Emulate Christ to win Dalit hearts: Patna Archbishop

Archbishop William D'Souza who was newly installed in Patna urged the church people in the state to emulate Christ in their actions and interactions to win over dalit people.

Dalit need empowerment to wriggle out of caste oppression, but they will accept Christians only if we approach them with open hearts and hands to serve them, Archbishop D'Souza said.

The prelate emphasized on the importance of the need for Church people to emulate Christ "in our actions and interactions" to win dalit's love and trust. "This will unleash enormous spiritual and mental energies hidden in them (and we will) witness miracles in various realms of life," he noted.

For the past two years, Archbishop D'Souza was the bishop of Buxar, in the state's western region and on Dec. 9, the archbishop, became the newly installed bishop of Patna. Among the dignitaries present in the ceremony was state assembly Speaker Uday Narayan Choudhary.
Choudhary, who became the first dalit to become speaker of the Bihar legislative assembly, acknowledged the Church's help in his political career.

"None have prodded dalit to achieve human dignity like the Church," he told the public function. "But since the 1930s, the Church has gradually and invisibly striven to cure the malaise. Today many like me are in the forefront of society. This is largely due to the Church. This is not an exaggeration, but a living truth," he added.