STORY - "I Have Never Felt Afraid Because of My Faith"

Nelson Bay parishioner Dr Mark Adamski has visited India many times since 1982, describing it as a “spiritual well”. Aurora invited him to report on the dangerous situation for Christians in the Indian state of Orissa…

On Christmas Day 2007, whilst I anguished over what time I should leave for Mass to ensure a parking spot, I did not know that churches were burning. In India, men, women and children who gather as we do to celebrate the Eucharist, and who utter the same “Amen” as they receive the same Body of Christ, were fleeing for their lives with the cry “Kill the Christians” ringing in their ears.

Beginning on Christmas Eve and over the next three days Hindu fundamentalists attacked Christian communities in a premeditated orgy of violence, killing up to six people, burning and desecrating over fifty churches, destroying convents, presbyteries, student hostels and a seminary. Nearly 500 homes were destroyed, as well as all the families’ possessions including a year’s supply of rice.

This happened in the Kandhamal District of Orissa, a poor but beautiful state on the Bay of Bengal. The church works amongst the two most marginalised groups in Indian society: the Tribals or indigenous people, and the Dalits, or Untouchables. By advocating for them and offering health care and education, regardless of their faith, the church tries to free them from the cycle of poverty.

This living gospel proclaiming equality and human dignity is challenging to a society based on a caste system legitimising inequality and exploitation. Of greatest concern is that this violence was clearly both politically and religiously motivated. Politicians have discovered the politics of hate, and have targeted other minorities including Muslims and Christians in other states, leading to both electoral success and human carnage. Despite warnings from the Bishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar Diocese, Archbishop Raphael Cheenath, politicians and police looked the other way and either co-operated with or condoned these attacks.

Don’t be afraid

Baptist and I met in 1985 when he was a newly ordained priest, and I, a recently graduated doctor. We lived together for three months in Orissa, where he remains working with the Tribal people of Pallahara. Last year, I was desperate to visit India with my daughter, Julia, but was anxious about our safety. I emailed Baptist for his advice, and his reply was simple: “Don’t be afraid….”

And so we went.

I have never felt afraid because of my faith, never wondered what I would do if confronted with violence directed at me because I was a Christian. Although we were not directly threatened whilst we were with Baptist, we were aware of the threats experienced by the people we met: families in jungle villages, nuns living in isolated communities and young priests in their distant parishes. Yet people remain faithful; still caring for and loving each other and the poor whom God has put in their path. To express the peace and clarity that came to me whilst with Baptist and these faith communities is difficult. The experience of the church, vibrant and alive, witnessing the gospel truths in the face of persecution, was inspiring and liberating.

Many in our diocese already have an experience of the sub-continent, and following Bishop Michael’s recent visit, we will all have a special connection as Indian priests come to minister to us. I have no doubt that if we receive these Indian priests with the same love, openness and generosity that marks the church in their country, we will be enriched and enlivened.

Yet how will we look them in the eye if, knowing about the situation in Orissa and India in general, we have done nothing? Our brothers and sisters in Christ are vulnerable and in danger. As a minority, they have no voice. State politicians in the Kandhamal district are looking the other way while innocent people are being intimidated and brutalised.

India seeks a senior position in the world community. At a diplomatic level we must let them know that the world is watching, and that we disapprove of what is happening.

Please contact your local member or the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Stephen.Smith.MP@aph.gov.au. Tell them simply that we want the Australian government to inform the Indian Ambassador that Australia objects to the inaction and indifference of the Union Government and the Orissa State Government with regard to violence and intimidation directed at the minority Christian community.

Dr Mark Adamski

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