A debate, both political and theological, has been brewing in Kerala over the past few days with an application by a regional unit of the Catholic Church in Kerala to increase its production of Mass wine. The Church says that it needs more wine because the number of its followers has increased. But critics claim there's something suspect about the timing of the request, coming shortly after the state's Congress-led United Democratic Front government's decision in April to close all bars below five-star category as part of the phased prohibition policy.
The Catholic church runs 23 plants in Kerala to produce the red sacramental wine that is used during the Mass as a symbol of the Jesus Christ’s blood. One section of the ceremony is a re-enactment of the Last Supper that Jesus shared with his disciples before he was crucified. It involves the priest dipping sacramental bread in a tiny quantity of wine and consuming it.
The Ernakulam-Angamaly diocese of the Syro-Malabar Church, one of the three Catholic churches in the state, has asked the State Excise Department for permission to increase the production of wine from the present 1,600 litres per year to 6,000 litres per annum ‒ the equivalent of 6,000 Bisleri-sized water bottles.
Paradoxical claim
Church spokesman Fr Paul Thelekkat said that this is necessary because of the increase in the number of churches in the state and its Christian population. However, census figures indicate that there is actually a steep fall in the population of Christians in the state.
The 2001 census data showed a 1.5 percentage point fall in the Christian population to 19.5% in 2001 from 21% ten years before. Community-wise figures of the 2011 census are yet to be released, but demographer KC Zachariah of the Centre for Development Studies estimates that the figure has most likely slumped to 16% in 2011. He predicts that the Christian population in the state will come down to 13% in the next two or three decades.
Zacharia, who has done a number of demographic studies, attributes this to the enthusiastic response to sterilisation drives in 1980 and 1991. He noted that the Christian community had the highest rate of sterilisations.
The decline is epecially steep among the Syrian Christians, who constitute nearly half of the state's six million Christian population. A study by Zachariah shows that the community is heading towards a zero or even negative population growth.
The study titled The Syrian Christians of Kerala: Demographic and Socio-Economic Transition in the Twentieth Century, says the Syrian Christians, suggests that the community might experience the "Parsi syndrome" of irreversible population declines in the coming decades.In fact, following the study, the Syro Malabar Church has been encouraging its followers to have more children. One church in Wayanad has already announced incentives for couples that have a third child, including cash allowance of Rs 10, 000. The church has also promised reservations in its educational institutions for these families.
Apart from the declining fertility rates, the Church has also lost numbers because of large numbers of its followers migrating to other parts of the country and abroad. The website of the Syro Malabar Church estimates the number of migrants living at nearly 5.85 lakhs.
This has led critics to allege that the Church wants to increase wine production so that it can sell the excess bottles. “I know many churches are selling wine for a price," claimed Vellapally Natesan, general secretary of Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam, a Hindu political group. "They are not supposed to sell Mass wine under the provisions of the license granted to them.”
While a wine and beer parlour has to pay a license fee of Rs 23 lakhs, the Church pays only Rs 250 for its production licences. Besides, Mass wine has an alcohol content of 15.5% compared to the 6% alcohol content in beer, enhancing its appeal.
When partial prohibition was introduced last June, Natesan, who owned a chain of bars, had demanded the cancellation of the Church's wine licenses. Many others, including the Bharatiya Janata Party, had backed this demand since the Church was in the forefront of the prohibition campaign.
Charges denied
But the head of the Syro Malabar Church, Cardinal Mar George Alencheril, denied that the Church was selling the wine it brewed. Father Thelekkat, the Church spokesman, claimed that the allegation as part of an attempt to communalise the issue. The entire production of the Church wineries is being used only for religious ceremonies, he said.
As a result of the controversy, Bishop Philipose Mar Chrysostom of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church suggested doing away with the practice of using wine for the Mass. He said that grape water could be used instead. But this has opened up a theological debate between the two Christian groups. The Catholic Church has rejected the suggestion, saying it that Mar Thoma Syrian Church views wine only as a symbol of Christ's blood. But Catholics believe that during the Mass, the wine is actually turned into Christ's blood, a process referred to as transubstantiation.
