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The All India Catholic Union (AICU) represents almost 16 million Catholics in India: followers of the Latin Church, the Syro-Malabar Catholics and the Syro-Malankara Catholics. It has 120 diocese and district units. [1] The AICU was established in 1930.
Plans for an organised union of Catholic laity were discussed at the All India Catholic Conference in 1919. [2] The All India Catholic League was formed in 1930 (with C. J. Varkey, Chunkath as Secretary [3] ) and sponsored the All India Catholic Congress at Pune in 1934. The body was named the Catholic Union of India in 1944, with Professor M. Ratnaswamy of Anna Malai University as the first National President. The Catholic Union of India was registered at Chennai in 1966, and later changed its name to the All India Catholic Union. [4]
On 30 October 1945, the All India Conference of Indian Christians (AICIC), which had both Protestant and Catholic members, formed a joint committee with the Catholic Union of India that passed a resolution stating that, "in the future constitution of India, the profession, practice and propagation of religion should be guaranteed and that a change of religion should not involve any civil or political disability." [5] This joint committee enabled the Christians in India to stand united, and in front of the British Parliamentary Delegation "the committee members unanimously supported the move for independence and expressed complete confidence in the future of the community in India." [5] The office for this joint committee was opened in Delhi, in which the Vice-Chancellor of Andhra University M. Rahnasamy served as President and B.L. Rallia Ram of Lahore served as General Secretary. [5] Six members of the joint committee were elected to the Minorities Committee of the Constituent Assembly of India. [5] In its meeting on 16 April 1947 and 17 April 1947, the joint committee of the All India Conference of Indian Christians and All India Catholic Union prepared a 13 point memorandum that was sent to the Constituent Assembly, which asked for religious freedom for both organisations and individuals; this came to be reflected in the Constitution of India. [5]
Following the partition of India, the Catholic Union of India granted independence to its branches in Sind and Baluchistan in its Second Annual General Meeting in Bangalore in October 1947, which was presided by Ruthnasamy. [6]
Presidents of the Union have included Prof. M. Ratnaswamy, Madras, Chev. A. Soares, Bombay, Chev. J. C. Rayon, Bangalore, Chev. D. V. D. Monte, Madras, Chev. G. S. Reddy, Hyderabad, Mr. George Menezes, Bombay (1986–90), Mr. Chhotebhai, Kanpur (1990–94), Mr. Peter Marbaniang, Shillong (1994–96), Mr. Norbert D'Souza, Pune (1996–2000), Dr. Maria Emilia Menezes (2000–2004) [7]
John Dayal was elected president of the Union on 20 September 2004, succeeding Dr Maria Emilia Menezes. [1] In 2005 Dayal expressed concern that Ekal Vidyalaya ("single teacher") schools run by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Hindu nationalist organisation were spreading hatred towards members of the Christian minority. [8] In May 2006 the union called on State and Central governments to take urgent action to protect the Christian community following escalating violence in states controlled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and allied parties, including armed demonstrations by the RSS. [9]
In December 2007 the AICU petitioned Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's to intervene and stop the attacks that were being made against Christians in the Phulbani area of Orissa. According to their memo: "The official apathy, the police indifference and the freedom allowed to marauding bands of Hindutva fanatics and armed thugs in Gujarat has been repeated in Orissa in what is a planned conspiracy against the church and our faith". The AICU said that recent attacks could not have occurred "without the complicity of the official machinery and the backing of powerful political groups". [10]
Dr. Remy Denis became president in 2008. [7] Denis has taken a somewhat radical position in saying that the clergy should confine itself to ministering to the spiritual needs of the people. Administration of the material goods of the church should be left entirely to the laity. [11] At a seminar in Goa in August 2009, former Union minister Eduardo Faleiro said that church property should be brought under the ambit of state laws, as was the case with other religions. This was endorsed by Remy Denis and other liberals. However John Dayal, representing the conservatives in the AICU, opposed any change. He said that the "Christian situation" was radically and materially different from that of the Hindu, Muslim and Sikh religions, and existing laws were sufficient. [12]
In February 2012 the AICU announced that it had started planning for a Laity Synod, to be held later in the year. This would be the first time such an event had been arranged in India. It would give the lay members an opportunity to think about their role in the church and the future of the church. [13] According to Remy Denis "The Second Vatican Council called for the empowerment of the laity. But after 50 years, there is not much to show". It was hoped that the synod would help find ways for the laity to become more involved in management of the financial and temporal affairs of the church. [14]
The Syro-Malabar Church, also known as the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic Church based in Kerala, India. It is a sui iuris (autonomous) particular church in full communion with the Holy See and the worldwide Catholic Church, with self-governance under the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches (CCEO). The major archbishop presides over the entire church. The incumbent Major Archbishop is Raphael Thattil, serving since January 2024. The Syro-Malabar Synod of Bishops canonically convoked and presided over by the major archbishop constitutes the supreme authority of the church. The Major Archiepiscopal Curia of the church is based in Kakkanad, Kochi. Syro-Malabar is a prefix reflecting the church's use of the East Syriac Rite liturgy and origins in Malabar. The name has been in usage in official Vatican documents since the nineteenth century.
