1 INTRODUCTION SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The British rule in North East India exposed the tribals of the region to Christianity leading to significant changes in their lives. In the beginning, Christian missionaries from America and Europe worked hard in the region to offer them the benefits of education and socio-cultural and economic advancements. Later on when they were replaced by the missionaries from mainland India, they continued this noble task of the church. Notwithstanding the unforeseen future and difficulties encountered by the missionaries, they continued with their humanitarian services that are reflected in all round development. The people of Nagaland, therefore, owe their indebtedness to the missionaries for their selfless work. It is well known that though a minority, Catholic Church in Nagaland, through spiritual welfare, educational services, health care, promotion of culture, social services, commitment to justice and peace, dialogue, and developmental activities has influenced positively this small hilly state within a span of sixty years. She tries to fulfill her commitment to people through various works and permeates this reality as a duty as expected and demanded of her. Among all services rendered by the Church it is the educational service that has changed the economic and social life of the people of the state. Catholic education thus aims not at mere intellectual formation of the pupils, but as an agent to bring all-round development in their social, moral and religious life. The contribution of Christianity to the socio-economic development of the North East has been immense, although the main purpose of all the three major Christian denominations namely the Presbyterians, the Baptists and the Catholics, was evangelization (Passa h, 1996). The term evangelization in ordinary sense meant
2 preaching. Hence earlier it was believed that church s involvement in any socioeconomic activities was considered a shift from the main mission. However, from the 19 th century, the church has been actively involved in various socio-economic activities as she believes that her call to mission is not only for spiritual life but also for the wellbeing of the whole person. As Desrochers (1982) wrote, the document Justice in the World, considers action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel (p. 21). Today the entry of the Catholic Church, therefore, into various activities ranging from schools, colleges, hostels for boys, girls, working men and women, dispensaries, mobile clinics, rural health centres, hospitals, orphanages, crèches, homes for the aged and the destitute, social welfare and tribal welfare centres, leprosaria, agricultural and technical training centres, vocational centres, banks, cooperatives, rural developmental centres, etc. are signs of her commitment to improving the living conditions of the people across the globe irrespective of religion. Evangelization is, therefore, bringing or conveying good news into all strata of humanity and forming men and women into new persons who would be ready and willing to live for and have concern for others. It is based on this principle and understanding of the term evangelization that the Catholic Church in Nagaland has, in spite of many limitations, ventured into many ministries that would bring holistic welfare to all. The study on the Impact of Catholic Church on Naga Society is expected to throw light on three significant areas of interests. In the first place the attempt to study the beginning and growth of the Catholic Church in relation to the Baptist Church in Nagaland would enable her to know the people s response towards her and her place in the state. Secondly, the establishment of the church and her various humanitarian services despite strong opposition from different quarters and difficulties encountered by the Catholic missionaries would help her to examine her role in the overall development
3 of the people and the state. And most importantly an assessment of the contribution the church has impacted in various fields would enable her to commit herself more effectively for the common good and welfare of the people in the future. REVIEW OF LITERATURE It is expected that a review of literature on the Catholic Church in the North East in general and Nagaland in particular would provide sufficient information on the purpose, need and activities of the church. History of the Catholic Missions in North East India by C. Becker is based on personal and first-hand experience lived through many long years of dedicated missionary work in Assam, including the Hills which include Nagaland. This book also mentions about the departure of the German Salvatorian missionaries after the outbreak of World War I and the subsequent taking over of the mission work by the Jesuits, followed by the Salesians. Another book by the same author is Early History of the Catholic Missions in North East India. This book narrates the glorious history of Assam which includes the political history under the native princes and the British; and various religious practices of the people and the initiative taken by the Catholic missionaries to venture into the North East. These two books are actually the first books on the Catholic Church in North East India and so they are a valuable source. The Catholic Church in North-East India, 1890-1990, edited by S. Karotemprel is a comprehensive study on the Catholic Church in North East India. It gives an account of the beginning and establishment of the church and the role she has played in the overall development of the region especially in the religious, political cultural, educational, medical and humanitarian fields. It is a collection of articles contributed by eminent personalities of the North East who have been associated with it for a number of years and hence the observation and suggestions are significant. The article A Historical
