Cross Purposes

India policy Foundation indiapolicy@gmail.com

Christian institutions in India: A web study

Milind Oak oakmilind@gmail.com

• The objective of “Cross Purposes” study is to analyze and understand the influence of religious forces; often those that are exogenous to the society, nation and its civilization moorings.

• This study, while concentrating primarily on the role and extent of reach of global and local Christian institutions, also recognizes the unprecedented reach and influences of the Internet, a phenomenon about which today’s intelligentsia seems to be undecided.

• Except for necessary global background and necessary historical references, this study is focused on the status and activities of Christian institutions in India in the period 2000–2012. If it raises questions in the reader’s mind, they are the questions of the present and perhaps of the immediate future, and hence, all the more relevant to necessitate serious attention.

Cross Purposes: A Unique Study

• There is a general sense of uneasiness about credibility and reliability of information gathered from Internet because the contents are user generated.

• However; data provided by various government websites can be used as authentic. Similar is the case with various court judgments; information taken from an NGO’s or institution’s website and newsletter, whether factually correct or not, can be taken as the official viewpoint of that institution.

• Data used in this study belongs to above five broad categories and is used in that priority, whenever available, and cross-checked whenever possible.

Data Sources

The resources:

• Government websites

• Court Judgments

• Official websites and newsletters of Christian organizations.

• Independent media news

• Various studies by reputed intellectuals

Data Sources

Christianity In India

Cross Purposes: A Web Study

At a Glance

Christianity in India: Three estimate

Source: 2001 Census

24.1 million (2.41 Crores) constituting 2.3% of the total population of 2001.

54.34% population in 4 states (Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh)

29.09% Christians in Northeast

Evangelical Estimates

India Missions Association 4.5 Crore Christians, 1 crore crypto-Christians.

World Christian Encyclopedia 4.08 Crore Christians and 2.15 crore crypto-Christians

Claims - respective denominations

As per “Annuario Pontifico” 2012 (Annual directory of the Vatican) there are 1,65 Crores (16.5 million) Roman Catholics (1.37% of census 2011 total)

Church of South India 40 lacs (4 million) membership; Church of North India (CNI) members 15 lacs (1.5 million)

Baptist World Alliance 25 lacs (2.5 million), Seventh day activist 15 lacs (1.5 million) where as United Evangelical Lutheran Churches 45 lacs (4.5 million)

Christianity in India

• Census population (projected) in 2011 is 2.81 Crore

• Denominational total 3.06 Crore excluding non-denominational Christians

• This study estimates at least 40 lakh Crypto Christians

Web of Christian Organizations

The ChurchActivities of Church

itself using their employees

Church Institutions

Educational, health related and social

activities by Church and Dioceses

Independent Organization

Created by denominations for

the purpose of social activities

Global Organizations

Denomination independent Organization

Religious and

social activities

• Catholic Church is organized in 30 Archdioceses (Latin 23, Syro Malabar 5, Syro Malankara 2), 165 Dioceses (Latin 128, Syro Malabar 29, Syro Malankara 8)

• Church of South India (CSI) has 22 dioceses and 15,000 congregations

• Church of North India (CNI) has 26 dioceses, 4,500 congregations

• Baptist churches in India to be 14,969.

• Seventh Day Adventists is having 3,987 churches

• United Evangelical Lutheran Churches has 3,331 pastorates or parishes

• Indian Missions Association had 230 missions as members

• 20,000 nondenominational churches

Institutions Statistics: The Churches

• The Catholic Church: 7,650 primary schools, 4,569 high schools, 1,494 higher secondary schools, 321 colleges and 865 various professional educational institutes, including engineering and medical colleges

• The Church of South India (CSI): 2,000 schools, 130 colleges and 104 hospitals. There are 50 rural development projects run by the CSI all over India, in addition to 50 training centers for young people, and 500 residential hostels for a total of 35,000 children

• The Church of North India (CNI) : 9 nursing schools, 250 educational institutions and three technical training centers. CNI also runs 65 hospitals spread over 8 regional divisions, which are managed by Synodical Board of Health Services.

