“The SM liturgy issue could be easily solved if the Synod of the SM Church agrees to accept diversity.”

Mutholil George S J (Curia Generalizia, Roma)

How do you as an Indian Christian see the Prime Minister as the chief Pujari inaugurating the temple in Ayodhya?
One of the saddest moments in my life, to say the least. As an Indian Christian and Indian Citizen, seeing the Prime Minister as the chief Pujari inaugurating the temple in Ayodhya, broke my trust in him. In that act, the PM ‘breached the Constitutions’ basic structures.’ He violated parliamentary protocols and proprieties, which are integral parts of the ethics and culture of parliamentary democracy. He insulted the roles of the President and the Vice President. Refer to the articles 86 and 87 of the Constitution. They have clear directions on the protocols. The Prime Minister ignored them. For him, it seemed to be an act of self-worship all the way. As highlighted by many political observers, Modi has thrown to the wind the concept of Secularism and replaced it with primacy for Hinduism or rather Hindutva.
The court judgment on the murder of the Missionary Graham Staines had affirmed, ‘Our concept of Secularism is that the State will have no religion. The State shall treat all religions and religious groups equally and with equal respect without in any manner interfering with their individual right of religion, faith and worship’. Articles 25 – 28 of the Constitution are under attack every day in this Country.

Do you think the Constitution of India is in trouble of changing?
In all his public utterances, the PM vouches by the sacredness of the Constitution. For instance, in an interview with the Financial Times on the 21 December 2023, he rejected any talk of amending the Constitution.
However, in actual practice the regime continues to disregard Constitutional principles in every action of theirs. It is a classic case of ‘double talk’.
Recently I read the Editorial of the ‘Guardian’ on 22 January 2024. It said,
‘Many believe that the Prime Minister will rewrite the Constitutions if he gains a sufficient majority, though has dismissed such speculations. Monday (22 January) may mark another fateful step towards that moment. It may also indicate that he does not need to change the words on paper when he has reshaped his country so effectively’ That is the reality, especially in many parts of the North of India, where Hindu Rashtra is already a lived reality.
The views of D Raja are also very relevant here:
“The demolition of the Babri mosque, in the words of the Supreme Court, was executed by egregiously violating the rule of law. After that violation, India is now witnessing the breach of a sacred line. The very republic is mandated by the Constitution to separate itself from religion. People’s faith has been weaponised by the RSS-BJP combine in pursuit of a vengeful vision of India.” (Indian Express 27 January 2024)

What is the future of democracy in India?
I wish to say and pray that it is promising. Unfortunately, evidences do not assure so. India currently ranks 108th in the Electoral Democracy Index of the V- dem Democracy Report, 2023. Remember we were in the 100th position in 2022. Within a year, India fell below by eight points. We are ranked far below countries like Tanzania, Bolivia, and Mexico.
Looking from another angle, democracy becomes effective when its pillars are functioning well: the Judiciary, Legislature, Executive, the Fourth Estate (Media), and the Civil Society. All these pillars in India have been systematically and consistently pulverized and weakened over the past nine years.
The independence of the Judiciary from the executive and legislature has effectively been corroded. Some of the judgements of the Judiciary like that on the Ram Temple and Kashmir state will remain ever question marks in the minds of Indian citizens. The Judiciary at times seems to look like an agent of the executive. If Justice is delayed, justice is denied; in India five crore cases have been waiting for years for judicial judgements, and the thousands of under-trail prisoners are denied of justice.
The absolute surrender of independence by the Media a grave threat to Democracy in India. Without an independent Media, how do the people have access to the right information? Today, it is everyone’s knowledge that the national media feeds with saucy stories, and hand-outs of the ruling party. Any opinion contrary to the official is snubbed out. 194 journalists were targeted in India last year, 103 of them by state actors. Some were even killed.
An active Civil Society is the sine qua non for a successful democracy. Today, Civil Society Organizations, especially Human Rights Organizations have been under attack and severe executive control. The Foreign Contribution Registration Act (FCRA) has become a major tool for controlling any effective social or human rights intervention. P. Rashpande (The Hindu) observed it rightly:
‘The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government’s systematic suffocation of civil society over the last nine years has ensured that most governments no longer listen to civil society organisations (CSO) or movements, either in the pre-legislative stage or in the redress of lacunae in the implementation of government schemes. Given that advocacy is effectively dead, the ability of civil society to shape policy and public discourse has shrunk drastically.’ (2023)

How do you understand Synodality, which is the conversational life of a community of Pope Francis?
Let us begin from the basics. Synodality in essence is the coming together of human peers to achieve some religious propose that could not be achieved in the same way about in such a gathering. The Holy Spirit takes a prominent role and yet the process remains a human endeavour. As Pope Francis says, it is a collective journey, with the body walking together.
Hence, the willingness to listen to oneself, to others, and to the Holy Spirit, as well as openness to share and discern in community are characteristics that define synodality. A synodal body should be composed of people from different strata in the organization: various office holders, past officers, significant community members, people with demonstrated talents and others. Agendas should emerge from the issues of general concern to the community. And in the process, everyone gets listened to.
One important aspect to me is that ecclesial processes are (or should be) less centred on the clergy and more open to the leadership of the laity, especially women.

Is the Church in India a Synodal Church?
I am afraid, it is not. Two factors lead me to assert this. First, the domination of the priests in the Indian Church: the Indian Church remains largely a clericalist church. Clericalism as a mind-set has also conquered the laity to the extent that often it is the laity themselves who perpetuate this evil.
As Astrid Lobo Gajiwala once said, ‘The clericalized hierarchical structuring has resulted in a flawed synodal process. Avenues may have been opened for the faithful to share their joys and sorrows, but much like in our country today, dissent is not looked on kindly in the Church.’
The Indian Church to become synodal has to listen far more to the people, especially the poor, the Dalit, the youth, the women and those on the periphery.
It is a long way to go.

Is the Indian church conscious of the political crisis of our nation?
There is a simple conceptual clarification I want to make. Being informed of something and being aware of the same are different. When you are aware, you act. When you are informed, you talk.
The recent CBCI statement on the situation of the country is a bold statement. In decrying the rising polarisation in the country and demanding the upholding of the secular ethos, the bishops manifest information.
However, to me the crucial questions are: will this reach the priests and the people? Will there be an active engagement with the statement at the local level, resulting in a change of life and practice, particularly concerning the talk about aligning with the very right wing forces that promote polarisation?
Very recently one of my parishioners told me, ‘Father all Christians around me are talking about voting for the BJP this time. They think only BJP can control the Muslims’.
Do we have the courage to be self-critical and say that the problem is not that Muslim fundamentalism is worse than Hindu fundamentalism? Rather, any fundamentalism is bad, and as Christians, we denounce any form, particularly when we see it being acted out in India today.
To me the crucial question is whether the Indian Church can have a shared political analysis of the situation, which takes into consideration the severe attacks on the minorities in the North of India and elsewhere.

How do you look at the liturgical struggle in the Syro-Malabar church?
Allow me to prefix this answer with my own life in the Syro-Malabar Church. I was born and grew up in the S M Church. My religious vocation was primarily inspired by my parish priests and even today, my annual visits to my SM parish are a great experience because of the warm welcome of the priests and people, who smile away the liturgical errors that I make, such as forgetting pages, missing prayers, rubrics etc. Though I have served all my life in non-Syrian contexts, I have a deep emotional attachment to the SM Church. My roots are there.
It is against this background that I perceive the liturgical struggle in the S M Church as an unnecessary crisis. This is a crisis created by a clericalist and backward- looking Church. I am not a liturgist. But, when people ask me, ‘why can’t we solve this problem by adopting another liturgical variant’? I am inclined to agree with them.
If Christian charity had prevailed within the Church, and political ambitions had been kept out of this, the liturgical problem would likely have been solved long ago.

As a member of the Syro-Malabar church what is your advice to the new Major Archbishop and his initial troubles?
Oh God, I dare not give any advice. Who am I to advice such an eminent pastor and adored leader of the people? Besides, one or two of my interventions in this regard in the media were responded with such antagonism and vitriol that I dare not try anything similar.
Instead, I have a few requests to him:
1. Engage with the Synod and approve a new variant of liturgy that faces people.
2. Consider the injustice within the administrative structures. While a diocese like Gorakhpur which has only less than 5000 Catholics has three bishops to represent them in the Synod, the Diocese of Angamaly-Ernakulam with five lakhs or more have none to present their views. Isn’t this a clear injustice?
3. Listen to the cry of the ordinary people. ‘Please open the Basilica’; ‘do not make priestly politics our concern’ etc.
4. Just as the CBCI statement says, will you be leading people to decry rising polarisation and upholding a secular ethos?
9. The Syro-Malabar synod is the centre of controversy in the church, what is your considered opinion? Do you think the Pope was unnecessarily dragged into the controversy?
Do you notice a very consistent note in Pope Francis’ voice? ‘The Synod has decided, obey’. Pope is not just approving this decision of the Synod but much more affirming the right of a Sui Juris Church. In my understanding, he has been extremely consistent and synodal in allowing the S M Synod to take the decision.
Unfortunately, I am afraid he is not aware of the politics of the Synod of the S M which refuses to solve a problem liturgically, or through genuine discernment as observed even by some of the Syro Malabar liturgists.
Yes, the SM liturgy issue could be easily solved if the Synod of the S M Church agrees to accept diversity. I also believe Pope Francis has been unnecessarily dragged into it.

Do you think the Syro-Malabar church is prudently understanding and responding to the political challenges we face?
Definitely not. I addressed this issue earlier when the controversy on rubber price came up. I am concerned that the S M church is naïve in aligning itself, both secretly and openly, with the BJP, under the assumption that Muslims can be handled better with BJP support.
To them, I would like to repeat what Ms. Arundhathi Roy said. The BJP becoming friendly to the S M and other churches is like a burning fire asking the firewood, “shall I come closer to you?” In allowing the closeness, you will burn yourself up. Will wisdom prevail with the S M Church, is a mute question.

Disclaimer: this is my personal opinion, not the official view of any organization.