CV NEWS FEED // In a historic first, India’s Supreme Court has agreed to review an appeal challenging caste-based discrimination within a Catholic parish in Tamil Nadu.
The dispute highlights long-standing tensions within St. Mary Magdalene parish in Kottapalayam, including reports of separate cemeteries for upper-caste and Dalit Catholics and other discriminatory practices, UCA News reported Feb. 25.
Dalits, or “untouchables,” are the lowest Caste within Hindu society. Lawyer Franklin Caesar Thomas, representing the petitioners, said that the Supreme Court’s decision to hear a case brought by Dalit Catholics challenging discrimination within the Church “is first in the history of India.”
St. Mary Magdalene has 150 Dalit Catholic families, but the parish does not take their contributions or allow them to participate in church activities and celebrations, Thomas told UCA News. High caste members contend that contribution from Dalit Catholics would “pollute them and their entire celebrations.”
The case follows the Tamil Nadu High Court’s earlier dismissal of a petition seeking intervention, with the Madurai bench ruling that it lacked jurisdiction and that the petition was “superfluous.” However, the petitioners contested this ruling, leading to the Supreme Court appeal.
The respondents named in the case include 17 individuals and offices, including bishops, the archbishop, and government officials responsible for the protection of Dalit rights.
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