Paul KeenanSome clerics in India are aiming for high office
While nations of the EU gear up for the forthcoming local and European elections, India’s voting for hopefuls to that country’s lower house of parliament, the Lok Sabha, is now well underway.
Such are the demands on the largest democracy in the world that no fewer than five weeks from April 7 to May 12 have been allotted for polling among the country’s 814 million voters (with May 16 the sceheduled date for counting of ballots).
For the record, that means 930,000 polling stations nationwide (employing electronic voting machines). There are 543 seats contested by over 8,000 candidates in 349 constituencies and a government will be formed once a single party or coalition gains 272 MPs.
Of the total number of voters, 24 million are drawn from the Christian community, of that figure, 80% are Catholic.
The importance of these elections to this community is clear with the participation of the Hindu nationalist movement the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Readers of The Irish Catholic will recall the repeated linking of activists of that party to the murderous Orissa pogrom of 2008 when Hindus rose against their Christian neighbours.
For some observers of the electoral events now unfolding, the entire contest can be reduced to a run-off between the BJP as a strong contender and the ruling Indian National Congress. While by no means an indicator of the final outcome, it should also be mentioned that 80% of Indians eligible to vote are Hindu.
No doubt keenly mindful of their minority status and the need for as full a participation with the democratic process as possible, the Indian bishops’ conference issued a ‘call to arms’ pastoral letter in February exhorting those faithful with a vote to use it, and wisely.
Opportunity
“We owe it to ourselves, our children and our country not to let go of this opportunity to get involved in bettering the history, culture and destiny of our nation,” the prelates stated before adding, perhaps pointedly, that Catholics should vote for candidates who will “promote communal harmony and a spirit of inter-religious dialogue and understanding; care for the minorities and weaker sections of society… safeguard the rights of tribals over land, water and forests; and grant equal rights to dalit [lower caste] Christians, equal to those given to other dalits; work for an economy that seeks in particular to help the poor and the under privileged [and ensure a] safe environment for all people, particularly women and children”.
Walking a cautious line, the bishops added their clear ‘disclaimer’ that “the Catholic Church does not identify herself with any political party. But we have a responsibility as bishops to urge every eligible citizen to exercise his/her right and duty to vote and to do so prudently, carefully and judiciously.”
This latter point is one that has been lost (wilfully ignored) by a number of priests who have decided that pastoral guidance is insufficient this year and have engaged in active campaign for their own seat in parliament.
Since March, the Church locally has attempted to stamp out such participation, reminding clerics of their restrictions under the Code of Canon Law, 285:3: “Clerics are forbidden to assume public office whenever it means sharing in the exercise of civil power.”
The first to feel the weight of the Church’s displeasure was Fr M.T. Stephen of the Archdiocese of Trivandrun in Kerala, who, having announced his intention to run as an independent candidate, and who later refused to heed calls from his archbishop to rail in his political ambitions, was suspended from the clerical state. (Fr Stephen went so far as to hang campaign posters showing him in full clerical garb.)
A priest for 24 years, Fr Stephen has long advocated on behalf of the poor and was imprisoned twice due to his activism. He argued that his move into politics was fuelled by repeated failures of the mainstream parties to work on behalf of impoverished Indians.
A more serious challenge has been posed by Fr M.P. Jesuraj from Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu, a cleric who has to date rejected any call for him to confine himself to his priestly ministry. Also known for his social activism, both on behalf of local fishermen and against government plans to foist a nuclear power station on his district, Fr Jesuraj has argued that his election will strengthen his fight on these causes.
Difference
The important difference between the clerics in their actions lies in the fact that where Fr Stephen was an independent candidate with little hope of election – or more crucially, dividing the local Catholic vote – Fr Jesuraj is a member of the Aam Aadmi Party, a grouping on the rise since electoral success in Delhi in 2013. With the backing of a mainstream party, Fr Jesuraj has a better shot at a seat in the Lok Sabha.
The Catholic bishops still have options at this point. While retaining the right to suspend Fr Jesuraj, they can also recall the case of Paraguay’s former Bishop Fernando Lugo Méndez, who left the clerical state in 2006 to enter politics, later assuming the role as president of the nation (also from a base of fighting on behalf of the poorest in society).
This latter path assumes, of course, that Fr Jesuraj would want to pursue such a course. He stands on the record as stating: “People are more important than Church leaders in my spiritual life.”
As polling continues, Fr Jesuraj must be hoping that the Catholic faithful view the importance of his political aspirations in the same light.