India’s Catholic Religious are trying to forge a new role for themselves by getting more involved in national issues, says the national secretary of the Conference of Religious India (CRI).

According to Montfort Brother Mani Mekkunnel, how Religious can be active participants in India’s socio-economic life is on the agenda for Religious major superiors to discuss at the upcoming CRI national assembly, held once every three years.

CRI represents more than 125,000 Catholic Religious brothers, priests and nuns in India.More than 500 major superiors from around the country are expected for the scheduled Sept. 26-Oct. 2 meeting in New Delhi.
The interview with Brother Mekkunnel follows:

UCA NEWS: How will this meeting impact the CRI?
BROTHER MANI MEKKUNNEL: The CRI is having its assembly in New Delhi for the first time in its 47-year history. That in itself aims at making a difference. Earlier meetings focused mostly on Religious and Church life, and activities of Religious. But this assembly will try to showcase the CRI as an organization that is more concerned with national issues.

In recent years, Christians have experienced turmoil in various degrees. Some groups have attacked Christians. So it is time we met with society on broader terms. We cannot remain mere spectators and the good guys of society. We have to become active agents in nation building.

Do you feel Catholic Religious were not really part of society until now?
Yes, in a sense. Earlier we used to gather and talk about Religious life and issues related to it, and then go back happy thinking we had done something good. We were not connected with national life. A change of heart is required to establish this connection. We are hoping this meeting will turn us around a bit.

The assembly is an attempt to place ourselves on the national scene and decide what we should do to create a new identity. We also want others to look at us not merely as a religious society but as a voluntary organization involved in the country’s socio-economic life.

Will a new face to the CRI emerge after the meeting?
Yes, we are trying for one. We want to portray the assembly not as a religious gathering but as a national event. The program is titled “Leadership Conference” and its logo reflects a harmonious India. It is a theme that goes beyond Church circles. India is changing, so the Religious should also have to change.

Do you foresee any challenges?
The first challenge is to change the way we look at society. There has been a kind of unseen wall built between Religious life and secular society. On many occasions we have behaved as disinterested onlookers. The secular-Religious divide is too strong in many Religious. But it is breaking down and this meeting indicates that.

The conference will help the Church to assert its voice in the modern world as decreed by Vatican II. So far, we have been quite comfortable among ourselves. The problem is with us, not with the outside world. We are not courageous enough — or have not realized the need — to make changes from within.

For example, we consider someone a Christian only if he or she is baptized. That ritual takes only a few minutes. After that we do not bother about how that person lives the faith. At the same time, we are not willing to accept as Christians thousands who follow Christ in spirit.

Today in Europe, only 10 percent of the population are baptized Christians, but we have no problem calling it a Christian continent. But if you say this of India, there would be a hue and cry. There are thousands of Indians brought up in the Christian tradition who live with Christian values, perhaps more than the number of Christians in Europe. In Varanasi (northern India), many people call themselves Christu bhakta (Christ devotees). They are not baptized, but live like Christians. Yet we don’t accept them as Christians.

But how is this a challenge for the Religious?
Religious are supposed to be the Church’s missioners and pioneers. They are the prophets in the Church. However, social factors are acting as hindrances. The Church needs a quantum movement for change. If an individual suddenly tries for change, he or she may not survive long.

But some, like Mother Teresa, have thrived.
Mother Teresa couldn’t change her original congregation. Today that congregation is one of the dying congregations, although it was among the first to come to India. Change can happen from anywhere, not only from Religious. Major changes in the Church during the 13th century happened because of Saint Francis of Assisi, who was a layperson, not a monk.

Religious life started as a contestation against certain Church practices, but it gradually became part of the Church. The Religious are now busy attending to the Church’s ordinary needs such as maintenance of institutions.

The CRI is considered the second most powerful group in the Catholic Church in India. Why doesn’t it assert itself more?
If you speak in democratic terms, more than 125,000 members and institutions make the CRI a much larger force than any other Church body in the country. However, in terms of authority or hierarchy, the CRI is nothing. It belongs to another order of things. Its power comes from its charismatic nature or commitment, not its position. There is no position for the Religious in the Church hierarchy.

What are some of the problems with the Indian Religious?
Education, mainly. A large number of the Religious, mostly nuns, are mere matriculates (having a 10th-grade education). Nuns are the largest CRI group, so it is also a gender problem.

The women Religious are not able to play their role. Our present concern is to make the Indian Religious communicate. Many Religious superiors still think using the Internet or educating the nuns could lead to abuse. How to break that mindset and make our women communicators is a big challenge. It will happen, but if you ask me when, my answer is: “Not in our life time.” Because the structure is so strong, changes can happen soon only if something out of the way happens.

I have told women leaders that nothing will happen if they leave it to bishops and priests to talk about change. The day women start talking about changes, things will start happening.

Do women get a chance to say what they want?
They are given forums, but they remain silent. It’s a cultural factor. They come from homes where they are not allowed to raise their voices. The way they’ve been brought up also does not permit them to speak out. Even the highly qualified and Western educated become part of a silent group.

Related posts:

1. Plenary Assembly of Women Religious of India (CRWI) – January, 2011
2. Intensify struggle for justice: Religious told
3. Religious for dialogue to renew identity
4. National Convention of Religious Brothers of India (NARBI) – May, 2011
5. Young Religious seek space for growth