The Cross and the Communist
It's a question that many have asked over the years, and one that is being asked even more frequently after the arrests of activists Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves. The police have charged them with being Naxalites, a charge that both men and their families firmly repudiate. The question being asked is: What draws middle-class Christian boys from educated and fairly affluent backgrounds to Marxism? What makes them give up the comforts of the city to answer the call of the village? What few know is that for many of these boys the route to activism came not through Marx & Engels or Naxalbari but through a radical Christian ideology called Liberation Theology. An ideology, which most crucially, does not espouse the gun or grenade as a weapon of change. Liberation Theology originated in the poverty and slums of Latin America, where it deeply influenced Christian groups in the 1970s and 1980s, making them shun the elitist image of the Church and serve the poorest of the poor as Christ did. "During his student days, Vernon was influenced by Liberation Theology along with fellow student members of the All-India Catholic University Federation (AICUF)," said his wife Susan. "He later severed links with the AICUF and moved on to working for labourers in rural areas. He was also a union leader in the thermal power plants at Chandrapur." Arun Ferreira was a sociology student at St Xavier's College, but by his time, the radicalism in the AICUF had petered out. He was however active in the Social Service League in his college. One of his relatives was a priest who was in the forefront of the movement in India. Liberation Theology transformed the way many Catholics viewed charity and social work. It contained elements of Marxist analysis and came out in support of the poor, spurring them to action to change their lot. It quoted the Bible to show that Christ and his apostles practised a form of early socialism by sharing their belongings and food.
To many Catholics, used to serving in educational institutions which catered to the middle class and the rich, it came as an eye-opener. They suddenly realised they were serving a class which did not need their charity. Among the earliest to embrace it were the Jesuits, sometimes dubbed the ideological stormtroopers of the Catholic faith. Several prominent theologians such as the late Fr George Soares in Pune, Samuel Ryan, and the late Sebastian Kappen supported the new thinking. In 1978 in Mumbai, two Jesuit priests, Peter D'Mello and Niki Cordoso, both working with the Catholic Mission at Dahanu, broke away and formed a group called the Kashtakari Sanghatana. This group called for a more direct and radical approach to help poor tribals in the Thane district. The Sanghatana is now run on secular left-of-centre lines, and has been joined by Brian, another Bandra boy who has settled in Dahanu and married a tribal woman. Twenty-five years after he left the Jesuits, Nikki Cordoso recalled the role he played in Dahanu with emotion. "The then superior general of the Jesuits, Pedro Aruppe, told the church, do not work with the poor, walk with them. Another slogan was ‘From Alms to Arms', but by arms we did not mean guns but empowerment of the poor and the marginalised by asking them to stand up for their rights." The authorities cracked down, labelling them Naxalites, said Cordoso. "We were handcuffed and tied in ropes and later jailed to serve as an example to anyone who wanted the uplift of tribals." This line of thinking was also prevalent in Kerala. When questioned about taking to the streets for fishermen's rights, several nuns openly stated that standing up for human rights was what they believed in, and the role played by traditional-minded Catholics like Mother Teresa, who built homes for the sick and needy, was no longer relevant. "Instead of picking up people from the streets, Christians should try and stop people being thrown on the streets," the nuns argued.
Mumbai had its own bunch of radicals in the AICUF, whose advisor, the late Fr Raymond D'Silva played a crucial role in mentoring students, several of whom who went on to work with unions, Bennett D'Costa and Franklyn D'Souza being two prominent examples. Prof Fleur D'Souza, who was part of the AICUF group in 1977 in Mumbai, said that a number of students were inspired to work with labour unions instead of choosing a regular career. However, Vernon's brother Kenneth Gonsalves, who was also a member of AICUF, said that it was not Liberation Theology alone but a number of factors that led to the burst of democratic activity which followed the lifting of the Emergency. Others who were also called to unionism, like CITU leader Vivek Monetiro, said they were untouched by the winds of change from Latin America. Fr Rudy Heredia, a sociologist with the Indian Social Institute in New Delhi, and Bishop Thomas Dabre from Vasai said that one of the issues that troubled the Indian Church about the new ideology was the Marxist inclination to use violence to change social structures. "The Church which was wedded to the ideals of Christ could not condone violence," said Dabre. While violence was seen as antithetical to Christian values, the Marxist method of analysis was welcomed by many, said theologian, Julian Saldhana. It made Catholics realise that poverty, illiteracy and corruption were man-made and not God-ordained. "The new philosophy, however, placed too much emphasis on economic issues ignoring the vital spiritual dimensio of everyday life," he added. The Vatican came down heavily on the new theology. It condemned the connection with Marxism and sidelined senior clergy. Pope John Paul II was particularly bitter about priests who had joined the leftist Sandinista government as ministers in the 1980s.
In India, Liberation Theology failed to blossom into a strong movement due to various factors. The minority status of the Catholic groups meant that they were not able to communicate their ideas to other groups. They also came under attack from right-wing sections which found them to too radical while the mainstream Left was suspicious of them. In fact, some of the liberation activists were even dubbed "agents of the West" by the more hardline Leftists.