• The Seventh Day Adventist : 226 schools and 5 colleges

The Total of these entities is: 18,290

Social, Educational and Health institutes of Church

• Catholic: 12,799 Diocesan priests, 9,977 religious priests, 3,031 religious brothers, 77,444 religious sisters, 3,761 lay missionaries and 43,417 Catechists

• CSI: 22 Bishops, 1,214 priests and 2,000 pastors• CNI: 2000 pastors• United Evangelical Lutheran Churches: 1,824 pastors • Gospel for Asia: 10,000 missionaries • Indian Missions Association: has employed more than 50,000 persons • 20,000 nondenominational churches: at least 20,000 priests

Total: 2,46,000 • Assuming 10 persons are employed by Church affiliated Institutions:

Total: 1,82, 900

Human resources estimates

The Church Institution

Cross Purposes: A Web Study

The Management

With our study revealing approximately 250,000+ people directly employed by the churches (as bishops, priests, pastors, brothers, sisters, missionaries, catechists) and a huge additional task force to handle the church controlled activities like education institutes, professional institutes and social activities:

It requires a super-complex legal structure to handle the activities, managing funds and assets including lands and buildings.

Managing the “Church Institution”

How is it typically done:

• Entities with dual registration registered under trust act as well as a company under section 25

• Archbishop as president and chief trustee;

It becomes very easy now for the company to generate funds, employ people, avail tax and government benefits and sell and purchase land assets directly. A web of educational Institutions, diocesan social service boards, diocese society trusts is created under this structure.

• Nagpur Roman Catholic Diocesan Private Limited” is a company registered under Indian company act, 1913 and is also an endowment registered under the Bombay Public Trust Act 1950 with the Archbishop of Archdiocese as its Direct General and Chief Trustee.

• Church of South India Trust Association is a legal holding body of the movable and immovable properties of the Church of South India. The CSI-TA is registered Section 25 of the Indian Companies Act 1956

Examples and Cases

• Baptist Church Trust Association was incorporated under the Indian Companies Act in 1932 to hold the properties of Baptist Churches, Baptist Unions, and Baptist Missionary Society.

• Bombay Diocesan Trust Association Pvt. Ltd. is a Company incorporated

under the Companies Act 1956 and is also a Trust registered under the Bombay Public Trust Act.

“Bishop” is the Supreme Authority

As Bishop he has powers to:

• Appoints priests, pastors, brothers, sisters, missionaries, catechists etc.

• Decides and manages the salaries of all these.

• Decides and presides Church functions, defines fees for religious functions, manages Church estates

As Head of educational institutions a Bishop can:

• Appoints, transfers, promotes and remove correspondents, headmasters, teaching and non-teaching staff.

• Appoint and transfer diocesan / religious priests, brothers and sisters in the diocesan schools.

• Authorizes opening/ closing upgrading / of educational institution

• monitors the financial administration.

Examples and Cases

• St. Andrew's Inter College, Gorakhpur is run by Committee of Management consists of 16 members, out of whom 9 members are ex officio members and 4 are nominated members.

• The ex officio members are appointed by the Lucknow Diocesan Trust Association, a body registered under the Companies Act and the Diocesan Education Board.

• The Bishop of Lucknow is the ex officio President of the Committee of Management. the final authority to appoint the Manager is the Bishop.

The Bishop of Kumbakonam who is the Manager of all the educational institutions and the President of the Kumbakonam Diocese Society is the President of education committee (DEC) also.

He is Manager of 7 Hr. Sec. Schools, 8 High Schools, 33 Middle Schools, 55 Primary Schools, 1 technical School, 1 deaf and dumb School and 4 nursery schools, 42 Hostels and children's home.!!!

Salaries and Perks

• Vicar: 14,000 to 16000 Rs. Per month• Priest: Rs. 7,000 to 10,000 PM• Religious brother or sister

Rs. 2,000 – 3,000 PM• Catechist Rs. 500 – 1,500 PM• Evangelist of CNI:

Rs. 2,000-3,000 PM• GFA missionary:

Rs. 4,000 – 6,000 PM• Travel allowance for two wheelers,

four wheelers according to grades• Accommodation• Percentage of income from religious

functions of Church

Duel Employment:

Kumar Raja Jospeh is a priest of Tuticorin. At the same time he is Principal, B.Ed. College of Tuticorin.

