Articles

Lay Ministry in North East Region: Need for a Paradigm shift

Opinion | Articles | John S. Shilshi | 02-Sep-2022

Introduction:

In contemporary Catholic world, the term “missionary” immediately brings to mind aged-old images of priests braving adverse situations and extending spiritual and humanitarian services to people - teaching, baptizing and celebrating Mass for those who had embraced the faith. It also reminds about priests and Nuns starting Schools or health centres in the clustered premises – which were also used as Chapels, particularly in parts of India where Catholicism took root late. Likewise, when one talks of “Lay ministry”, the immediate thought that came to mind are the men and women with stoles around their necks, coming out and distributing Holy Communion to the faithful, particularly in Churches where there are large number of devotees. In actual term, Lay ministry however, mean much more than these small activities where men and women of the Church step in to share the workload of priests and Deacons.  

Around the world in developed and developing countries, lay people are constantly involved in various activities. They serve as educators, counselors, health workers, and administrators, even in places where Catholic Churches are well established. But the roles that Lay missionaries played in helping the mother Church grow in alien soils, is not forgotten even today, as Pope John Paul II had once emphasized the need to take honour in recognizing the contributions of men and women missionaries as the Church owes their origin to them.¹ In the North East Region of India too, the role played by Lay missionaries in laying the foundation stones cannot be discounted. A region once inaccessible and incommunicado with the outside world, with culture and tradition different from the rest of India, Lay evangelization efforts were never an easy affair, but marred by several hurdles and hardships.  In post Vatican II however, missionary activities by the laity became more structured and defined. The contribution of those men in helping pioneer Catholic missionaries to set foot in different parts of North East India might not have been roles technically defined under “Lay Ministry” terminology of modern time, but they cannot be wish away, because it was their yesterdays that gave us our today.  

The North East Experience 

Ironically, the earliest trace of Catholic foothold in the region was in Tripura, a state where Catholic presence in modern times is modest in comparison to others. Catholic footfall in that state was reported as early as 1683 when a Jesuit priest, Rev. Fr. Ignatius Gomes, visited Mariamnagar, and later took permanent settlement in 1760 during the reign of Maharaja Amar Manikya².  David R. Syiemlieh, also wrote that the Catholics came to parts of Assam, and then to Meghalaya in 1872, through Rev. Fr. Jacobo Broy³. From there on, the spread and growth of Catholic Church had been a steady one. In other states however, Catholic arrival has been reported much later – in some cases even as late as in post-independent period.  These late arrival proved to be a hurdle, as tribal population who were apprehensive about their belief systems being wiped out, as well as the Baptist brethren who were not prepared to see their comfort zone disturbed, resisted the arrival of Catholics. It was the Lay missionaries who braved all of that and pave the way for pioneer missionaries – mostly foreign nationals, to lay the Catholic foundations in many parts of the region.  

Based on the account of some writers who chronicled on the spread of Catholic faith in the region, there were several lay missionaries who made notable contributions. For example, Fr. L. Jayaseelan mentioned in detail the contributions of several people such as Peter Taithul, who embraced Catholic faith in 1937, and was instrumental in spreading the faith to so many people along the then Indo-Burma border area. He also gave good account of Peter Noren Chothe and N. John Darnong, of Purum Tampak and Mitong villages respectively, of the present day Chandel district in Manipur. He dwelled in some details on how N. John Darnong gave up every priority in life and followed Rev. Fr. Peter Bianchi and ultimately became a Catechist and even went on to be honoured with the Papal Scoll⁴. Besides these people, the writer had also mentioned so many others who played crucial roles in ensuring that Catholic faith got rooted in different parts of Manipur. Likewise, Prof. Luke Sangkima wrote about the contributions of very common people like Aichhunga and Peter Thangphunga, who in their own humble ways facilitated the arrival of Catholic missionaries in Mizoram⁵. Apart from such written accounts, there were also testimonies of family members and friends of people who contributed immensely to the growth of Catholic faith in the region.

As we flip through pages of these Catholic histories in the region, we found that the common stumbling blocks for early Lay missionaries were put up by the pagans, Baptists, and unfriendly government functionaries. As such, it is difficult to ascertain who amongst them played the more crucial role towards rooting the faith, since each of their situations were typical and peculiar in their own ways. However, in some areas of Nagaland and parts of Manipur, early Catholics had to handle a third force apart from those mentioned above. Here, the Naga armed insurgents were vehement in their opposition to Catholic arrival because they were very much already part of the Baptist dispensation. Therefore, they made good use of the forces at their disposal to ensure that Catholic faith seekers were persecuted to cruelest extent possible so that people got discouraged and give up the idea.  

