Imphal Archdiocese: from a
receiving Church to a missionary Church
 |
| Indian Archbishop Dominic Lumon of Imphal |
Manipur is part of what is known as the Seven Sisters of
India, a group of 7 states in the north-east region, bordering China, Myanmar,
Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. Archbishop Dominic Lumon of Imphal, who heads the
Church in Manipur state, spoke to Vatican News about the Church in north-east
India and his archdiocese.
By Robin Gomes
The Seven Sister States of India is a popular term for the 7
contiguous states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram,
Nagaland and Tripura prior to the inclusion of the state of Sikkim into the
North Eastern Region of India. They share borders with China, Myanmar,
Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. Some of these states have sizeable Christian
populations, mostly Protestants.
Among these, Manipur state has a population of some 2.85
million, mostly ethnic and tribal groups, the majority of whom are
Hindus. Christians come next with over 41 % of the population. Of
these, Catholics number only some 98,000.
Archbishop Dominic Lumon of Imphal, the capital of Manipur
state, was recently on his so-called “ad limina” visit to Rome, which bishops
of dioceses around the world are required to make every 5 years or so.
He spoke to Vatican News about the Church in the Seven
Sister States as well as in his native state of Manipur.
Church in the Seven Sister States
He noted that despite the remoteness and poverty of the
North Eastern Region, people there have embraced Christ. Today, the Church of
the region has many native bishops who are sending missionaries to other
dioceses.
Except for Assam, the rest of this remote area is
economically very poor and geographically remote with hardly any
industry.
The Catholic Church came to the north-east region about 100
years ago, and the Gospel message has been well received by many tribes and
linguistic groups. Today, the Seven Sisters have 15 dioceses, and
about 50% of them have native bishops.
Church in Manipur
The Church in Manipur is hardly 70 years old. The
first missionaries were Italian missionaries of the Salesians of Don Bosco
(SDB). But in the late 1960s when the Indian government asked foreigners
to quit, missionaries from south India, particularly from Kerala state, came
and established the Church. Today, if the Church in Manipur is strong, it is
because of the missionaries from south India.
Initially, Catholic missionaries used to occasionally come
from Dibrugarh, Shillong and other places and go. When Italian Salesian
Bishop Oreste Marengo was made Bishop of Dibrugarh in 1951, he sent 2 resident
missionaries to Manipur. With this, the organized mission of the Catholic
Church began in the state. From then on, there was no stopping.
The Diocese of Manipur was erected in 1980, and in
1995 it became an archdiocese. The first bishop and archbishop of Imphal was
Joseph Mittathany from Kerala.
From a receiving Church to a missionary Church
Archbishop Lumon said that they have received the faith and
today, many of their young men and women are coming forward to become priests
and religious and are ready to serve other lands. They are encouraging
their seminarians to opt for neighbouring dioceses.
Currently, 60% of the clergy and religious of Imphal
Archdiocese are native vocations. The mostly young locals are replacing the
ageing missionaries of the past. Even though the archbishop welcomes
vocations from outside, locals are now opting for the priesthood and religious
life.
Emigration of young people
The emigration of Manipur’s young people to other states of
India is a huge problem, according to Archbishop Lumon. He pointed out
that since there are no opportunities in Manipur, there are sizeable
sections of young people from Manipur in every big metropolitan city of India,
either for studies or for employment.
Besides being a brain drain, he explained, emigration is
also a financial drain because thousands of parents are financing their
children outside the state, with the result that a lot of money is being
drained out of the state.
Education
For the 71-year old archbishop, “Education is the need of
the hour.” Today, each of his 55 parishes and mission stations has a
school where some 70,000 students below 15 years of age are being
educated. One of the best colleges, he said, is run by the Salesians, and
there are 2 other colleges and a nursing college too.
The Church in Manipur is trying to provide young people with
education and skill, so they can go out if they want. He said they don’t
have any technical schools because there are no industries where they could
find a job.
Healthcare
The Archdiocese of Imphal has a 150-bed hospital that caters
to marginalized rural people. He noted that Imphal city has many
specialized hospitals but they cater to rich people. The Church, instead, cares
for rural people.
In the interior and remote areas, the Church has
dispensaries run by nuns who are nurses, and they are doing “fantastic
work”. But their work suffers because a government rule requires that
every dispensary must have a doctor, but no doctor wants to go to these remote
areas.
Social work
According to Archbishop Lumon, “agriculture is the mainstay
of the people”, and the social service wing of the Church is providing
agro-based social service. They train and help people in agriculture,
horticulture, in the cultivation of fruits such as pineapples, bananas and many
other crops. But the big problem is marketing these products as the remote
areas are not connected. The archbishop hopes that with the arrival of
train services in about 5 to 6 years, this problem will ease a bit.
Youth apostolate
The archbishop explained the rural poor youth who cannot
afford to study in the state, much less go out elsewhere, “take to different
ways of life”. Drug addiction is not a huge problem, he said, but
it is a problem because sharing the border with Myanmar, Manipur is a corridor
for drug trafficking.
There is also a high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, not because of
sexual relations but due to drug abuse.
Archbishop Lumon explained that pointed out that young
people also fall prey to ideologies. Manipur was never a part of India
and many in Manipur resent Indian rule saying they must retain their original
sovereignty. Other groups are also against the Indian rule, because
of which, the archbishop said, Manipur has political instability and insurgency
problems.
Ecumenism
The Catholic Church arrived in Manipur 40 years later and
the Protestants who are largely Southern American Baptists and Presbyterians.
All Christian groups have the Manipur Christian Organization at the state
level. Against any attack on Christian interest, they are all
united. But relations turn sour when it comes to evangelization or what
is called sheep-stealing.
Manipur has village village-based Churches. According to the
local Protestant mentality, Archbishop Lumon explained, the Catholic Church
cannot enter where there is already a Protestant Church. So this
one-village-one-church policy, he said, makes ecumenical relations turn sour.
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