4 Survey of the Catholic Church in North East India from 1627 to 1969 by Kottuppallil George gives a bird s eye view of the origin of the church in this part of India. Puthenpurakal, Joseph through his article Evangelization among the Nagaland Tribes throws light on the beginning of Christianity among the Nagas and the works of the Catholic Church among them. The writings of many others in the book provide ample information on the topic Impact of Catholic Church on Naga Society. Another important book on the Catholic Church in North East India is Impact of Christianity on North East India edited by J. Puthenpurakal. It is also a collection of articles mostly written by scholars of the North East itself. The writers, belonging to different walks of life, address very objectively a wide range of works of the Catholic Church in the region and make many valuable suggestions as well. The book has been divided into various sections like theology, history and socio-cultural aspects, development, case studies etc to have an overall view of the church. Since it discusses wide range of issues pertaining to the contributions of the Catholic Church the researcher has access to many of the information provided there particularly on the social impact of the church. Fredrick S. Downs, a historian and a prolific writer on North East Church History in his book Christianity in North East India throws sufficient light on various ways the tribes of the North East mainly the Khasis, Garos, Nagas, Mizos, and a small section of Assamese became Christians. What is significant in this book is the role played by the British in the Christianization of the North East. He spells out very objectively in the book activities of different denominations and how they have contributed to the betterment of the people irrespective of their religious affiliation. A significant account of information about the British and the Nagas is given by Neivetso Venuh in his book British Colonization and Restructuring of Naga Polity. He mentions that the Nagas were a people with their special socio-cultural and political
5 history prior to the occupation by the British. This book gives an account of the state and the people in brief followed by the pre-colonial polity and the British occupation of the Naga Hills. With the occupation, there undergoes a change in the socio, political, economic and religious life of the people followed by the rise of nationalism. Through her book The Nagas: A Missionary Challenge, Angeline Lotsüro, exposes the origin of Christianity among the Nagas with a brief explanation on the Nagas origin, social, political, economic and religious life prior to their acceptance of Christianity. Christianity is very much still peripheral for the Nagas that is very much visible in their life, she has mentioned. Therefore, it is a great challenge for the missionaries to present the teachings of Christianity to bear fruit in their life. An authority on the beginning of Baptist Christianity in Nagaland is Joseph Puthenpurakal. Baptist Missions in Nagaland authored by him is a sum total of how the Baptist missionaries entered into a different world of culture of the Nagas to propagate the teachings of Christianity and the struggles and the success stories they faced and enjoyed. This book also deals with the contributions Christianity has brought in the field of education, medical service, literature, music and songs to enrich the lives of the Nagas and finally enabled them to give up their war-like nature. Since it is a thoroughly researched book on the beginning of Christianity and works of the American Baptist missionaries, it provides valuable information to the research topic. Bendangyabang, Ao in his book History of Christianity in Nagaland: the Ao Naga Tribal Christian Mission Enterprise 1872-1972 deals with the beginning of Baptist Christianity in Nagaland particularly among the Ao tribe by the foreign missionaries followed by their service to other tribes. It is descriptive in nature. The Ao missionaries contributed a great deal in religious and educational life of other tribes as well. His other book titled History of Christianity in Nagaland: A Source Material, is a researched book. This book narrates the mission works of the pioneer foreign missionaries in the
6 Naga Hills and also shares their views, experiences and impression about their work in the hills. The first book on the Catholic Church in Nagaland, A Brief History of the Catholic Church in Nagaland, is written by David Syiemlieh, an academician and writer who had written a number of books and articles mainly on North East India. This book spells out the origin and history of the Catholic Church in Nagaland for about thirty five years of its existence beginning from the year 1950. A short background of the Nagas is given in nutshell in the beginning part of the book, followed by the starting of Catholic mission among the Angami and Lotha tribes almost same time and then to other tribes in the state. Since it is the first work of its kind in giving information about the Catholic Church in Nagaland it is indeed a source book for the readers. The first two Catholic communities established in Nagaland are among the Angami and Lotha tribes. Thomas Vattoth through his A Star Over Tenyimia highlights the beginning of the Catholic mission among the Angami tribe with whom the church first began her association. The book deals with the activities of the Catholic Church in Kohima and surrounding areas for about fifteen years starting from 1949 to 1963. The church began her contact officially with the Nagas, from Shillong the then head quarter of the church in the North East, after the Second World War. The works of Fr. Marocchino who alone struggled hard to establish the church in Kohima and neighbouring Angami villages are given due importance in the book. In the person of Hokishe Sema one finds a prolific thinker, writer, and social worker. His book Emergence of Nagaland gives a summary of the life of the Nagas from their ancestry to till the acceptance of Christianity in a simple language, acceptable to all readers. Another Naga versatile writer is Visier Sanyu who in his book A History of Nagas and Nagaland gives in detail the early life of the Nagas and the social and political institutions of the Nagas. Historical presentation of events and stories of the
