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Gilbert Lawrence responds: The dialogue below precisely makes my point of yesterday. Are we talking the same thing? 1. Are we referring to Goa or are we talking about India? 2. Are we talking about the Catholic Church or the Christian church? 3. Has anybody heard about Dalit agitations in Goa? VG pl.respond! 4. What's the stat of chardo seminarians and pad-vigars? BM pl. respond! Thanks and regards. Basilio <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: A cursory glance at empirical data will show, to any dispassionate student of caste problem, that there is no data or demonstrable evidence to perpetuate the accusation that the Church remains complicit in the caste business. Vidyadhar Gadgil: There is quite a lot of evidence of exactly that available. For one thing, look at the dismal figures of dalit Christian clergy in India (as compared to their ratio in the Christian population). There have been a number of agitations within the Christian (all sects) community seeking redressal of this, but not much progress has taken place. Basilio: It is indisputable that the Church, i.e. individuals in the hierarchy of the Church (for a thoughtful and dispassionate discussion this is an important distinction between the hierarchy of the church and the church) has pandered to caste and casteism. Vidyadhar Gadgil: The distinction drawn between the Church (the institution), and the 'hierarchy of the church' is specious. The way an institution operates in the real world is determined to quite an extent by its hierarchy, and as long as these hierarchies cling to their entrenched privileges, we are not going to see much progress. Maybe some reservation for dalit clergy at all levels of the church hierarchy would help? Or, rather than reservation, affirmative action along the lines of the US?
