Caste-based discrimination challenges Christian witness
The Central Committee of the World Council of Churches (WCC) has called on member churches to "recognize that the continued discrimination and exclusion of millions of people on the basis of caste" is a "serious challenge to the credibility of their witness to their faith in God".
In a "Statement on caste-based discrimination" passed on 2 September, the committee says that at least 160 million people in India and up to 260 million globally are considered by their own societies as "untouchable". One of the jobs assigned to the caste of Dalit in India is the manual removal of human faeces from dry latrines.
The WCC Central Committee states that caste-based discrimination contradicts the Christian teaching that all are created equal in the image of God.
Full text of the "Statement on caste-based discrimination"