The Church of South India (CSI) is a united Protestant Church in India. It is the result of union of a number of Protestant denominations in South India that occurred after the independence of India.
Christianity is India's third-largest religion with about 26 million adherents, making up 2.3 percent of the population as of the 2011 census. The written records of Saint Thomas Christians mention that Christianity was introduced to the Indian subcontinent by Thomas the Apostle, who sailed to the Malabar region in 52 AD.
The Synod of Diamper (Udayamperoor Synod) (Malayalam: ഉദയംപേരൂർ സൂനഹദോസ്, romanized: Udayampērūṟ Sūnahadōs), held at Udayamperoor (known as Diamper in non-vernacular sources) in June 1599, was a diocesan synod, or council, that created rules and regulations for the ancient Saint Thomas Christians (also known as Mar Thoma Nasranis) of the Malabar Coast, a part of modern-day Kerala state, India, formally subjugating them and downgrading their whole Metropolitanate of India as the Diocese of Angamale, a suffragan see to the Archdiocese of Goa administered by Latin Church Padroado missionaries. This synod also introduced forced Liturgical Latinisation and the eschewal of local practices and beliefs, leading to a significant ecclesial protest by Saint Thomas Christians known as Coonan Cross Oath and a subsequent schism in the mid-17th century.
Christianity is the third largest religion in Pakistan, making up about 1.27% of the population according to the 2017 Census. Of these, approximately half are Catholic and half Protestant. A small number of Eastern Orthodox Christians, and Oriental Orthodox Christians also live in Pakistan.
The Catholic Church in India is part of the worldwide Catholic Church under the leadership of the Pope. There are over 20 million Catholics in India, representing around 1.55% of the total population, and the Catholic Church is the single largest Christian church in India. There are 10,701 parishes that make up 174 dioceses and eparchies, which are organised into 29 ecclesiastical provinces. Of these, 132 dioceses are of the Latin Church, 31 of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and 11 of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church. Despite the very small population that Indian Catholics make up percentage wise, India still has the second-largest Christian population in Asia after the Catholic Church in the Philippines.
The Catholic Church in Pakistan is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the pope in Rome.
John Dayal is an Indian human rights and Christian political activist. He is a member of the National Integration Council (NIC) of India, Secretary-General of the All India Christian Council and a past president of the All India Catholic Union. He has been outspoken in opposition to communal polarisation, bigotry and the spread of hatred between religious communities.
The Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar is the second-largest Christian denomination in Madagascar. The current officers include the Rev. Ammi Irako Andriamahazosoa, President; the Rev. Jean Louis Zarazaka, Clerical Vice President; Mr. Georges Randriamamonjisoa, Lay Vice President; Mr. Olivier Andrianarivelo, Treasurer, and the Rev. Zaka Andriamampianina and Mr. Benjamin Rakotomandimby, Advisors.
B. P. Sugandhar was the fifth successor of Frank Whittaker as Bishop - in - Medak of the Church of South India whose bishopric lasted for more than a decade and half from 1993 through 2009 coinciding with the archbishoprics of Samineni Arulappa and Marampudi Joji of the Archdiocese of Hyderabad.
