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Perspectief 68 Sergio Targa sj. experience a sort of inferiority complex, we, on the other hand, experience a superiority one in our dealings with them. Perhaps very few know that up until 1959 in the village of Anondobash under Bhabarpara parish, there existed two church buildings: one for the Christians of Rishi origins, the other for the rest. It was Fr. Alberton that pulled down one building and forced all the Christians to partake in the same liturgical services. The church became one for all the Christians, but at least up until 1996 the division between the two groups was all too evident. I do not know of similar arrangements in other Khulna churches. What I do know is that even today many Christians feel bad about having to mix up with fellow believers coming from a Rishi background. Marriages overcoming caste barriers are still too rare to allow us to speak of a full integration of Rishi Christians within the wider Catholic community. Even the Rishi priestly component of the local clergy does not seem often at ease with priests coming from different communities. And last but not least, the Church in Khulna in its globality does not seem to show too much interest in the Rishi cause. Often the Rishi issue has been pushed forward only by the church's foreign element. But even this latter, as of late, has diminished both interest in and work among the Rishi people. Certainly, Rishi people still need conversion, but so does the Church in all of its components. The relationship between Rishi people and Church is not yet accomplished. The complex dialogue between snake and frog is in its continuous unfolding. Problems are still there. But it is important to acknowledge that the Rishi are a people of God and their response to God's call may assume different faces, not necessarily the face of the Church. The Church in its own right must remain an instrument of Rishi's redemption, worldly first, over worldly later. In its service to the suffering humanity, it must continuously remind the Rishi of God's gratuitous love. . 1 This paper first appeared in Bengali in the November-December 2006 issue of the Mongolbarta, a bimonthly publication of the National Training Centre, Jessore, Bangladesh. The views expressed in this paper are however solely of his author.