Catholic World News News Feature

Church in India Responds to Pentecostalists May 01, 1997

The Catholic church in India is making serious efforts to counter the challenge posed by neo-Pentecostals who have deep made inroads among Catholics in several Christian areas across the country.

"The threat from Neo-Pentecostalism is a global phenomenon with over 8,000 Catholics joining them every day. In India too, it is becoming a serious problem for the Church. We cannot ignore this challenge," says Bishop Gali Bali of Guntur, the chairman of doctrinal commission of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI).

The doctrinal commission is now awaiting a response from the full membership of the Indian bishops' conference to recommendations that emerged from a major national consultation convened at the directive of CBCI in December. Meanwhile the conference of Latin- rite bishops of India (which represents 106 of the country's 135 dioceses) chose "The Rise and Growth of Neo-Pentecostalism" as the theme for their mid-January plenary assembly and issued "pastoral guidelines" to meet the challenge from Pentecostal sects.

The "pastoral guidelines" called for fostering genuine Catholic renewal programs stressing the role of Holy Spirit, revitalizing the traditional parish structure, setting up parish councils to build up the parish as a true fellowship, greater concern for the needy members of the parish, and publicizing significant events in the life of individuals and families through appropriate announcements.

These guidelines were the fruits of the December consultation in which more than 100 diocesan delegates, Church scholars and those in charismatic renewal movements participated alongside seven Indian bishops. Instead of complaining about "sheep stealing," the seminar had recommended to the bishops' conference, among other things, a move to "deritualize" the liturgy (by creating a sense of participation among the faithful), an effort to conduct church services in ways that would allow greater involvement of lay people, the restructuring of large parishes into smaller Basic Christian Communities (BCCs), and the fostering of fellowship and sharing among parishioners.

"Among the early Christians, the charismatic experience was at the top of priorities. Over the centuries, the Church has been too much institutionalized, neglecting the charismatic aspect of faith. This is an opportunity for us to look inwards and rectify where we have gone wrong," Bishop Bali told the national seminar, which had been organized by the doctrinal commission he heads.

The initiative for the crucial meeting had come from the bishops' conference itself. Alarmed by recent inroads made by Pentecostals in the Catholic fold, Indian bishops took up the issue during their last biennial assembly in February 1996 and called for a survey among neo-Pentecostals. The national seminar was designed to deliberate upon the survey findings. (Among recent converts to Pentecostalism there have been even Catholic priests, including the editor of India's only Catholic news service.)

The national survey was conducted by 88 major seminarians of Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth major seminary in western Pune city. The theology students spent over two weeks apiece last summer among 4,500 Pentecostals in selected Christian neighborhoods where Pentecostal groups were active. The survey findings confirmed the fears the bishops had expressed, and for the first time acknowledged that "it is no secret that a large number of believers (in India) are leaving the Catholic Church and other mainline churches to join neo- Pentecostal sects."

"Hasty condemnation of fundamentalism and angry accusations of 'sheep stealing' are unlikely to help stem the tide," admitted the preliminary report of the National Survey, which was the focal point for the National Consultation in the southern Bangalore city. Father Paul Parathazham, who coordinated the survey, said it is difficult to find the exact ratio of Catholics among neo-Pentecostals, as the survey was only anecdotal. All the same, Father Parathazham-- a sociology professor at Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth seminary-- said the number of Catholics among those interviewed were high.

Quoting Catholics who joined the neo-Pentecostal groups, Father Parathazham said that they never had "God-experience" while in the church and could not find solutions to personal problems there. Also, the interviewees pointed out that fellowship was missing in the Catholic community, whereas among the Pentecostals there is great concern for each member.

"The trend in the data (collected by the survey) indicate that dissatisfaction with the former church is generally greater among the Catholic neo-Pentecostals compared to non-Catholic neo-Pentecostals. ....The study makes it amply clear that large numbers are leaving the Church, and not just a few disgruntled elements. And those who leave to join the neo-Pentecostals are by and large the well educated and devout Catholics who have been brought up in traditionally religious families," said the report.

Going deeper into the problem of dissatisfaction with the Catholic Church structure, the report pointed out that due to the large size of the parishes, "our parishioners tend to remain anonymous and unconnected."

"Their talents and good will seldom become contributing factors to parish life. Even in our liturgical gatherings, large as they are," the report said "the faithful feel more like spectators than participants." Moreover, Catholics who joined Pentecostal sects did not receive adequate pastoral care in times of crisis or need, the report admitted.

While Church leaders were evasive on the number of those forsaking the church for the Pentecostal sects, Father Thomas Kottayil of the Thiruvalla diocese in southern Kerala was quite forthcoming. In Thiruvalla, one of the strongholds of neo-Pentecostal groups, Father Kottayil said "some Catholics even keep their membership of Pentecostal groups secret and continue to keep up their Catholic link." Father Kottayil, a priest of the Syro-Malankara rite, said that the number of Catholics belonging to Pentecostal groups has more than doubled in the last decade in Thiruvalla, where more than 300 Pentecostal groups are active.

According to Pastor K.T. Thomas, head of the Indian Pentecostal Church of God, the Pentecostal movement has recorded "steady growth" over the years. Though divided into several sects, some of the Pentecostal groups-- such as the Assembly of God, Church of God, Sharon Fellowship, and New India Church of God-- all have "established their own grounds" of late. And even now new groups are being formed, observed Pastor Thomas. The survey conducted by the Catholic Church itself in eight Christian pockets alone had identified 328 Pentecostals sects.

Himself an atheist until he embraced Pentecostalism three decades ago, Pastor Thomas says his own sect has over 3,500 local groups with membership ranging between 25 to 100. But nationwide statistics on the Pentecostal movement are difficult to find, since the movement is not united at national level. Probably, he estimates, the total figure could be around 500,000.