Bishop Dabre sticks to his stand on dialogue with RSS despite criticism

 

 

Pune/New Delhi, Jun 20: Ignoring the cirticism against him from some anti-RSS Christians and groups on his suggestion to have a dialogue with the RSS, Pune Diocese Bishop Thomas Dabre reiterated his stand on dialogue with the largest Hindu organization.

 

It may be mentioned that the Pune Diocean Bishop is facing the ire of the anti-RSS Christian lobby for his recent statement advocating meaningful dialogue with the largest Hindu organization and the Church.

 

Speaking at a launching of a research journal of Dr. Shripati Shastri Institute of Social Science Research here in Pune recently, Bihsop Dabre, according to the local newspaper reports, has said that the ideology and principles of RSS are acceptable to the Christians and that there should be a meaningful dialogue between the two for a better future.

 

Within an hour of his statement the anti-RSS lobby took to social media and started sharing memes on facebook and twitter forcing the Bishop to go on a backfoot saying that the local vernacular newspapers had presented his views wrongly.

 

However, the local language newspapers reported the Bishop as saying: “The Sangh believes in nationalism, the church also believes in nationalism.”

 

“I am not an RSS spokesperson or its defender. In truth, I have demanded a dialogue between the church and the RSS which Indian bishops had proposed,” Bishop Dabre said.

 

The Pune Bishop seems to be on the radar of huge anti-RSS lobby of the church. John Dayal, a Delhi-based journalist and human rights defender also known for his strong anti-RSS views said, "Bishop Thomas Dabre, who has sought talks with Hindu nationalist RSS, does not represent the entire Christian community". (Emphasis added)

 

Dayal in his latest article published in "India Tomorrow" said, "As a diocesan head, Bishop Dabre essentially speaks as an individual, or at best for his clergy and laity. He does not represent the entire Christian community with more than 100 or more different denominations. The Catholic Church itself is rich with three liturgical divisions.

 

Bishop Thomas Dabre, known for his liberal and accomodative nature is also a member of the Pontifical Council for Dialogue which has the approved the concept of dialogue with other religious groups and organizations.

 

Meanwhile, following the negative reaction of some Christians, the prelate spoke extensively with AsiaNews clarifying his stand on the issue. He said, "In the meetings of the Indian bishops I have always said that we must engage them in dialogue. The late Archbishop Abraham Viruthakulangara of Nagpur anted this dialogue, but he left us prematurely. Nothing has happened since then.

 

"I personally maintian good relations with the RSS. I have forged bonds of friendship with them and it was an honur for me that they published my message. I want to act as an intermediary between the Catholic Church and them because Pune is the main centre of the RSS ideology."

 

Describing the reactions to his proposition of dialogue as 'a storm in a teacup', Bishop Dabre said that the reactions are most probably based on ignorance on what I exactly meant.... "If people are saying that the RSS values are opposed to Gospel values, I would like to know which RSS values are opposed to Gospel values."

 

He said he insited on a "need for a dialogue between the RSS and the Church in order to clear the misunderstanding and prejudices on either side. Have those who are creating the controversies ever talked to the RSS? Do they know the RSS?"

 

"I think the principles of the RSS should be acceptable to Christiainity because Jesus himself was a patriot; he loved the Jewish people; he loved the Jewish culture. On that basis I made the point that Jesus was a patriot and his followers should also be patriots", he said.

 

Quoting the Bible the Bishop said that God gave land to every nation with fixed boundaries distributing land among all the people. This is why we Christians love our country and are patriots, he said adding that these are the principles of the RSS too. Love of the land, love of the people and love of the culture. In this context I said the principles and values of the RSS are acceptable to us Christians, the AsiaNews quoted him as saying.

 

Of late a new class is fast emerging in Christian community that is openly taking anti-RSS and anti-BJP stand. This lobby has raised question marks on the silence of the Catholic Bishops on socalled exploitation of Muslims in UP and other areas. If a section of the Church speaks against the Muslim atrocities and policies in Kerala, this lobby by using its influence silences their voice. Most of them belong to either Congress or the Communist ideology and have astrong hold in the church system. It is this lobby that is standing a wall between the efforts of creating goodwill between the RSS and the Christians, observed R L Francis, President of Poor Christian Liberation Movement (PCLM).

 

Francis further said that in May this year he had an opportunity to meet Vasai Archbishop Felix Anthony Machado who had worked as additional secrtary in the Inter-religion dialogue council for a decade. Francis had emphasized on the need for a dialogue with the RSS during his meeting to create goodwill and mutual trust. He opines that now the time has come for the Church leadership to promote such people who would defend dialogue and work to create an harmonious atmosphere. This will be in the larger interest of the Church and Christians, Francis said.

 

He said: "Why target Pune Bishop Thomas Dabre? He has only suggested the way forward the Church will have to take up for establishing harmony and goodwill. Afterall, RSS is a cultural organization.