India - The Diocese of Chotanagpur - Bishop Tuti
The formation of the Diocese of Chotanagpur occurred in the 1970s when a group of Christian Churches in northern India decided to unite. This union worked well in the beginning, but the Church of Northern India (CNI), one of the members, did not maintain the Faith and practices which had been agreed on in the original union. The Traditional Anglicans withdrew from this union.
The body that withdrew was then known as the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon (CIPBC). The split created some very serious problems. The traditional group (CIPBC) was barred from using their own churches, cemeteries, hospitals, schools and other property.
Within the CNI at that time was a priest, Father Gabriel Hemrom who was also well known as a doctor of herbal medicine and botany as well as a traditional priest. Ultimately Father Hemron was to lead his church out of the CNI and to the Anglican Church of India (TAC). Father Hemron was asked to take an assignment elsewhere. When he refused for personal reasons he was forced to take a leave of absence from the CNI. His parish backed him on this matter and stayed with him. They could no longer use their parish church. Ultimately, on Christmas Eve, Father Hemron took an iron bar and broke the locks on his parish church door to enable the parish to hold services in their former church.
When a group of young people, who had been instructed by Father Hemron, were ready to be confirmed Father Hemron turned to Bishop Samuel Prakash, with whom he had been in contact for some time. Bishop Prakash made his first visit to Father Hemrom's parish in October of 1995. When Bishop Prakash was invited back in October of 1996, Father Hemron also invited Bishop S.J.E. Tuti to visit at that time. During this visit, Bishop Prakash appointed Bishop Tuti to be the Diocesan Bishop of Chotanagpur. Father Hemron also joined the Anglican Church of India (TAC) at that time. Later there was some regularizing of orders with the conditional consecration of Bishop Tuti and ordinations into the Diaconate of the priests who also joined Bishop Prakash and the Anglican Church of India (TAC). Bishop Tuti was named the Bishop Ordinary of the Diocese of Chotanagpur at that visit. Other parishes in the area, on hearing that there was a traditional church available, also left the CNI and joined Bishop Tuti.
Once the legal structure of the traditional Church was well established, charges were brought against the CNI to recover the use of the properties which had previously been denied to the CIPBC. After 2 years of legal battles and great expenses, on May 10, 2000, the lower court granted an injunction in favor of the Anglican Church of India and established joint receivers to care for and utilize the properties until the case could work its way through the various appeals. Bishop Tuti was named as one of two Trustees.
As I read through the details of this story furnished by Bishop Tuti, I couldn't help but note similarities to some of our experiences in the US and elsewhere. However, the one thing that kept coming back to me was how, through perseverance and prayer, God has stood by His Faithful. The cost in legal fees has been tremendous and will continue to increase through the appeal process. The enormous amount of time, talent and resources donated, demonstrates what those who are faithful are able to accomplish.
Funds will be needed by Bishops Prakash and Tuti to continue the struggle. They have come a long way and are confident that they will prevail.