Any other liquid, said Cardinal Mar George Alencheril, would be unacceptable. Archbishop Francis Kallarackal of Verapoly added that for followers of this branch of Christianity, the use of bread and wine as the body and blood of Jesus "will remain unchanged until the world ends".
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The Catholic church runs 23 plants in Kerala to produce the red sacramental wine that is used during the Mass as a symbol of the Jesus Christ’s blood. One section of the ceremony is a re-enactment of the Last Supper that Jesus shared with his disciples before he was crucified. It involves the priest dipping sacramental bread in a tiny quantity of wine and consuming it.
The Ernakulam-Angamaly diocese of the Syro-Malabar Church, one of the three Catholic churches in the state, has asked the State Excise Department for permission to increase the production of wine from the present 1,600 litres per year to 6,000 litres per annum ‒ the equivalent of 6,000 Bisleri-sized water bottles.
Paradoxical claim
Church spokesman Fr Paul Thelekkat said that this is necessary because of the increase in the number of churches in the state and its Christian population. However, census figures indicate that there is actually a steep fall in the population of Christians in the state.
The 2001 census data showed a 1.5 percentage point fall in the Christian population to 19.5% in 2001 from 21% ten years before. Community-wise figures of the 2011 census are yet to be released, but demographer KC Zachariah of the Centre for Development Studies estimates that the figure has most likely slumped to 16% in 2011. He predicts that the Christian population in the state will come down to 13% in the next two or three decades.
Zacharia, who has done a number of demographic studies, attributes this to the enthusiastic response to sterilisation drives in 1980 and 1991. He noted that the Christian community had the highest rate of sterilisations.
The decline is epecially steep among the Syrian Christians, who constitute nearly half of the state's six million Christian population. A study by Zachariah shows that the community is heading towards a zero or even negative population growth.
The study titled The Syrian Christians of Kerala: Demographic and Socio-Economic Transition in the Twentieth Century, says the Syrian Christians, suggests that the community might experience the "Parsi syndrome" of irreversible population declines in the coming decades.In fact, following the study, the Syro Malabar Church has been encouraging its followers to have more children. One church in Wayanad has already announced incentives for couples that have a third child, including cash allowance of Rs 10, 000. The church has also promised reservations in its educational institutions for these families.
Apart from the declining fertility rates, the Church has also lost numbers because of large numbers of its followers migrating to other parts of the country and abroad. The website of the Syro Malabar Church estimates the number of migrants living at nearly 5.85 lakhs.
This has led critics to allege that the Church wants to increase wine production so that it can sell the excess bottles. “I know many churches are selling wine for a price," claimed Vellapally Natesan, general secretary of Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam, a Hindu political group. "They are not supposed to sell Mass wine under the provisions of the license granted to them.”
While a wine and beer parlour has to pay a license fee of Rs 23 lakhs, the Church pays only Rs 250 for its production licences. Besides, Mass wine has an alcohol content of 15.5% compared to the 6% alcohol content in beer, enhancing its appeal.
When partial prohibition was introduced last June, Natesan, who owned a chain of bars, had demanded the cancellation of the Church's wine licenses. Many others, including the Bharatiya Janata Party, had backed this demand since the Church was in the forefront of the prohibition campaign.
Charges denied
But the head of the Syro Malabar Church, Cardinal Mar George Alencheril, denied that the Church was selling the wine it brewed. Father Thelekkat, the Church spokesman, claimed that the allegation as part of an attempt to communalise the issue. The entire production of the Church wineries is being used only for religious ceremonies, he said.
As a result of the controversy, Bishop Philipose Mar Chrysostom of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church suggested doing away with the practice of using wine for the Mass. He said that grape water could be used instead. But this has opened up a theological debate between the two Christian groups. The Catholic Church has rejected the suggestion, saying it that Mar Thoma Syrian Church views wine only as a symbol of Christ's blood. But Catholics believe that during the Mass, the wine is actually turned into Christ's blood, a process referred to as transubstantiation.
Any other liquid, said Cardinal Mar George Alencheril, would be unacceptable. Archbishop Francis Kallarackal of Verapoly added that for followers of this branch of Christianity, the use of bread and wine as the body and blood of Jesus "will remain unchanged until the world ends".