Dalit Christians on March 29 urged the apostolic nuncio to revoke the appoint-ment of Bishop Francis Kalist of Meerut as the new archbishop of Pondicherry-Cuddalore.
Led by the Dalit Christian Liberation Movement, hundreds of people protested in Chennai, capital of the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, against the a non-Dalit’s appointment as the archbishop of Pondicherry-Cuddalore.
They want the nuncio to appoint a Dalit archbishop. “Otherwise Dalit Chri-stians will stop the consecration of Bishop Kalist scheduled for April 29 in Pondiche-rry,” M Mary John, president of Dalit movement, told Matters India March 29.
He said the Dalit Christians plan to hold similar protest demonstrations in other parts of Tamil Nadu and in Pondi-cherry with this demand in coming days.
India MattersIndia Archbishop – elect Francis Kalist. The demonstrators conde-mned the continuing caste domination, caste oppression, and caste atrocity in the Catholic Church.
It noted that no Dalit archbishop has been appointed so far in the Pondicherry-Cuddalore archdiocese. Dalit Christians have protested to end the injustice by demanding the appointment of a Dalit Archbishop. However, the Church has appointed a caste archbishop again, John regretted.
Dalits form 64 percent of the Indian Catholic Church. In Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry they form 75 percent.
“But out of 180 Catholic bishops in India, only 11 are Dalits, and only 2 out of 31 Archbishops are Dalits. Only one of the 17 bishops in Tamil Nadu-Pondicherry is a Dalit,” John explained.