A coalition of religious wants to combat church clericalism in India and promote more lay people in leadership roles. This was said by the newly elected chairman of the “Forum of Religious for Justice and Peace”, Father Anand Mathew, according to a report by the Catholic news agency uca, which specializes in Asia.
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The aim is to help the church gain more vitality by supporting “the poor and people on the margins,” the chairman explained after his election. According to uca, the forum sees itself as an association of progressive religious priests, brothers and sisters in India. Matthew told uca that the church in India is clergy and bishop-centric and lay participation is “very low”. In the future, the laity should get “their fair share,” said the religious.
Regional awareness campaigns
The forum was founded in 1987 and is present in 21 of India’s 28 states. At the recent meeting, the religious represented agreed to carry out regional awareness campaigns among lay people, including women and youth, to promote gender equality in the Church’s decision-making bodies. “As soon as she [Laien] brought to the management level, it will trigger a new dynamic,” believes Mathew.
Adopting a “simpler lifestyle.”
The forum urged the Indian Church to take inspiration from the World Synod towards synodality. The synod is characterized by its diverse participation, in which not only bishops but also lay people and priests take part. As part of their mission, members resolved to adopt a “simpler lifestyle” and live “closer to the poor.” In India, many baptized people belong to the lowest castes or no caste at all and are confronted with violence from right-wing Hindu groups.
Participants emphasized the need to internalize “individually and collectively the values” of the papal encyclical Laudato Si’ (Praise be to you) and the apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum (Praise be to God). “Development must be people-centred, inclusive, holistic, equitable, sustainable and life-enhancing,” the forum said. It expressed concern about the exploitation of the earth leading to climate change.
Mathew belongs to the religious order East India Missionary Society (IMS), which has its headquarters in the temple city of Varanasi in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. He was elected unopposed on October 20 at the biennial convention in Indore, central India.
(uca-mo)
