Aid to the Church in Need: Christians in N/E India – more active than ever, despite the crisis

Christians in N/E India – more active than ever, despite the crisis

Posted by Infromation report on 9/4/2009, 12:28 pm
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ACN News, Thursday, 8th April 2009 – India

Christians in Northeast India – more active than ever, despite the crisis

Miao is a remote small town in northeast India. One would need a detailed map even to be able to find it. It is located not far from the Namdapha National Park in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. Since 2005 Miao has been the seat of the Catholic diocese of the same name. Its first incumbent is Bishop George Pallipparambil a Salesian of Don Bosco. The diocese, with close on 60,000 Catholics, is not that big, but nonetheless quite significant in relation to the total population. For close on 14% of the people in this region are Catholics. Bishop George is strongly supported in his work by the international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) based in Königstein near Frankfurt, Germany and sustained by a vast network of loyal benefactors around the developed world.

The state of Arunachal Pradesh is poor and remote, lying as it does on the frontier with Burma. But despite this the people are cheerful and optimistic -- and this is especially true of the Christians. In a letter to ACN in December 2008 Bishop George described the situation like this: "Neither the economic crisis, which many people here feel to a greater or lesser extent, nor the attacks on Christians in various parts of India, the terrorist bomb attacks or the climatic changes that we are all experiencing – none of this can discourage us".

(A Baptism in the Tezu parish)

He goes on to say that globalisation, no matter whether it brings economic success or economic depression, cannot satisfy people's hunger for God's Word. "And yet how many Christians live from the Word of God without thinking of passing it on to others?" Bishop Pallipparambil asks, and adds, "God has blessed us here with many people who welcome him. We are growing. Chapels have been built in a number of villages, more priests and nuns have come to join us and the laity are more active than ever – above all since the crisis".

The rapid growth of the diocese is in no small measure attributable to their commitment. This development is all the more astonishing when one learns that a little over 10 years ago any evangelisation was out of the question, since the Catholic Church had for many decades been officially denied access to this region. But despite this ban, many families sent their children to Christian schools in the neighbouring states, schools which generally have a very high reputation. In this way numerous families found their way to the Catholic Faith – and passed this on to their relatives, friends and neighbours.

Bishop Pallipparambil, whose diocese currently has 60 priests and 20 religious sisters working in it, has no doubt that the main reason for this rapid spread lies in the deep faith and transparent witness of the Christians. Here is an example:

A young man from a wealthy and politically influential family of the Brahmin caste – the highest caste, in other words – was sent to a Catholic school in the 1990s. Here he came to believe in the Faith and felt himself called to the priesthood. His parents, family and relatives were bitterly opposed to this idea and broke off all contact with him. Not until more than 10 years later was this young man, by then in his 30s and studying for the priesthood, allowed to see his mother again.
His name and exact identity must remain hidden, for reasons that will be clear. His own family had invited him to come home, on the pretext that his father had died, and then kept him prisoner. Not until shortly before Christmas 2008 was he able to finally escape again. Looking sick and undernourished, he finally returned to his home diocese, from where he was sent to a place of safety. In a letter that he managed to smuggle out from his place of imprisonment to a student, who then sent it on to his bishop, he writes: "They tricked me. I was locked up and forced to profess Hinduism again. They want to force me to marry so that I will give up any idea of the priesthood. But I would rather give up my life than turn against my vocation to live entirely for Christ and his mission".

(Bishop George Palliparambil during the Holy mass at the Catholic church in Nayang-Arunachal Pradesh Latin rite)

In his letter to ACN Bishop Pallipparambil describes another example of this deep faith. He had been invited to bless a pilgrimage shrine in Hayuiliang, a town in the east of his diocese on the road to Tibet. Here he met three young men who had set out from their village at 3 a.m. that day, along with 20 other people, to make the 50-mile journey to Hayuiliang. However the bus did not turn up. But the three men decided to set out anyway, because they did not wish to miss the event. Finally they were able to get someone to take them – at a cost of 100 rupees each – a small fortune. But by the time they arrived the Mass was finished and the Bishop was about to leave. At this, one of the young men broke down in tears. "We have come all this way to hear the Word of God, and now we've missed it!"

All present were deeply moved by the faith of these young men and Bishop George, who was about to leave, postponed his departure. They all prayed together and the young men were invited to eat with them. Afterwards the whole community had a whip round for them, not only refunding what they had paid for their journey there, but providing them with enough for their return journey as well.

Editor’s Notes:

Directly under the Holy See, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need. ACN is a Catholic charity – helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.
Founded in 1947 by Fr Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity”, the organisation is now at work in about 145 countries throughout the world.
The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, 45 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed worldwide.
For more information, please contact the Australian office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148. Web: www.aidtochurch.org

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