Fr. Jerald Ravi is the director of 'Pavalam' TV, Tuticorin.

In Jhabua, 44 Nuns from 22 various sisters Congregations all over India work in the convents of the diocese.

The Church Institution

Cross Purposes: A Web Study

The Funding

Indigenous funds

Sources:

• Funds collection from Annual religious functions like Second Sundays, Christmas, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Holy Childhood, Mission Sunday, Peter's Pence, Hunger and Disease, Vocation Sunday.

• Income from gardens, farms, and teak plantations

• Revenues from the Church properties, land, houses, shops and marriage halls and Parish schools

Contribution:

• Priests who are sent abroad for missions are obliged to pay regular monthly contribution fixed by the Diocese.

• 10 percent of their monthly income from the employees to the church.

• Contributions from educational institutes

Example

• An amount of Rs. 18,87,964 was received by the Bangalore archdiocese in April 2012.

• Rs. 9,19,756 were to be forwarded to Rome.

• All of these collections were collected by Churches in the jurisdiction of the archdiocese.

Case study “Mizoram” by Jonathan J. Bonk

Mizoram is now 90% Christian and

now not only exports

missionaries but funds also.

Today the Mizoram Presbyterian

Synod Mission Board supports

more than 1,700 fulltime workers.

In 2007, Mizoram Presbyterians

gave Rs.598,714,400/-

($12.721million U.S.) to the

church. Of this, Rs. 229,069,400/-

($4.9 million U.S.) was devoted to

world evangelization.

Dr. Jonathan J. Bonk is the Executive Director of the Overseas Ministries Study Center in New Haven, Connecticut, and editor of the International Bulletin of Missionary Research. The source of information he mentions is “These 2007 statistics were provided by Rev. Zosangliana Colney, Secretary, Synod Mission Board, Synod Office, Aizawl, Mizoram 796001, in an email to me dated October 3, 2008.”

Foreign funds

Source:

http://mha.nic.in/fcra.htm

3,014 organizations received more than 1 Crore Rs. for at least one year in the period 2006 - 2011

1,134 of them were identified as Christian organizations

Together they received Rs. 16,214,96,01,508 (16 thousand 214 Crore) in this period.

20 organizations received more than 100 Crore In this period.

“The ministries tend to be dependent in external funding, more so from the West, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, America and so on. The meaning of all partnership boils down to how much fund could be extracted from the relationship. In the long run it breeds guilt ridden paternalistic and / or controlling relationships. Dignity is out of the windows.”

Dr. K. Rajendran, the General Secretary of Indian Missions Association. (Statement in 2010)

The Church Institution

Cross Purposes: A Web Study

The “FCRA Analytics”

More than 100 Crores in 2006-11

State wise Distribution

Districts with more than 5 Institutions

Distribution of money: Top 4 states (1/2)

Distribution of money: Top 4 states (2/2)

The “Real Estate” Estimates & Examples

Historically land was an integral part of the Church.

• Church of North India 50,000 Cr. Rs.

• Church of South India 1 Lakh Cr. Rs.

• Catholic Church real estate greater than CNI and CSI combined together.

In Bangalore, the CSI has the 13 acres land of Bishop Cotton Boys School. Add to it schools like Bishop Cotton Girls, Cathedral, St. John’s, churches like St. Marks, St. Andrews, East Parade, Trinity, hospitals like CSI, commercial complexes like the CSI Building on Lavelle Road, Unity Buildings on Mission Road and the acres surrounding it in CSI Compound and the value of these holdings will cross Rs 15,000 Crores.

The Malankara Catholic Church in the Mullankolly Panchayat of Waynad district in Kerala has some 45 parishes, each of which own between three and five acres land. It also has what the Coffee Board terms, `a model coffee plantation' at Nambiarkunnu, and a 90-acre Coffee and pepper plantation at Kattikulam.