It's a question that many have asked over the years, and one that is being asked even more frequently after the arrests of activists Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves. The police have charged them with being Naxalites, a charge that both men and their families firmly repudiate. The question being asked is: What draws middle-class Christian boys from educated and fairly affluent backgrounds to Marxism? What makes them give up the comforts of the city to answer the call of the village? What few know is that for many of these boys the route to activism came not through Marx & Engels or Naxalbari but through a radical Christian ideology called Liberation Theology. An ideology, which most crucially, does not espouse the gun or grenade as a weapon of change. Liberation Theology originated in the poverty and slums of Latin America, where it deeply influenced Christian groups in the 1970s and 1980s, making them shun the elitist image of the Church and serve the poorest of the poor as Christ did. "During his student days, Vernon was influenced by Liberation Theology along with fellow student members of the All-India Catholic University Federation (AICUF)," said his wife Susan. "He later severed links with the AICUF and moved on to working for labourers in rural areas. He was also a union leader in the thermal power plants at Chandrapur." Arun Ferreira was a sociology student at St Xavier's College, but by his time, the radicalism in the AICUF had petered out. He was however active in the Social Service League in his college. One of his relatives was a priest who was in the forefront of the movement in India. Liberation Theology transformed the way many Catholics viewed charity and social work. It contained elements of Marxist analysis and came out in support of the poor, spurring them to action to change their lot. It quoted the Bible to show that Christ and his apostles practised a form of early socialism by sharing their belongings and food.
To many Catholics, used to serving in educational institutions which catered to the middle class and the rich, it came as an eye-opener. They suddenly realised they were serving a class which did not need their charity. Among the earliest to embrace it were the Jesuits, sometimes dubbed the ideological stormtroopers of the Catholic faith. Several prominent theologians such as the late Fr George Soares in Pune, Samuel Ryan, and the late Sebastian Kappen supported the new thinking. In 1978 in Mumbai, two Jesuit priests, Peter D'Mello and Niki Cordoso, both working with the Catholic Mission at Dahanu, broke away and formed a group called the Kashtakari Sanghatana. This group called for a more direct and radical approach to help poor tribals in the Thane district. The Sanghatana is now run on secular left-of-centre lines, and has been joined by Brian, another Bandra boy who has settled in Dahanu and married a tribal woman. Twenty-five years after he left the Jesuits, Nikki Cordoso recalled the role he played in Dahanu with emotion. "The then superior general of the Jesuits, Pedro Aruppe, told the church, do not work with the poor, walk with them. Another slogan was ‘From Alms to Arms', but by arms we did not mean guns but empowerment of the poor and the marginalised by asking them to stand up for their rights." The authorities cracked down, labelling them Naxalites, said Cordoso. "We were handcuffed and tied in ropes and later jailed to serve as an example to anyone who wanted the uplift of tribals." This line of thinking was also prevalent in Kerala. When questioned about taking to the streets for fishermen's rights, several nuns openly stated that standing up for human rights was what they believed in, and the role played by traditional-minded Catholics like Mother Teresa, who built homes for the sick and needy, was no longer relevant. "Instead of picking up people from the streets, Christians should try and stop people being thrown on the streets," the nuns argued.
Mumbai had its own bunch of radicals in the AICUF, whose advisor, the late Fr Raymond D'Silva played a crucial role in mentoring students, several of whom who went on to work with unions, Bennett D'Costa and Franklyn D'Souza being two prominent examples. Prof Fleur D'Souza, who was part of the AICUF group in 1977 in Mumbai, said that a number of students were inspired to work with labour unions instead of choosing a regular career. However, Vernon's brother Kenneth Gonsalves, who was also a member of AICUF, said that it was not Liberation Theology alone but a number of factors that led to the burst of democratic activity which followed the lifting of the Emergency. Others who were also called to unionism, like CITU leader Vivek Monetiro, said they were untouched by the winds of change from Latin America. Fr Rudy Heredia, a sociologist with the Indian Social Institute in New Delhi, and Bishop Thomas Dabre from Vasai said that one of the issues that troubled the Indian Church about the new ideology was the Marxist inclination to use violence to change social structures. "The Church which was wedded to the ideals of Christ could not condone violence," said Dabre. While violence was seen as antithetical to Christian values, the Marxist method of analysis was welcomed by many, said theologian, Julian Saldhana. It made Catholics realise that poverty, illiteracy and corruption were man-made and not God-ordained. "The new philosophy, however, placed too much emphasis on economic issues ignoring the vital spiritual dimensio of everyday life," he added. The Vatican came down heavily on the new theology. It condemned the connection with Marxism and sidelined senior clergy. Pope John Paul II was particularly bitter about priests who had joined the leftist Sandinista government as ministers in the 1980s.
In India, Liberation Theology failed to blossom into a strong movement due to various factors. The minority status of the Catholic groups meant that they were not able to communicate their ideas to other groups. They also came under attack from right-wing sections which found them to too radical while the mainstream Left was suspicious of them. In fact, some of the liberation activists were even dubbed "agents of the West" by the more hardline Leftists.
Original Times of India article (here)
2 comments:
Bro. Why not make your post readable by leaving space for every paragraph or at least leave some space after a good 5 lines for readability?
As an educated person, I hope you know it makes no sense to make this kind of post... it irritates the eyes....
It is a good post though...
Computers! I'll see if I can fix it. Thanks.
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