Christianity in India
The Christianity in India after Hinduism and Islam 's third largest religion . About 30 million Christians live in India . This corresponds to a share of the population of 2.3%.
The first Christian communities are said to have emerged along the southern Malabar coast with the Thomas Christians from 53 AD on the basis of the testimony of the Apostle Thomas .
Demographics
According to the 2011 census, India has 27.8 million Christians. This corresponds to a share of the population of 2.3 percent. This makes Christianity the third largest religion in India after Hinduism and Islam . The Christian population is unevenly distributed over the area of India: Christian concentrations can be found primarily in southern India (Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Goa), where Christians form a large minority, and in the northeast, which has a Christian majority in parts.
The numerically largest number of Christians live in the two southern Indian states of Kerala (6.1 million) and Tamil Nadu (4.4 million). In both states, Christians represent only a minority with a population share of 18.4 and 6.1 percent respectively. The Christian faith is historically deeply rooted in Goa , where today 25.1 percent of the population profess Christianity.
Christianity is strongly represented in north-east India : a total of 7.8 million Christians live here, three of the seven north-east Indian states have a Christian majority. The Christian population is highest in Nagaland with 87.9 percent, followed by Mizoram (87.2 percent) and Meghalaya (74.6 percent). The states of Manipur (41.3 percent) and Arunachal Pradesh (30.3 percent), which are also in the northeast, have significant Christian minorities.
Smaller concentrations of Christians can be found in the Adivasi areas of the east Indian states of Jharkhand , Orissa and Chhattisgarh . In the densely populated states of northwest India, however, Christianity is practically not represented at all: In Uttar Pradesh , India's most populous state, only 0.2 percent of the population are Christians.
Denominations
Thomas Christians
The Thomas Christians trace their tradition back to the Apostle Thomas , who is said to have reached India in 52. They can still be found today in the state of Kerala, for example , and make up a significant percentage of the local population. The Indian Christian Church would therefore be older than the European one.
In 1991, 300,000 people belonged to the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church (Thomas Christians with West Syrian rite); the Syro-Malabar Church (Thomas Christians with East Syrian rite) had 3.5 million members in 1991. Both churches are united with the Roman Catholic Church .
Roman Catholic Church
The history of Catholicism in India began with the proselytizing by the Portuguese as a result of the opening of the sea route around Africa by Vasco da Gama .
The Roman Catholic Church in India comprises three different particular churches: the Latin Church with Western Rite, the United Syro-Malabar Church (East Syrian Rite) and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church (West Syrian Rite). The latter two are churches of the Thomas Christians united with Rome in Kerala.
According to 2005 data from the Roman Catholic Church, India has 17.3 million Catholics. Accordingly, around two thirds of Indian Christians are likely to be of the Catholic faith. There are a total of 30 archbishoprics and 134 dioceses in India, making a total of 164 dioceses. 128 of them belong to the Latin, 28 to the Syro-Malabar and 8 to the Syro-Malankar rite. In 2003, 14,000 Roman Catholic diocesan priests as well as 4,300 monks and 100,000 nuns were counted.
The Catholic Church is most firmly rooted in southern India, especially in the former Portuguese colony of Goa. Here the Catholics made up the majority of the population during the colonial times. In the meantime they have become a minority through immigration from other parts of the country, but they still have a dominant social position. In Kerala and Tamil Nadu, too, Catholics are the largest Christian denomination, with the majority of Catholics in Kerala belonging to the Syro-Malabar Church.
Protestantism
In the 18th century, Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg reached the subcontinent on behalf of the Danish-Hallesche Mission . The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tamil Nadu is called Tamil Evangelical Lutheran Church . Protestantism's organized external mission began in India.
The Church of South India, the largest evangelical denomination in India, was founded in 1947 as an amalgamation of Presbyterian, Reformed, Congregational, Methodist and Anglican churches. In 1995 it had about 2.2 million members.
The Church of North India , like the Mar Thoma Church, had one million members each.
In 1995 there were 1,300,000 Lutherans , 473,000 Methodists and 425,000 Baptists in India . The largest indigenous Pentecostal Church is the Indian Pentecostal Church of God . In the state of Andhra Pradesh in the vicinity of Mahbubnagar live Mennonite Christians who had been proselytized since 1890.
Conflicts
Since the emergence of Hindu nationalism in the 1980s, there have been repeated bloody clashes, especially in Orissa. This resulted in the displacement of thousands of Christians because their homes and churches were destroyed, and numerous deaths. Christians are repeatedly accused of calling for conversion to the Christian faith. This is prohibited in Orissa.
