Tamil Nadu: Dalit Christians in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu have condemned the appointment of a non-Dalit as the archbishop of Pondicherry-Cuddalore Archdiocese.
The appointment of Bishop Francis Kalist of Meerut in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh as the new metropolitan archbishop of Pondicherry-Cuddalore was announced on March 19.
Mary John, president of the Dalit Christian Liberation Movement (DCLM), told UCA News: “The Church’s hierarchy has taken the rare step to transfer a bishop from north India to an archdiocese in the south only to prevent the appointment of a Dalit archbishop.”
The appointment has “gravely disappointed Dalit Catholics in the archdiocese as well as all over India,” he said while threatening to hold public protests and appeal to Pope Francis to stop fresh appointments of bishops in India until the local Catholic hierarchy takes steps to appoint Dalit archbishops and bishops representative of their numbers within the community.
The DCLM further threatened that Dalit Christians in Tamil Nadu will not allow the consecration of the non-Dalit archbishop to take place at Pondicherry-Cuddalore.
The archdiocese had become vacant when Archbishop Antony Anandarayar resigned on Jan 27, 2021, after reaching the age of 75 and died on May 4, 2021, due to Covid-19. Web Desk