7 Nagas origin, ancestry and early life is presented to us by M. Alemchiba in his book, A Brief Historical Account of Nagaland. Other prominent writers of Naga history are J. H. Hutton and J. P. Mills who have written on the major tribes of Nagaland in a descriptive manner. The review of literature dealt with matter directly relating to the topic, The Impact of Catholic Church on Naga Society. RESEARCH PROBLEM The evangelization works in Nagaland by the Catholic Church is integrally linked with an overall effort to be a new way of being the church. The American Baptists in particular and few other denominations in the state do share among themselves a glorious history of evangelization of the state over the past 140 years. Baptist Church s history, work and presence have had great consequences on the beginning and growth of the Catholic Church in the state as the latter had to face hostility and intimidation from the former very often. On the other hand many Naga people also expressed their desire in clear terms to have the Catholic Church planted into this soil to bring about all round progress as the state was lagging behind in all forms of development. In her efforts to be a contributing church in terms of effecting overall development and well being of all people in spiritual, educational, cultural, economic, and social life, she plans and coordinates all her activities towards that end. Notwithstanding opposition and struggles she has to face, she invests all her available resources like time, money and human resources to benefit majority poor people especially in rural areas. In terms of effectiveness, quality service and dedication the motive of the Catholic Church is indisputable during the past sixty years. This study intends to examine and evaluate the efforts of the church, to know whether the church has responded positively to the demands of the people for which the church has been founded. The church knows she has still many more miles to travel to reach out to more people to offer her services. It is,
8 therefore, a matter of importance that the research should evaluate the works of the church so far, for the better future to let the people enjoy the advantages of her services. HYPOTHESIS The earliest Christian contact with the North East goes back to more than three centuries. The Catholic mission was the first of the foreign Christian missions to the North East, followed by the Baptist missions. However, the latter was the first to get in touch with the people of Nagaland and begin the work in 1871. It was after a period of seven decades that the Catholic Church could enter this land and begin her works. With this background, the following hypotheses are proposed for analysis in the study. Firstly, in spite of this long gap, the Catholic mission could reach out to all the tribes within a short period of time. Secondly, the society felt the impact of her activities in the religious and cultural, social, educational, political and economic fields. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The present study attempts to examine how the Catholic Church began in Nagaland from the background of the Baptist Church, as the entry of the former was much at a later period than the latter in the state. It tries to assess the vision and mission of the pioneer missionaries in establishing the church at different parts of the state in the midst of opposition and in the absence of even minimum facilities. It aims to discover the growth, expansion and various developments of the church with the sole intention of reaching out to maximum number of people in the state so as to render the benefit of the services like education, medical and social services. The study also intends to know the reason for the many misconceptions people had of the church and the wide spread propaganda against the Catholics from beginning till date. Some of the hindrances to the growth of the church like language, political barriers, cultural differences, lack of personnel, ignorance, superstition etc are expected to be given consideration in the study.
9 To assess various agencies that helped towards the consolidation of the Church in due course of time is another objective of this study. Most importantly, this study aims at an introspection into the contributions the church has made on the society at large through her religious and cultural, educational, social, political and economic services and to know whether she plays as an agent of change in the Naga society and a major player for the growth and development of the present and future generations and the state. Lastly the research suggests concrete plans to bring in fresh dimension to the works of the church to reach out to people in order to offer them maximum wellbeing. METHODOLOGY Based on the hypotheses and objectives, the use of historical, quantitative and qualitative methods are justified in the study. The tools for collection of data have been the primary sources which include interview, oral tradition and questionnaire; and the secondary sources. In the first place the data collected from various sources connected with the socio-cultural events, situations leading to the beginning, growth and impact of the Catholic Church on Naga society is compared and analyzed and on the basis of these findings conclusion has been drawn. The two methods primarily chosen for the collection of data were the questionnaire schedule and interview schedule. The first method was primarily based on the collection of quantitative data while the second qualitative. Hence the study is basically dependent on both quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative tool is essential to test the hypotheses as it largely depends on its findings. The qualitative data specifies clearly each instance and therefore, both data reinforce each other in the study. SAMPLE SELECTION FOR QUESTIONNAIRE SCHEDULE AND FIELD WORK Based on the total population and number of Catholics and institutions in a given place the whole state is covered in the collection of data. An added reason for the selection of the whole state is because of the presence of the Catholic Church in all the
