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The Hindu
14-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
With a new Pope, an understanding of Catholicism in India
Upon the passing of Pope Francis, Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected to succeed him as Pope Leo XIV. The conclave to elect the new pontiff began on May 7. The election of the Pope takes place through an electoral college composed of Cardinals from around the world. This time, the electoral college included 135 Cardinals from 70 countries, with four Cardinals from India, the country's highest-ever tally. Among all Christian denominations, Catholics comprise the largest population, forming 15.9% of the global population and a large share of the Indian Christian population as well. The Vatican is a spiritual symbol for this denomination. In this context, this is an analysis of the Catholic denomination, its religious behaviour, and its demographic share among Indian Christians. Chart 1 shows the denomination-wise share of Christians in India According to data from the PEW Research Center, about 37% of Christians in India are Catholic, 17.9% are Baptist, 9.5% are Presbyterian, and 24.3% belong to other denominations. About 10% of Christians do not affiliate with any denomination. Chart 2 shows the distribution of Catholics among Christian social groups. It shows that nearly 75% of general category Christians, 16.8% of Scheduled Caste Christians, 23.7% of Christian tribal people, 55.5% of Other Backward Classes Christians, and 23.5% of Christians from the Most Backward Classes are Catholic. Though the majority of Indian Catholics belong to upper castes, for the first time, a Dalit, Anthony Poola, the Archbishop of Hyderabad, was among the four Indian cardinals who voted for the new Pope. He was appointed as a cardinal in 2022 by Pope Francis. Map 3 shows the State-wise share of Catholics within the total Christian population of each State. A State marked as zero indicates that it has Christians, but no Catholics. A majority of the Christian population in Nagaland and Mizoram is Catholic. In Meghalaya, it is 90.8% and in Goa, it is 58.7%. To measure aggregate religiosity in India, I developed an Aggregate Religiosity Index that captures the religiosity of all major religious groups in India from 1989 to 2023, based on 15 indicators. The findings reveal that all religious groups in India exhibit high levels of religiosity. Tables 4 and 5 provide a breakdown of the most recent religiosity levels (in % terms) among Christian denominations across selected indicators. Table 4 presents the religious behaviour of Christian denominations in India. Figures in % More than 90% of Catholic respondents consider religion important, believe in God and participate in religious festivals. Public expressions of faith, such as wearing a religious pendant (74.6%) and attending services (59.9%), are also common. However, only a small proportion (11.2%) actively follows religious leaders. This suggests that while personal religiosity remains high, institutional influence may be limited. Table 5 presents the social, democratic, and economic behaviour of Indian Christians. The first column corresponds to Catholics. Within Christianity, Catholics exhibit a comparatively softer attitude towards religion than Presbyterians and Christians who do not affiliate with any denomination. Even Baptists and Christians from other denominations are stricter than Catholics when it comes to opposing inter-religious marriages. Catholics tend to have higher literacy levels compared to members of all other Christian denominations except Presbyterians. Mohd Arshid is a research scholar studying the political economy of religion in India at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, JNU, New Delhi mohdarshid01@
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tennessee Republicans push to ban diversity, equity, inclusion policies
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies are meant to foster a workplace where all individuals feel valued and respected, but Tennessee Republicans call it discriminatory and are pushing a bill to ban the practice in the state. 'The Dismantle DEI Act,' sponsored by Rep. Aron Maberry (R-Clarksville) and Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R-Franklin), would ban the state and local governments and public colleges and universities from basing hiring decisions on any metrics that consider an applicant's race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability, or hiring a particular candidate to achieve any goals to increase diversity, equity, or inclusion in the workplace, according to the bill's language. 📧 Have breaking news come to you: → Republicans argue DEI policies prioritize diversity over merit and lead to discriminatory practices that cause qualified people to miss out on opportunities they deserve. 'If discrimination in the past was wrong, and I agree, it was; it is, then discrimination today is wrong,' Rep. Maberry said. 'Diversity is a wonderful thing, but diversity, for diversity's sake alone, and making diversity the number one priority over merit and over running an effective and efficient government, I think is wrong,' Leader Johnson said. The bill follows President Trump's lead in ending DEI policies. In the first week of his second term, President Trump signed an executive order terminating DEI preferencing in the federal government, calling it 'illegal and immoral.' He argued the move was about protecting civil rights and merit-based opportunity. However, Tennessee Democrats argue it's the opposite. They called the 'Dismantle DEI Act' an attempt to turn back time. 'Stop acting like you don't know what this is all about and deal with the reality of it. You are trying to put Black folks back in a box, and I'm saying we're not going,' Rep. Yusuf Hakeem (D-Chattanooga) said. 'We're taking out things that prohibit the government from discriminating against people. We're removing that from the law. That's not anti-DEI. That's anti-civil rights,' Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) said. According to a 2023 PEW Research Center survey that polled employed adults, 56% of participants responded DEI was a good thing in the workplace. However, a Harvard Business Review study found DEI practices undermine diversity in the workplace. ⏩ The bill is set to be debated on the Senate floor Monday afternoon. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