The GFA owns approx. 4500 Acres land including rubber plantations and tourist spots.

The Church Institution

Cross Purposes: A Web Study

Frauds and litigations

Frauds and Litigations select Cases

March 2012 Bishop Baiju Gavit arrested for illegal sell of Church land for Rs. 5.5 Cr.

May 2011, the Crime Branch-CID of the Tamil Nadu Police charge-sheeted the Bishop of CNI in Coimbatore, Manickam Dorai, his two brothers, and four other accomplices with defrauding his diocese of over Rs.4,25,00,000 [Rs.4.25 cr.]

Oct 13 2009, CBI arrested the former General Secretary of the CSI Dr Pauline Sathiamurthy and three members of her family. Accused of stealing almost Rs.Rs.8.5 Cr. Of the Tsunami relief fund sent by the Episcopal Church.

The Church Institution

Cross Purposes: A Web Study

The Elite Organizations

Top 3 Elite Organizations

World Vision International http://www.worldvision.org

Action Aidhttp://www.actionaid.org/india

Gospel for Asiahttp://www.gfa.org (through anonymous proxy like http://www.zend2.com; visiting the website through India, it displays a single page)

The World Vision International

• As of 2010, World Vision

International active in almost

100 countries, through 40,000

employees. $2.5 billion budget.

• In 2010, World Vision US

raised $1 billion, with 75%

coming from private donations.

One million American donors.

• World Vision India established

in 1976, As on April, 2010 it

was working in 174 locations

and 5,306 communities.

The World Vision Triple Role

• ‘Religious’ organization in USA exempted as a religious organization to get Government aid and yet to discriminate on the basis of religion while employing people

• ‘Evangelical’ organization Internationally (Active participation in Lausanne - the global evangelical movement)

• ‘Social and Economic’ in India (Participates in many Government Schemes)

A Child Sponsorship or Area Development Programme?

A simple question …

Watershed development, community mobilization and water table management Providing drinking water facilities, toilets and

urinals in schools, providing desks and benches, sports materials and learning aids, building additional classrooms.

ABC TV Australia 29 Nov 2008, Programme: Ethiopia – The Endless Famine; “Africa Correspondent Andrew Geoghegan travels to Ethiopia to meet 14-year-old Tsayhnesh Degalo. He’s sponsored her for most of the past decade through World Vision. He’s surprised to discover virtually none of the money he donates goes to the family. The child even did not know until now that she has a sponsor. Andrew was told by World Vision the child is learning English at school and has been improving, but when he discovered, the child doesn’t speak English at all. When this news was published, hundreds responded on web confirming Andrew’s experience.World Vision Official Response: The journalist was ‘surprised' his sponsored child's family didn't receive the money he gives. World Vision unapologetically takes a community-based approach to development – a fact we publicly promote at every opportunity. Providing money directly to the families of sponsored children simply does not work, no matter how dire the circumstances. A ‘direct benefit' approach creates jealousy among community members that do not have sponsored children and fosters an ethos of dependency.

Controversies ..

The Action Aid

Rapidly emerging international organization based in the UK. Its income of Rs. 578 cr. Rs. (£68.1million) in 2001 jumped to Rs.Rs.1,617 cr. (€231 million) in 2010.

In 2001, the claim of total global reach was of over 9 million people.

In 2010 Action Aid India alone claimed to have reached to about 8 million women, children and men in 24 states and one Union Territory, covering 281 districts in India, through its 12 regional offices.

Action Aid had 120,000 individual donors in 2001.

• 1. Ms. Shabana Azmi, Chairperson

• 2. Prof. Shantha Sinha, Vice Chairperson (Chairperson, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights)

• 3. Mr. Vijay Shunglu, Treasurer (former Auditor-General of India)

• 4. Ms. Kamla Bhasin, Member (feminist, founder of jagori – FCRA data shows that jagori gets foreign donations from many Christian organizations including Action Aid)

Action Aid – Board (2010)

• 5. Mr. P Chennaiah, Member

• 6. Ms. Rita Sarin (Country Director of The Hunger Project in India),Member

• 7. Dr. Ruth Manorama, Member (President, National Alliance of Women, advocate of Dalit women issues)

• 8. Mr. Shankar Venkateswaran, Member

• 9. Dr. Syeda Hameed, Member (Member, Planning Commission, Govt. of India)

• 10. Mr. Sandeep Chachra, Ex-Officio Secretary (Executive Director)

The Action Aid - Actions

Action Aid supported the World Social Forum, the India Social Forum and locally, the Gujarat Social Forum.