10 districts of the state. Given below is the total number of respondents according to district wise: Kohima 50, Dimapur 50, Wokha 30, Phek 30, Kiphire 25, Peren 25, Tuensang 20, Mon 15, Zunheboto 15, Longleng 10, and Mokokchung 10. Respondents belonging to different walks of life have been selected for the questionnaire to get the correct data to test the hypotheses. Also people belonging to four different age groups with six categories of educational background were taken into account. From eachdistrict people residing in the towns but many hailing from the villages were selected to form the sample for the study. The respondents included teachers, pastors, village elders, public leaders, government employees, educated unemployed etc who were briefed about the subject matter personally and had the questionnaire given out to respond. Besides that most of them were also interviewed to get the precise data. The reason for the choice of respondents lay in the fact that they are very often the decision makers in their own place and play a great role in the life of the people there. One notable feature is that most of the selected respondents belong to Baptist Christianity so as to avoid any favouritism and to obtain objective view of the subject matter. More than 80% of the respondents belong to youth. Table 0.1 shows the age group of the respondents. Table 0.1 Age of the Respondents Age Distribution of Respondents Frequency Percentage 15-30 175 62.5 31-45 82 29.3 46-60 18 6.4 Above 60 5 1.8 Total 280 100.0 Most of the respondents have been selected from the educated category in order to get balanced response as uneducated can be biased towards a group. So in this
11 questionnaire the data provided by them is given the weightage. A clear picture of the educational background of the respondents is shown in Table 0.2 Table 0.2 Educational Qualification of the Respondents Education Distribution of Respondents Frequency Percentage Post Graduate 43 15.4 Graduate 141 50.4 Post Matric 70 25.0 Matriculate 14 5.0 Others 7 2.5 Under Matriculate 5 1.7 Total 280 100.0 Among the respondents the researcher tries to give equal representation to people belonging to both urban and rural areas of the state and so 53.2% and 46.8% of the respondents are from urban and rural areas respectively. Presentation of the respondents home setting is given in Table 0.3. Table 0.3 Home setting of the Respondents Home Distribution of Respondents setting Frequency Percentage Rural 149 53.2 Urban 131 46.8 Total 280 100.0 The field work for the questionnaire schedule began on 5 March 2012 and ended on 30 August 2012. They were collected back from the concerned people by the researcher personally. For the analysis of the questionnaire the data is classified and tabulated through SPSS system. SAMPLE SELECTION FOR INTERVIEW SCHEDULE AND FIELD WORK Besides the questionnaire schedule the researcher has interviewed nearly one hundred people from a cross-section of people in order to get deep into the matter that
12 would reinforce each other in study. While the questionnaire mainly dealt with the external manifestation of one s conviction, the interview provides the internal conviction of the interviewee on a particular topic. Interview enables the interviewee to go beyond what is presumed on a specific issue to dig out the why of things. The interviewees included religious leaders both men and women, political leaders, church elders, village elders, student leaders, etc belonging to different denominations and hailing from all the districts of the state. Nearly 60 % of them were from the remote areas keeping in mind the topic of the research. The selection of the interviewees was based on their educational qualification and leadership abilities. Hence all the interviewees of this study fall under these said categories as they were expected to give their objective and unbiased views. The interview schedule began on 30 December 2006 and continued till 6 October 2012; of course intermittently. Before the scheduled interview they were formally informed of the purpose of the study. The interviews were loosely structured and quite informal on the topic to let the flow of conversation continue without interruption; but they were guided in nature. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE CHAPTERS As mentioned, the purpose of this study is to know the way the church got established in the midst of Baptist Christianity that opposed throughout, and to analyze the contributions the church has made from its inception till date. In order to place the study in the true context the first chapter deals with Land and Peoples. In this, the topography of Nagaland, different races in India, origin and migration of the Nagas, the meaning of the term Naga, settlement of the Nagas and social, political, economic, and religious life of the Nagas have been explained. The second chapter Beginning of Catholic Church in Relation to Baptist Church begins with Christianity in North East India. It is followed by the British policy in the North East and the beginning of Catholic
13 mission in the North East. A short description of the beginning of Baptist mission in Nagaland to place the beginning of Catholic mission in Nagaland is explained next. The arrival of the fist Catholic missionaries and the starting of Catholic mission among the Angami tribe in Kohima are briefed in the following pages. Simultaneously there was a move among the Lotha tribe in Lakhuti under Wokha district to become Catholics, is given concise explanation. The spread and growth of the Catholic Church is explained in the third chapter under the title, Growth of the Church. In this chapter the expansion of the church to other parts of state and her various activities are given explanation. The fourth chapter, The Impact-Social, Political, Economic, Religious and Cultural and Educational is actually the central part of the study. The contributions of the Catholic Church in all the fields from the beginning till date with the support of primary sources which include interviews and questionnaire, and the secondary sources have been explained. The study concludes with the summary of what have been explained in the previous chapters under the title Conclusion. Findings of the study are a self-discovery to move forward with firm resolution to serve the people of the state with renewed enthusiasm and commitment. It is to learn from history to create history by joining hands together with all denominations to build up a beautiful state of prosperity, development and peace by applying the principle of synergy. The positive contribution the church has made so far and looking forward to the contributions she will have made in the future she is hopeful of rendering a better service from now. In the words of Bishop Robert Kerketta (1998), we cannot foretell the future, we would want the church to be a vibrant church bringing peace, harmony and prosperity, both spiritual and temporal, to all people without any distinction of caste, creed and language, rendering glory to God and service to mankind (p. 280).