LONDON, ENGLAND, June 22, 2004: This rather cynical report from the BBC starts off, “Outsourcing gets religion in India. A Hindu puja: Now just a click away. Is nothing sacred? The hard-nosed commercialism that has spawned a boom in international business outsourcing is catching on in the religious world. In the West, there is a growing shortage of holy men of all religions, and the costs of spiritual services are on the rise. An opportunity, then, for India, where high-quality, low-cost ‘religious outsourcing’ is becoming big business. Catholics have led the way, but Sikhs and Hindus are catching on fast.”
The article’s account is misleading, as Sikhs and Hindus have had a long-established practice of offering worship at special temples in distant places, one not related to any shortage of local priests. The Catholic situation is different, because their church is short of priests to conduct what are called intercessory prayers and special masses. So these are being “outsourced” to Kerala, India, where they have become a significant source of income for local priests. The article says, “A recruitment crisis in the Catholic Church in the West has led to an increasing flow of requests for intercessory prayers and special masses to be directed to Kerala, according to the region’s authorities.”
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