Protestors decry caste prejudice within India’s Catholic Church

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Bishop Prasad Gallela of Cuddapah, India.

By Nirmala Carvalho
Crux Contributor May 24, 2016

MUMBAI – Some 1,500 Christians recently rallied in the southeastern Indian city of Kadapa after the kidnapping and beating of a Catholic bishop by three of his own priests, in an incident protesters see as reflective of caste prejudice within India’s Catholic Church.

In late April, Bishop Prasad Gallela of Cuddapah, located in the state of Andhra Pradesh, was abducted and beaten. Police later charged 14 people in the assault, including three of Gallela’s own priests, who were reportedly upset over personnel appointments they had sought that the bishop denied.

In the course of the kidnapping, Gallela was shoved down on the floor of a car, kicked and beaten brutally with insults hurled at him. The kidnappers videotaped the entire ordeal.

The May 16 rally in the city of Kadapa, also located in Andhra Pradesh, was staged to protest what organizers see as a weak response to the Gallela case from Catholic leaders in India, which they suspect is likely related to the fact that Gallela is a Dalit, meaning an “untouchable” under the ancient caste system, while the arrested priests are upper-caste.

http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2016/05/24/protestors-decry-caste-prejudice-within-indias-catholic-church/