Support Fr. Pallath’s hunger strike for justice

Support Fr. Pallath’s hunger strike for justice 

JESUIT ORDER IN KERALA – Physical assault, slander through gutter press, filing of fabricated criminal cases, denial of right to livelihood 
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The latest update of this appeal is available at the following link:
Jesuits belligerent in the face of moral hunger strike 

Fr. Pallath, after a long struggle for at least dialogue with his Superiors so that they may fulfil their agreement to provide him with some minimal form of justice, is finally resorting to a hunger strike. We urge you to write to his Superior General as well as the authorities in the Vatican in support of his campaign. Below is a Media Release we issued today regarding the issue, which is followed by a Sample Letter and contact details for your action. 

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AHRC MEDIA RELEASE 
6th May 2002 
MR-06-2002 

AHRC has learnt that Fr. Pallath of Kerala, India, will begin a hunger strike on 11th May, 2002. The announcement has been widely published in the Kerala press. Fr. Pallath has expressed that he is doing this to find justice as all attempts at negotiations have been cynically ignored by the Jesuit order. Fr. Pallath was literally ejected from the Order on 16th October 2000, prompting outcry amongst the human rights community for physical abuse, slander and arbitrary denial of the right to livelihood. The Religious Forum of Kerala, The Jesuit Province Meet, former Supreme Court Judge V.R. Krishna Iyer and a large number of priests, nuns and others have called for an inquiry into this matter. The Jesuit authorities both in Kerala and in Rome have ignored their calls. As Fr. Pallath is determined not to allow the issue to die, he is undertaking this hunger strike. 

The closer one studies Fr. Pallath’s case, the clearer it becomes that what is getting exposed is not just a gross injustice done to one man, but a whole psychology which goes by the name of holiness in the Religious Orders in Kerala and elsewhere in India. Several other cases have reached the public recently, like the case of Sister Vanaselvi in Tamil Nadu, and the prominent human rights activist Fr. George Pulikuhiyil of the CMI congregation. In all these cases the respective Religious Superiors maintain that once a person enters a Religious Order he/she undergoes a civil death and therefore loses all civil rights. This medieval doctrine is used to justify arbitrary actions of superiors against inferiors (this is the terminology of the Orders themselves). 

However, it is becoming more and more difficult to maintain a policy of silence. There are many allegations of abuse by priests in India, as in other parts of the world. There is, for example, a case in Kottayam regarding the alleged murder of Sister Abhaya inside a convent, for which the nun¡¦s parents have unsuccessfully campaigned for justice for some time. There are also cases of suicides and unnatural deaths of nuns for reasons that may embarrass these Religious orders. Perhaps this hunger strike may become an occasion to discuss all these issues openly and to have a more honest approach to abuses in the Church. 

Fr. Joseph J. Pallath is a reputed anthropologist as well as a renowned and lauded writer. He was the founder and director for over ten years of Samskruti, a research centre for the promotion of folk art and culture. This centre has become a well-known and highly respected institution in Kerala. Fr. Pallath has won the prestigious Ambedkar award for his contributions through this centre. Unfortunately, petty jealousies which developed against him among some of his local superiors led to his dismissal from the Order, with the approval of the Jesuit Superior General in Rome. By then he had served the Jesuit Order for 33 years. He contested the order of dismissal, asserting that it was based on misinformation and made without due process. While his appeal was going on he was physically assaulted and literally thrown over the wall of the Jesuit house and onto the road. He was saved by a passer-by who took him to hospital. After his return from hospital, Fr. Pallath undertook a fast and was supported by many priests, nuns and members of the public. 

As a result of the public outcry an agreement was reached with the Jesuits, who agreed to take him back into the Order and to transfer him to another province. On the basis of this agreement the fast was abandoned. As soon as the fast was abandoned, the Jesuits dishonored the agreement. Fr. Pallath kept up a continuous campaign for justice, widely supported locally and internationally. His demands are that a credible inquiry be held into all incidents relating to his dismissal, and that he be provided with the means to continue his life, as his dismissal has left him without a penny nor a means of livelihood after giving 33 years of his life for the Order. The Jesuit Order reuses to act on this issue on the basis that the members of its order have no human rights because they suffer a civil death upon entering the Order. 

The hunger strike will begin on 12th May and is supported by several Catholic intellectuals and activists in Kerala. 

For More Details see www.jjpallath.ahrchk.net 
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SUGGESTED ACTION 

Write to the Vatican official for the rights of priests and also to the Superior General of the Jesuit Order. 

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER