Does the church approve of or condemn the Caste System?

[Ben_Sinner]

What does the church teach regarding the caste system?

I have read a Wikipedia article that claims Syrian Christians used a caste system and labeled some groups as untouchables:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste_system_in_Kerala#Untouchables

Untouchability in Kerala is not restricted to Hindus, and George Mathew says that, “Technically, the Christians were outside [the] caste hierarchy, but in practice a system of inclusion and exclusion was developed …”.[6] Among Christians, the established Syrian Christians also practiced the rules of untouchability. In the colonial period, many lower castes were converted to Christians by the European Missionaries, but the new converts were not allowed to join the Syrian Christian community and they continued to be considered as untouchables even by the Syrian Christians.[7]

Does the Catholic Church agree with the Syrian Christians’ practices?

 

[John_Lazarus]

I have read that the Church tacitly approves it: apparently there are churches in India where there are separate chalices for different caste people.

I’m not surprised, though, since the Church also seems to still approve of endogamy among the Knanaya Catholics: non-Knanayas cannot join, and anyone in the Church who marries outside the ethnic group cannot be members anymore.

 

[Ben_Sinner]

I have read that the Church tacitly approves it: apparently there are churches in India where there are separate chalices for different caste people.

I’m not surprised, though, since the Church also seems to still approve of endogamy among the Knanaya Catholics: non-Knanayas cannot join, and anyone in the Church who marries outside the ethnic group cannot be members anymore.

Isn’t that heretical?

 

[livingwordunity]

Addrees of John Paul II to the Bishops of India on Their “Ad Limina” Visit

Any semblance of a caste-based prejudice in relations between Christians is a countersign to authentic human solidarity, a threat to genuine spirituality and a serious hindrance to the Church’s mission of evangelization. Therefore, customs or traditions that perpetuate or reinforce caste division should be sensitively reformed so that they may become an expression of the solidarity of the whole Christian community.