Here is an excerpt from one such shocking story of persecution which was compiled by the Nagaland Catholic Youth Movement, which got published in their 9^th Convention publication, on how Catholic faith in Zhavame village of Nagaland went through a cruel Chapter. It reads, “on 18th October, 1964 when a group of traders Mr. Akha, Mr. Tho-o, Mr. Theba and Mr. Thesii came across Mr. Panii of Liyai village from Mao Parish on their journey to Imphal. They embraced the Catholic Faith and approached Rev. Fr. Bemick SDB, the then Parish Priest of Kohima, who sent a group of young faithful under the leadership of Mr. Sousahie Philip to teach them the Doctrine of the Church in 1965. …..However, the foundation of Catholic Church in Zhavame was not without any challenges. Anti-Catholic activities emerged breeding tension and uneasiness. As a result, Mr. Akha was arrested by the Naga Army on 18th December, 1966 while he was preparing a feast for the newly founded Catholic family for the coming Christmas Day. He was thrown into a dungeon 6 feet in breadth, 8 feet in length and 4 feet in depth near Khomi Village, which was one of the company Headquarters of the Naga Army. In exchange of his faith for his own life and that of his family, he returned home on Christmas Eve of 1966. This however was just the beginning. On 17th July, 1967 Mr. Sasii Dukru, Mekho Nukhu, Nasu Dukru, Thekhru Dukru and Tho-o Domeh were arrested by the Naga Army and were thrown into the dungeon leaving them to survive with just one minimum meal a day for 89 days, with a break after 58 days”⁶

 It was later learnt that Mr. Suosahie Philip, a Catechist of Christ King Church Kohima, who had dedicated sixty years of his life to the Catholic Church, not only serving his Parish, but also in expanding the mission to different parts of Nagaland, spent much of his time to intervene against such inhuman treatments in the hands of the naga rebels. Much of the ordeals he went through were said to have gone unnoticed, though he did them with lots of risk to his life. No doubt he was later honoured with the highest Papal Civilian Award on his fiftieth year as a Catechist, but several instances of his heart wrenching interventions went unrecorded, therefore unknown to others. In a private conversation with this author, Dr. Rosemary Dzuvichu, the daughter of late Suosahie Philip, now a Professor in Nagaland University said, in 2016 when her father passed away, the Catholic mourners included the families of those for whom the late Catechist had taken pain to intervene when people were incarcerated in most inhuman conditions.⁷ Those persecuted as above were all innocent common people, with little education or no education behind them. But their sere determinations not only helped in spreading the faith, but strengthened and deepened the resolve to embrace Catholicism, therefore, very much the corner stones of Lay missionary work.

Modern Time Lay Ministers

The term “Lay Ministry” assumed prominence in post Vatican II, therefore, the Church in North East region too saw the emergence a more structured mandating of Lay people, entrusted with different responsibilities. In other words, in the post-Vatican II, the word “minister” was assigned to lay roles by the Church. Interestingly, these increase in lay involvement in different capacities led to some kind of confusions as well. Less enlightened Catholics mistook that consecrated men (Clergy) have outsourced much of their responsibilities to the lay people. In reality however, it was not so. The roles continue to be defined. The priests celebrate Mass and the sacraments; preach the Gospel; administer their parishes; and are ultimately responsible for the pastoral care of their communities. On the other hand, ministerial responsibilities by the Lay ministers are based on their baptism, confined to specific duties as distributing Communion, serving Mass, teaching religious education, carrying on works of charity etc. Unfortunately, this misplaced understanding of “Lay Ministry” roles vis-à-vis the roles of the Clergy, at times became reason for differences and affected the ‘Catholic synergy’.

It must not be mistaken that the ordained clergy exist for the laity which constitute 90% of the Church body, to build them up as a faithful of Christ, to bring them to real and living participation in the mystery of Christ. Lay ministers depend on the ordained for their training, direction and effective working. Building a pastoral network of Lay people is part of them, something that cannot be neglected if the Church has to witness an all-round growth, particularly in a time when the faithful’s enquiry into their faith is all time high. Therefore, there is need for recognizing this imperative, not merely as fulfillment of canonical requirement, but as an earnest commitment. There has to be sincerity of purpose in the appointment/assignment of Lay Ministry roles, so also in the acceptance of them, so that the Church’s growing shortage of priests is plugged meaningfully. Empowered Lay Ministry may also be one way of preventing the unfortunate phenomenon of the faithful drifting away from the Church.

Lay Ministry amidst Denomination contestation

Christians in North East Region unfortunately inherit a history of intense denomination rivalry. Therefore, inter-denomination relationships are far from being cordial and healthy, but marred by game of one-upmanship, where the worldly and material considerations get the better of need for spiritual grounding. Denominational divide is so widely prevalent that in many places, establishment of a new Church could become serious source of conflict. There were also shocking instances where larger Christian groups have disallowed the burial of Catholic dead bodies in the villages.⁸ Such abysmal ignorance to tenets of Christianity  often rendered the Catholic Churches on the receiving end, particularly in  places where they are numerically outnumbered. However, since an eye for an eye kind of response is neither desirable nor advisable, the Church needs to consider ways to up skill Lay ministers’ capability in order to survive in such surroundings.