Spandana in Andhra Pradesh brings its partner communities (Dalits, indigenous people, migrant labourers, trafficked persons, children in difficult situations, women, fishing communities, people living with HIV & AIDS, and, sex workers) on a single platform to demand rights denied to them.

In 2008, Action Aid prepared a shadow report contravening the government report submitted to the UN High Commissioner for Human rights on ICESCR [International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights]. Action Aid calls its own report a Coalition Report of 152 NGOs in India in Partnership with Action Aid.

All programs of Action Aid are on socio-political issues

Action Aid funds dilemma

2006 annual report says:

“During 2006, 56 per cent of our income came from individual donations collected mainly through the child sponsorship mechanism……

While the 2010 annual report says:

“Child sponsorship funds constituted 73% of the total income of Action Aid India ………..

Slightly awkward “Action” to resolve the dilemma:

TIME magazine reports in 2010: “Jerry Almeida, then the fundraising director of Action Aid India, was shocked to discover an office in the garage of their Bangalore headquarters where some of the staff were penning letters in a child's scrawl. The letters were sent out to individual donors all over the world, allegedly written by the Indian children people were paying to sponsor. The forgeries were far from the personalized interaction that the charity led the sponsors to believe .. “

AND YET THERE IS NO MENTION OF CHILD SPONSORSHIP IN ANNUAL REPORTS

The Yohanan Empire

• GOSPEL FOR ASIA, INC. is registered in Arizona Corporation Commission with KP Yohanan as director, Gisela Punnose (wife of Yohanan)and Daniel Punnose (son of Yohana) as Vice-Presidents.

• Collected Rs.289 cr. In USA in 2010

Gospel for Asia is a Trust in Kerala with KP Yohanan as managing trustee.

Believers Church, love India Ministries and last hour ministry are trusts related to GFA in Kerala. They received Rs. 257 Cr. In 2010-2011

The website “Miracle”

www.gfa.org from outside India www.gfa.org from India

The Church Institution

Cross Purposes: A Web Study

The Conversions

Christianity – Global Heartbeat

Just as in the first millennium the cross was planted on the soil of

Europe and in second on that of the Americas and Africa, we can

prey that in the third Christian millennium, great harvest of the faith will

be reaped in the vast and vital continent…

Pope John Paul II, in India (1999)~

}

Bishop’s letter requesting for foreign funds

The last sentence says : It was unanimously felt and decided that our institutions such as schools, boarding, hospitals etc. will be used as Channel of evangelization.

Bishop’s letter continued ..

The two faces of Hepzibah Kore

Thousands learn to read through literacy program.

With stubs of chalk and handheld slates the women practiced the swirly Tamil alphabet.

The instructor wrote short sentences on a large blackboard, as the class repeated chorally after her, again and again. Then each practiced writing the words on her own slate.

The human angel behind this ministry is Hepzibah Kore, Women’s Ministries director of the Southern Asia Division, who has dedicated her life to teaching India’s women to read.

From the humblest farming villages to prostitutes in the Kolkata slums, Kore believes that when women are able to read, their lives will be transformed.

She travels thousands of kilometers every year to visit her more than 200 literacy classes at five states: Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, and Garo Hills.

At each site Kore first trains teachers, provides teaching materials, then helps the classes take shape.

The two faces of Hepzibah Kore

Women Conduct Groundbreaking Outreach Program in Andhra Pradesh

More than 1,100 people were baptized earlier this month during the first women-led evangelistic series held by Seventh-day Adventists in India. The 11-day program, held in Andhra Pradesh, demonstrated the tremendous impact women can have when they share their love of Jesus through preaching, says Ardis Stenbakken, women's ministries director for the Adventist world church.

