A group will start a reformation movement in the Catholic church by demanding the ‘share of the laity’ in the enormous power, influence, and resources that the Catholic church vests all over the world.
Starting Sunday, Rome of the East will start a historic movement to reform Christianity. A group will start a reformation movement in the Catholic church by demanding the ‘share of the laity’ in the enormous power, influence, and resources that the Catholic church vests all over the world.
The movement will spread across the country in stages. “We are not against the church but against the church keeping the laity (common people) from their share of socio-religious empowerment. This movement will be the first step towards empowering the laity to handle all temporal matters and let the clergy confine themselves to religious matters,” said Dr Joe Louis, activist of Catholic Speak Out, an organisation based in Mumbai.
The reformation movement has already begun in Mumbai.
Mangalore being the important centre of Christianity in Karnataka, the movement will be launched there before proceeding to Bangalore, Mysore and other parts of the state.
The church, for long, has been commanding power and wealth. But these were in the hands of the clergy, who constitute 2% of the Christian population in the world. The church and the clergy are running many schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, and other institutions, which are turning in enormous volume of wealth, which go into the hands of the clergy. As a result, the laity is attracted towards other branches of Christianity like Pentacosts and Evangelists.
The Catholic Speak Out, in a study, has found out that the Catholic population has come down to 70% in Latin Amercia alone, where there were 97% Catholics,” said Louis.
The Catholic Speak Out, All India Association of Concerned Catholics, and Christian Reforms Foundation of Mangalore will together try to get a bill tabled in Parliament titled ‘Christian Endowments and Charities Act’ by educating the MPs and other levels of people’s representatives in India.
“Hierarchy and bureaucracy exist in churches, but there is no internal democracy. We believe at least Parliament, known for its highest democratic values, will help us in relieving the laity from the clutches of the clergy,” said coordinator of the Reformation movement Patrick D’Sa.
According to retired justice MF Saldanha, a staunch reforms activist, the reason why Catholic churches became popular in India and Africa was due to poverty. But, after the liberalisation of the economy in 1991, the income levels of the people have gone up and more Christians have become economically empowered in the natural way of economic liberalisation. “This has become a worrying point for the clergy as more Christians were losing interest in religious matters. In the case of Church attacks, when investigations were going on, the clergy was busy collecting donations from the laity for meeting the damages. Is this pardonable or rational?” he said.
Activists from Mumbai, Goa, and Kerala will converge in Mangalore on Sunday. “On the occasion, we will just distribute handouts and talk to people attending the church. This was an ongoing struggle and will be done in a peaceful way,” said D’Sa.
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