JESUIT
CONFERENCE OF SOUTH ASIA Jesuit Indigenous Ministry (JIM)
Secretariat for Tribal /Indigenous Apostolate (JEMAI)
Introduction
In 1989, the JCSA issued the Kathmandu Statement (Formation for Mission) which clearly brought out the concern of the Jesuits about the social situation of South Asia and the urgency to move in a new direction. It saw that the Jesuits were called to collaborate in the task of building human communities that are imbued with the values of the Kingdom. Today this task demands a preferential option for the poor whom the Jesuits seem to empower by participating in their struggles, through formal and non-formal educative processes, motivating and training the youth to be committed agents of social change, the use of social communications media and other such activities. By the poor it is meant all socio-economically marginalized groups, particularly the dalits, tribals, women, unorganized labour, illiterates. Jesuits' work with other groups is justified to the extent that it contributes to this empowerment of the poor. For the same of clarity, the present paper is about the Jesuits who are working among the Adivasi/indigenous/tribal peoples in India and beyond its orders in other parts of the world.
According to the 1991 census, there is 8% tribal population in India. The Jesuits in the provinces of Ranchi, Madhya Pradesh, Hazaribag, Jamshedpur, Dumka-Raiganj and in the Kohima region are predominantly involved in the ministry among the Adivasi/indigenous/tribal peoples. The Jesuits in the provinces of Calcutta and Darjeeling in the east, Gujarat and Bombay in the west and in the region of Nepal are also working among the Adivasi/tribals to a great extent. Thus, the Jesuit ministry among the Adivasi/indigenous/tribal peoples in South Asian Assistancy has a unique significance for the Jesuits all over the world. This ministry draws special attention of all the Jesuits in the Assistancy in a very special way in facing the challenges of the prevalent socio-political situation of India with Hindutva ideology trying to influence other ideologies in a restive and aggressive manner. Apart from this, the ministry has a global character and implication with expanding network and cooperation as it will be clear from the following discussion.
Historical Setting
In October 1993, for the first time in its history, a meeting of international Jesuits working among indigenous peoples was organized at the Anishinabe Spiritual Centre in central Canada - a Native ministries and adult education centre. A sample group of 40, including several from the Jesuit Curia in Rome, bringing experience from some 16 countries came together to analyse the history, the present and the future of this ministry within the Society. The group was a mixture of missionaries and indigenous Jesuits, academics and pastors, all united by a history of ministry with the indigenous and by an ability to communicate in English. Five continents were represented. From the South Asian Assistancy, Christopher Lakra, S.J. (Ranchi), Lawrence Tirkey, S.J. (Hazaribag) and Agapit Tirkey, S.J. (Madhya Pradesh) were among the indigenous representatives.