LONDON, UK, March 11, 2008: In a role reversal, Indians are not only meeting the shortage of priests in churches in Britain, but Christian migrants from India, particularly from Kerala, are helping boost dwindling church congregations.
One of the first Indian priests to arrive in Wales to preach Christianity was Rev Hmar Sangkhuma, from the Diocese of Mizoram in northeastern India. Mizoram has a majority Christian population that was initially converted by missionaries from Wales between 1840 and 1960.
Church sources say that attendance in churches has been progressively dwindling in various parts of Britain. The 2001 census showed that fewer than one in 10 people in Wales regularly attended church or chapel which also faces a shortage of priests.