TAMIL NADU, INDIA, January 10, 2003: Evidence that the caste system and it perpetuation has been prevalent within the Catholic church in India, has been discovered in various papal documents. Following conversion to Christianity from Hinduism, the Dalits (so called untouchables) were kept separate from the Brahmins in the congregation. In 1623, missionaries requested that the Bull (decree) of Pope Gregory XV allow Brahmins to maintain certain caste practices such as the sacred thread, sandals and ablutions. The pope agreed, providing the converts showed charity towards Dalits. In 1779, the Propagation of Faith wrote, “The separation in the church and at the entrance of the church, also the distinction of cemeteries may actually be tolerated for fear of greater evil.” As late as 1985 a court verdict upheld the 80-year-old practice of separate graveyards for Dalit Christians of Trichy, Tamil Nadu.
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