Key components of Lay Ministry in the Catholic Church are the Catechists. However, for various reasons, not many people with adequate educational qualifications make it to this profession. In comparison, pastors who administer the Baptist Churches are those who had completed Theological studies, which is graduation equivalent. Such being the gap in education and exposure level between the two set of Church leaders, it is but natural that our Catechist are the ones nursing the inferiority complex. During one of my interaction with a group of Catechists in 2019, one main concern expressed by the participants was, ‘lack of depth in the understanding of the Bible’⁹, a concern common to both trained Catechists as well as locally recruited ones. They were also honest enough to admit that while in discourse with their counterparts from other denominations, they were not in a position to convincingly debate so as to defend the practices of the Catholic Church. So, in an environment where there is so much competition for denomination supremacy, this is an area that needs serious attention as our Catechist formed the largest nucleus of the Catholic Lay Ministry.

Conclusion:

In a fast changing and material driven world, shortage of priest is a reality that the Catholic Church in our region too has to live with. However, since the Church cannot suffer on this count, there is need for an innovative thinking to augment the priest short-fall through empowered Lay ministry. Secondly, the Church must also move along with changing times, and adjust to various societal needs so as to alleviate some misgivings, if any. Thirdly, large chunk of Christ faithful breaking away from the Church can no longer be downplayed as an aberration, since a good percentage of them are the enlightened and educated Catholics. So, at the diocesan level, policy makers would be well advised to consider restructuring the present scheme of things if Catholic Church has to grow with meaningful contribution from the Lay Ministry. Among others, following steps may stand in good stead in meeting the internal and external challenges facing the Church.

1. Upgrade Catechist Training standard through appropriate restructuring, with inclusion of secular subjects. Lay people’s involvement as guest faculties may be explored.
2. Compensate the Catechist with decent remunerations so that they are able to support their families without having to divert elsewhere to augment family income.
3. Induct people with minimum educational qualifications as Catechists, and also selection more stringent and competitive.
4. Set up a centralized Pastoral fund to take care of the monthly salaries of Catechist and honorarium to Lay Ministry members to ensure some level of permanency in the way the Catechists are paid.
5. Compulsory subsidized or free education for the Children of Catechists in Catholic education institutes.
6. Evolve a system to assess the performance and conduct of Catechists through a confidential mechanism, which could also include the views of some enlightened Lay Catholics. Such assessment should be used for career progression and onward recognition of service.
7. Consider increasing the number of female Lay Ministry members, including as Catechists.
8. Have impartial and transparent grievance redresal system at Diocese/Parish levels which is inclusive and credible.
9. Increase frequency of Clergy Lay interaction to discuss important matters, particularly on issues likely to have long term implications.

Besides, one area that could seriously be explored as a viable supplement to Lay Ministry by the Church would be, to have pool of Lay preachers outside the Catechists fold. Individuals with ability to study and preach the Gospel, with strong commitment to the Church cause, could be identified, short listed, trained and their services utilized as and when needed. Such Lay preachers could be chosen from amongst people, who are financially independent that they do not have to depend on the Church to meet their incidental expenses. They should however be allowed space to have their own network of consultation, an unhindered channel of communication with concerned priests, and most importantly accorded due respect by the Clergy.

Last but not the least, the role of staff in Catholic institutions, both teaching and non-teaching, are no less part of the Lay Ministry, therefore cannot be brushed aside as having no consequences to growth of Catholic Church. The institutes after all, are very much organs of the Catholic Church, therefore the staff a part of the Lay involvement. Their behaviour and attitude towards the public, including Christ faithful, do have bearing on the overall image of the Catholic community. Therefore, regular sensitization on how to deal with public, and the need to abide by minimum code of conduct, must be ensured by the heads, who in most cases are priests.  

References:

1. REDEMPTORIS MISSIO - On the permanent validity of the Church's missionary mandate, issued by the Vatican in 1990.
2. Syiemlieh, David.R: Christianity in Tripura: A Brief History. In D.R. Syiemlieh (Ed), Diocese of Agartala: Ten Years and Onwards (pp. 22-28). Bishop House, Agartala (2006).
3. David R. Syiemlieh: Catholic Church in Meghalaya: Foundation and Growth – https://www.necarf.org/home/articles/76/catholic-church-in-meghalaya-foundation-and-growth
4. Jayaseelan: History of the Spread of Catholic Church in Manipur: Catholic Manipur Publication - p/79
5. Luke Sangkima: Brief history of Roman Catholic Church in Mizoram - https://www.necarf.org/home/articles/40/a-brief-history-of-roman-catholic-church-in-mizoram
6. Nagaland Youth Convention Publication – 2021
7. As revealed by Rosemary Dzuvichu, the daughter of the late Catechist.
8. In Kamjong district of Manipur, a Catholic lady’s dead body was disallowed burial in a village called Leingangching
9. Most amongst the fifty odd Catechists this author addressed expressed that their lack of deep knowledge in the Bible was one of the main handicap while discussing Christian issues with their Baptist pastor counterparts. This included trained Catechists who underwent training at the Pastoral Training Centre.

(The writer is a retired IPS officer, view expressed are personal. He can be reached on johnshilshi@gmail.com)

 

 

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