Religion as an Arena for the Expression of Identity: Roman Catholic Pondicherrians in France
Résumé
Brigitte Sébastia discusses several cases of Indianization of Catholic rituals among the Tamils in France, and the dilemmas and difficulties involved. Sébastia shows how Tamil rituals were integrated into the Catholic liturgy in an attempt to inculturate Catholic faith. Our Lady of Health of Velankanni has been installed in many churches. Even the annual Tamil pilgrimage to Lourdes has been ‘Indianized’. Sébastia argues that some families chose the Indianization or Tamilization of the Catholic Church and the rituals in order to exalt Tamil identity and to gain prestige and recognition, which, however, was opposed by others. She notes that many of the Tamil Catholics in France are Untouchables, and for many of them, affirming a Christian identity means the rejection of everything that symbolizes Hinduism.