My father had five sisters and four brothers and all of them grew up in a devout Hindu family. Religious and ritual practices were non-negotiables for them, and all of them were embedded into the spirituality of the times. To leave the family and the larger Hindu fold for him was not an easy decision. It was a heart-breaking experience for his parents and the other dear ones, and negotiating religious symbols and rituals -the old one and the newly embraced- was also challenging. Eventually, not only my father became a Catholic but he also served as a catechist for a while, and moved on to live like a mystic, spending long spells of time in prayer, staying away from all the known and the familiar. Prayer and witness filled his life!
Theoretically, things were pretty clear and the Catechism taught in the 1940s ensured that when you leave Hinduism and become a Catholic, you are moving away from darkness to light, from falsehood to truth, leaving idolatry to genuine worship. When the language of ‘white and black’ dominated with little place for grey, and different shades of grey, arguments for and against were easy. When he embraced the new faith, my father knew and was convinced that he moved from being on the wrong path to the right track, one that leads the faithful to holiness and light and life. Forgiveness of sins and fulness of life are found only there, and nowhere else. For the ordinary Christians of 1950s and 60s, and even later, any argument that held that God’s grace is available outside the Church and that other religions be considered and evaluated positively was blasphemy, pure and simple.
For the last few hundred years across the nation (India), Christian institutions taught Christianity to the Christian students –Catechism and the Bible being the primary sources. Several thousand Hindu students (in some places they are Muslims or Sikhs or others) also learned basic Christian prayers, like Our Father, which I guess many of them enjoyed, but things ended there. In place of Catechism classes, the ‘other’ students got instructions on moral principles. The clergy and the religious, and most Christian teachers, did not know how to handle the religious and spiritual identities of the other students, parents, teachers and other beneficiaries and well-wishers. They did respect and wish the others, a few sent greetings on their feasts, but things did not go beyond. The non-Christian parents simply sent the children to Christian-run institutions so that they get excellent education along with some inputs on character formation. More than anything, the prayerful, humble, hardworking and dedicated missionary inspired the students.
While admitting the daughter in a Catholic school or a hostel, if the parent insisted that they want their daughter to receive a good education but also want her to grow up to become a devout and knowledgeable Catholic, the management would have been delighted. Imagine a similar request came from a Hindu parent: while he is with you, kindly let my son be brought up in the Hindu faith, in the knowledge of Hinduism? The admission may have been outrightly refused. All those who were responsible for the integral formation of children, those between ages 5 and 20, must have insisted that faith formation is essential, is more important than regular education, and that schools and hostels must ensure that Catechism is taught to them. We, the same ‘enlightened’ educationists did not know how to help the Hindu boys and girls, attending our Catholic schools and residing at our hostels, (where they spent most of their precious childhood with us) to get opportunities to grow up to be wonderful Hindus, nourished by their spiritualities.
It is not to blame the past or those who were at the helm of affairs but to see how things could have been better visualized, and, to see if new paths can be taken now so that future is brighter than the present. The age-old view that we don’t dialogue with untruth or falsehood, and we are on the right track and other are on the wrong one, may have heavily eclipsed the thoughts of the missionaries in the past. It is a moot question now but is not an insignificant one: if only, during the past hundred plus years, the missionary-educationists found ways in helping the Hindu students to wrestle with Hinduism and found ways Hindu spiritualities nourish them, would the history of the nation be different and even better? There is no definitive answer to this, but one can venture to say that it must have had a measure of positive impact.
Even if some wished that Hinduism be taught to the Hindu students, a related set of questions may have made that exercise very difficult, if not impossible: what is Hinduism, who represents Hinduism, who can speak for Hinduism, who is the right person who can teach Hinduism, will such teachings be accepted by all etc. That there is nothing good in Hinduism is a view strongly held by a significant number of Indian priests and religious, even today. When such views are held, it is notoriously difficult to discuss and to agree upon. Others would have argued that in the minority institutions, only the ‘spiritual’ well-being of students from minority communities are taken care of, and not of the others. Even if there was no single understanding of Hinduism (there are many Hinduisms and many ways to understanding them), attempts could have been made to celebrate diverse Hinduisms. Given a chance, students, teachers and others would have expressed themselves and their deeper longings, if a space was provided to them.
Given the complex nature of religious and spiritual identities (and the strong views we have of our understanding of our religion and of other religions) many prefer to avoid this entire exercise. While we should always heartily welcome and be open for the others to know Christ and to embrace Christianity, our current understanding of dialogue and mission mandates that we know more about other religions, especially of Hinduism, and how to bring the Hindus into religious and spiritual conversations. Teaching Catechism or any other religion may not be easy in the current circumstances but discussing religions and spiritualities academically is required more than ever. It simply means there is a lot for us to learn and to grow up.
We, the Catholics, are delighted if the Hindus celebrate our festivals, visit our churches and shrines seeking divine intervention, offer the masses for their intentions, contribute for the construction of the churches, desire to know more about Jesus Christ and Christianity, etc. Alternately, if the question is, can the Catholics celebrate Hindu festivals, visit temples and participate in the religious events, receive the food-offerings, contribute for the construction of temples, desire to know about others’ spiritualities….! Dozens of such questions are being raised by the Catholics across the world. Answers in the older format of either/or, that things are right or wrong, black or white, pure and impure, true or false, are grossly in sufficient. The issue is not merely if we have Hindus as your family members or neighbours or friends, but it is an evangelical necessity.
A lot of time is already lost in our collective failure to understand and recognize, appreciate and admire the ‘good’ in Hinduism and in other religions. If I continue to see and hold that everything in other religion is wrong and false, unholy and evil, we may be failing to bring all people, with their strengths and resources, to the way of life. With all imperfections, people of all religions and no-religious affiliation have to build up the kingdom. Pouring new wine in new wineskins would be the wonderful thing to do.