Hepzibah Kore, women's ministries leader for the Adventist Church in India, came up with the idea and made it happen, says Stenbakken.

The series was funded in part by the Adventist world headquarters' Council on Evangelism and Witness, to encourage world headquarters employees to engage in public evangelism.

Friends Missionary Prayer Band

The Maltos of Jharkhand : a case of slow and steady progress

1995 Update: Before FMPB missionaries began working among them, the Malto were a ferocious tribe given to idol worship, drunkenness and violence. over the past ten years, 28,000 of the Indians have turned to Christ, according to Hemachandar, assistant general secretary of the mission organization.

1997 update: An Indian mission called the Friends Missionary Prayer Band began evangelizing the Maltos in 1978. As a result, 30,000 have accepted Christ, and 360 congregations have been established.

2000 update : 1822 Maltos were converted to Christianity in year 2000.

2008 update: there are about 49,000 Christians, 560 worshipping schools, 170 Church buildings, one leadership training institute, one bible school, seven children’s homes, and seven schools in the malto area. FMPB has developed a long term vision called TEAM 2010 (total evangelism among the Maltos by 2010).”

The Google Images: Excellent source

Search “Baptism <Name of City>”; Click on images to open the website.

The Andhra Pradesh Case study

Comparing the Google image search ‘Baptism +district’ data with funds

The funds The conversions

• Considering India from missionary viewpoint Out of 953 ethnic peoples groups (population above 10,000), the gospel has reached to almost 750 groups.

• out of 27,000 pin code areas, 9,000 areas have at least one pastor or Christian worker residing in that area.

• Portions of Bible are available in more than 203 languages. The complete Bible is available in forty-nine of these languages.

The unfinished agenda

Comparison 2000 and 2011

The Seventh Day Adventist Year book

The Church Institution

Cross Purposes: A Web Study

Concluding the study

• This study has entirely focused on the actual action happening on the ground. As far as possible, the approach is of passive documentation of what the documents on the Internet are revealing.

• This study will raise different questions in the minds of different people. For example, may be someone who has studied the theoretical papers of Christians extensively, will term the activities of ACTION AID, CASA and CARITAS as expressions of ‘liberation theology’.

• This study refrains itself from theorization of actions. However, it will not be entirely out of context to raise certain questions.

Conclusion

Questions raised ..

The first and foremost of the question will be — is the Christian laity happy with the management of the institutions? Do they feel that they have some say in the management of these institutions that are being funded and run in the name of their faith? Do they feel that there are enough mechanisms to avoid misuse of the vast money and real estate?

The second, and more serious question, will be: when a religious community, by its direct or indirect deeds, employs thousands of people– either part-time or fulltime – in such institutions where the very structure and the thought encourages them to destroy other religious faiths, and collects indigenous as well as foreign funds for the purpose, can it be said that such a community really desires peaceful co-existence with other religious faiths?

India’s Prime Minister recently mentioned on an international forum the role of certain NGOs with respect to the Kundakulam nuclear plant project proposed to be built in Tamil Nadu.

Is the concern of the Government of India limited to such occasional issues, or is it aware of the larger design and hand-in-glove relationship of evangelical NGOs with the US and European governments?

If so, then how can World Vision take advantage of being a religious NGO in US, participate in strategic planning of India’s evangelization on international forums and yet partner in various Indian government schemes posing as a social NGO in India?

The National Interest

The Ecclesiastical Activities?

The Bishop of the Catholic Church is appointed by the Pope in Vatican City. While critics have objected to a functioning structure in India where appointments are made by a person who is not Indian, the Catholic Church has always maintained that these appointments are only for ecclesiastical

purposes — that is for spiritual and religious purposes only.

However, the information shows that regular funds are collected in India to forward them to Rome. In educational institutes run by Christian missions and organizations too, the Bishop acts as a decisive or only authority.

Does all this fall in to the category of ‘ecclesiastical activities?’ Or is

there effectively an external state, however nominal it may be,

controlling the secular institutes of India?