Mae Suay (AsiaNews) – Tribal communities are progressively turning to the Catholic Church, especially to the missionaries, as a last resort to escape being marginalised in today's Thai society. Father Claudio Corti from Lecco (Italy), a 37-year old missionary with the Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions or PIME, has been working for the past 7 years in Mae Suay, Chiang Mai Diocese, in northern Thailand.

In this part of the country, the missionaries' work is primarily directed to the tribal communities as Father Corti tells us in this interview.

How does the mission become involved in tribal communities?

Through three types of action: education, evangelisation and legal aid. In Mae Suay we provide schooling to about 600 pupils. About a hundred live in the mission with others living in hostels in neighbouring villages. Without our assistance they could not go to school and would not learn the Thai language. They would end up on the margins of society.

Tribal people constitute some of the largest Catholic communities in Thailand . . .

That's true. It is easy for tribal people to become Catholic, or just Christian. As soon as they approach a Christian village, they too want to become Christian. What is certain is that they don't want to become Buddhist because that's the religion of most Thais who oppress them. Tribal people who are drawn to the Church are first-generation Catholics who largely convert out of social considerations. They hope the missionaries will help them; they hope to send their children to school; they hope to be like everybody else.

What is your opinion about these "opportunistic" conversions?

I understand why people may have a "utilitarian" view of Christianity. More often than not, this is how conversion occurs. They become Christian, integrate in society, are helped, and get the social status that makes them feel fully human. Lest we forget, animism involves expensive religious practices. When the sorcerer blesses someone's hut, the latter must butcher a pig as part of the sacrificial rite and with the proceeds of the sale pay the former. Our task is to help these people grow as Christians. It is easier with children and young people, but we do the same with adults through the catechesis and by tutoring them in Christian values.

How do Christians best profess their faith vis-à-vis tribal people?

By giving freely. This is something waning fast in Thailand, among tribal people more than ever. Thai society is changing rapidly and becoming more materialistic and increasingly oriented towards a consumerist lifestyle. Even in tightly-knit tribal communities, communal bonds are weakening. Today people have a hard time finding someone willing to take them to the hospital. The first thing they are told is: "If I take you, how much will you pay me?" By way of contrast, Christians are at their service for free.

How does the consumer lifestyle enter the lives of tribal people?

As soon as they save some money, they buy a television. They might not have enough to buy food a month later but, lo and behold, they have already bought a stereo. Through the new images and sounds they buy into the consumerist model.

What does Legal Aid to tribal people mean?

Tribal people do not have Thai citizenship. In practical terms, it is as if they did not exist. They have no identity papers; they cannot be hospitalised, nor can they vote. In Thailand, the Church could not but be concerned with their plight, and she has made some significant albeit modest contributions in alleviating it.

How?

In one village in our mission area, Vill Nam Un is the first tribal person to receive his Thai identity papers. This was made possible by the actions of a Buddhist professor from Tammasat University in Bangkok. The Thai government entrusted her with the task of elaborating a new law granting Thai citizenship to tribal peoples. She sent a female student, Tang Sum, to do background research. The latter settled in a village inhabited by Akha people to write her thesis on this tribe. In so doing, she enabled the first tribal person to become a full-fledged Thai citizen. Now this young woman has opened a law office near our mission and wants to keep working on behalf of tribal people. (LF)