiting for the new nuncio for months, hoping that he would arrive "awakened and well-informed about the troubled history of casteism in India and the caste discrimination against Dalits within the Catholic Church.”
“We expected the new nuncio to understand the situation carefully with concern and take early steps to appoint a Dalit archbishop in Pondicherry-Cuddalore and Dalit bishops in the vacant dioceses” of Sivagangai, Kuzhithurai, Vellore and Tiruchirappalli, “which have been pending for months and years,” it added.
The letter also requested the representative of the Pope in India, in order to be inclusive and representative, to study and make proper reforms to the customary method and protocol for the appointment of bishops, archbishops and cardinals in the country, Matters India reported on Tuesday.