In 1999, Australian preacher Graham Stewart Staines and his two sons were burned alive by a mob.
In 2007, almost 200 churches in Orissa were demolished.
In the second half of 2008, following the falsely accused of killing Swami Lakshmanananda and shortly before elections in and around Orissa , religiously motivated pogroms against Christians and churches began in August , in which at least 59 Christians were killed, around 4,000 buildings were set on fire. more than 18,000 were injured and more than 50,000 people fled for fear of persecution. According to Geoff Tunnicliffe , the international leader of the World Evangelical Alliance , at least 70 people have been killed, at least 149 churches destroyed and around 54,000 Christians homeless. In October 2008 around 11,000 of them were still in refugee camps.
Asianews news agency reported in November 2008 that Hindu fundamentalists in Orissa were offering rewards for violence against Christians; For the murder of clergy, a $ 250 reward was offered, alternatively also food or gasoline. The Indian government set up a special unit of security forces.
See also
literature
- Hans Werner Gensichen: "The Indian Christians". In: Dietmar Rothermund (Ed.): India. Culture, history, politics, economy, environment. A manual. Munich 1995, pp. 186-198.
- Shourie, A. (1994). Missionaries in India: Continuities, changes, dilemmas. New Delhi: ASA Publications.
- Madhya Pradesh (India)., Goel, SR, Niyogi, MB, & Voice of India. (1998). Vindicated by time: The Niyogi Committee report on Christian missionary activities. New Delhi: Voice of India.
- Panikkar, KM (1969). Asia and Western dominance. New York: Collier Books.
- Goel, SR (1996). History of Hindu-Christian encounters, AD 304 to 1996. New Delhi: Voice of India. ISBN 81-85990-35-2
Individual evidence
- ^ Registrar General & Census Commissioner, Government of India: Census of India 2011: Population By Religious Community , published August 25, 2015.
- ↑ BBC News: Factfile: Roman Catholics around the world, April 1, 2005.
- ↑ There is still a long way to go towards equality. Interview with Simone Rappel missio.com, January 1, 2013, accessed on March 30, 2014
- ↑ The Orissa Local Government: The Orissa Freedom Of Religion Act, 1967 ( October 14, 2007 memento in the Internet Archive ) (PDF), accessed October 18, 2008.
- ↑ Ruben Banerjee STAINES 'KILLING-Burning Shame ( Memento of 22 November 2008 at the Internet Archive ) In: India Today on 8 February 1999th
- ↑ http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/supreme-court-modifies-words-in-graham-staines-case-order-81435
- ↑ Compass Direct News: India: Evidence Concocted Against Christians in Murder of Hindu Leader ( Memento October 18, 2008 on WebCite ), accessed October 15, 2008.
- ↑ Kathnews of October 12, 2008: Pope prays for persecuted Christians - Benedict XVI. Views Iraq and India with concern ( October 15, 2008 memento on WebCite ), accessed October 15, 2008.
- ↑ Al Jazeera : More Indian police sent to Orissa ( Memento of October 31, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on October 22, 2008.
- ↑ Nirmala Carvalho Orissa pogroms: police clear Christians from the death of Hindu religious leader In: Asia News of May 11, 2011.
- ^ Hunting Christians in India: One dead, 75 destroyed houses. Die Presse.com, September 26, 2008
- ↑ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27180256/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/t/india-church-flee-anti-christian-clashes/ - of which at least 39 are officially recognized in Orissa, the rest outside.
- ↑ BBC News: Arrests over India church attacks . September 15, 2008.
- ↑ http://www.indianexpress.com/news/It-s-still-religion--stupid/369086
- ↑ Geoff Tunnicliffe: WEA chief asks international community to share the same concern for acts of aggression against all faiths. World Evangelical Alliance, September 10, 2010, archived from the original on September 11, 2010 ; Retrieved September 11, 2010 (English): “The International Director of the World Evangelical Alliance, Dr Geoff Tunnicliffe, has welcomed the unanimous condemnation of a Florida church's plan to burn copies of the Koran, but asks that the same level of concern be shown when acts of aggression are committed against any faith. "
- ↑ Orissa priest injured in communal violence dies ( Memento of December 1, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ India: Bounty exposed on Christians. Vatican Radio (Asianews November 23, 2008 gs).