Mar Joseph Kallarangatt is an Indian bishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church serving as the Bishop of the Eparchy of Palai since 2004 succeeding Mar Joseph Pallikaparampil.
Christians form 1.3% of the total population numbering around 350,000 in Punjab, India as per as the 2011 census. According to many media reports, demographic experts and Christian groups, there may be up to 2.77 million Christians living in Punjab, constituting up to 15% of the state population, although the authenticity of that claim is still not known. Many converts to Christianity keep their original identity to exploit the benefits of reservation. John Lowrie and William Reed were missionaries who went there in 1834. The Diocese of Amritsar of the Church of North India has its seat in Punjab as does the Roman Catholic diocese of Jalandhar. There are thousands of settlements with a Christian congregation. From 1881 to 1891 the Christian population of the then still united Punjab increased rapidly.
Chunkath Joseph Varkey (1891–1953), was an Indian professor, journalist and a former Minister for Education of the Madras Presidency.
Christianity is the second-largest religion in Punjab Province of Pakistan comprising 2.3% of its population. Most Christians (81%) of Pakistan live in Punjab province. There are 2,068,233 Christians in Punjab province as of 2017, up from 1,699,843 in 1998.
George Alencherry is the Major Archbishop Emeritus of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church after serving in the postion from 2011 to 2023. He is also a cardinal of the Catholic Church.
Maria Emilia Menezes was President of the All India Catholic Union (AICU) from 2000 until 2004. She followed Norbert D'Souza and was succeeded by John Dayal.
Remy Denis is an Indian mathematician who was elected president of the All India Catholic Union (AICU) in September 2008, succeeding John Dayal. He was reelected at the annual general meeting of the AICU held in Mangalore in September 2010.
Theophilos Kuriakose is a Syriac Orthodox bishop of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church. As of 2013 he was the resident Metropolitan of the Malankara Syrian Orthodox Theological Seminary, Udayagiri and the Metropolitan of the Malankara dioceses of Germany.
Daniel Rathnakara Sadananda is a New Testament Scholar who is re-elected as the General Secretary (Triennium 2017-2020) of the Church of South India Synod headquartered in Chennai as well as the Chairperson (triennium 2015-2018) of the Council of the United Theological College, Bangalore, the only autonomous College under the Senate of Serampore College (University). He also serves as the Vice President of National Council of Churches in India (2016-2020) as well Executive Secretary of the Communion of Churches in India comprising CNI, CSI, Marthoma Churches and now MCI.
The All India Conference of Indian Christians (AICIC) is an ecumenical organisation founded in 1914 to represent the interests of Christians in India. It was founded to advocate for the moral, economic, and intellectual development of the Indian Christian community. The All India Conference of Indian Christians held its first meeting on 28 December 1914 and was led by Raja Sir Harnam Singh of Kapurthala, who was the president of the National Missionary Society (NMS); the first AICIC General Secretary was B. L. Rallia Ram of Lahore. Its creation united local and regional Indian Christian Associations, which existed in Bombay, Madras, Hyderabad, Punjab, United Provinces, Bengal and Burma, under one umbrella organisation. At the time of the Indian independence movement, the organisation allied itself with the Indian National Congress and the resolutions passed by All India Conference of Indian Christians advocated communal harmony, while also pressing for the rights of Christians in both colonial India and independent India. The India Conference of Indian Christians advocated for self-rule in a united and independent country, opposing the partition of India. During the era of the British Raj in India, the AICIC served as the mouthpiece for members of the Indian Christian community, conducting membership drives to boost its base, which included Protestant and Catholic Christians. As such, the presidents of the AICIC represented the Christians of undivided India at the Round Table Conferences.
A resolution that, in view of the partition of India into two separate Dominions and the result of the Catholic Associations of Sind and Baluchistan--the only associations, in Pakistan affiliated to the Catholic Union--to sever its connection with the Union, the jurisdiction and activities of the Union be confined to the Dominion of India and necessary amendments be made in the Constitution was passed at the Second Annual General Meeting of the Catholic Union of India held at St. Joseph's College Hall, Civil Area, last week. Mr. Ruthnasamy, President of the Union was in the chair.
