Their conversion may have enabled them to participate more significantly in religious ceremonies than was the case when they were Hindus, this being because their "unclean" occupations (that is, the taking of life) would have prevented any central contribution in Hindu religious ritual. This was certainly the outcome following Pope Clement XIV's dissolution of the Society of Jesus in 1773, which resulted in a dearth of Catholic misisonaries and priests in the area, enabling the "jati thalavan" and his fellow caste notables to assume the role of solemniser for rituals such as marriage.