More Indian religious opting for developmental, human rights work : CRI

(February 06, 2012) The Indian Church is paying with life for shifting to developmental works and human rights promotion from traditional charity works, says an official of the Conference of Religious India (CRI). Such a shift has led to sacrifices like that of Sisters Rani Maria and Valsa John, and perhaps many more to come, said Montfort Brother Mani Mekkunnel, the national secretary of CRI, the association of men and women religious of India. He was addressing the 30th biennial plenary assembly of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) in Bangalore, Feb. 1-8, which is discussing the Church role for a better India. Bro. Mekkunnel noted that the two nuns were slain for their work for the poor. A mob axed to death Sister Valsa John, a member of the Sisters of the Charity of Jesus and Mary, in a remote village in Jharkhand state on Nov. 15, 2011. Earlier in 1995, Franciscan Clarist Sister Rani Maria was stabbed to death near Indore. Brother Mekkunnel quoted a recent survey saying nearly a third of India’s more than 125,000 religious now work in the socioeconomic sector. Nuns, who form 80 percent of the India’s religious, manage 90 percent of the Church’s works in healthcare sector. 27,224 religious now work fulltime and another 12,142 as part time social workers. The CRI official pointed out that a greater number of women religious now dare to abandon the security of convent life to work among the poor and urged India’s Church leaders to respect their dignity and assure them justice. Brother Mekkunnel also stressed the need to empower women religious to make them more effective.