An official of the Indian bishops’ conference has questioned a Hindu leader’s claim that former Indian president Pranab Mukherjee supported converting tribal Christians to Hinduism to save them from becoming anti-nationals. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India called the claim “fabricated” on Jan. 17, two days after the media published the statements of Mohan Bhagwat, the head of the powerful Hindu group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). In a statement, the bishops’ conference questioned the motive behind publishing a “fabricated personal conversation being attributed to a former president of India.” Bhagwat told a public function in central Indian Indore city on Jan. 13 that Mukherjee supported the campaign to convert Christians during a private conversation with him in 2017. Mukherjee died in 2020.
The bishops’ statement questioned the media ethics of “posthumous publication” of statements attributed to a pre-sident by “an organization with questionable credibility.” It also questioned why Bhagwat “did not speak” about this when Mukherjee was alive. “It is unfortunate” that RSS, which was banned thrice and often associated with violence in India “as seen over the past several decades, is allowed with impunity to call the non-violent, peace-loving and service-oriented Christian community as anti-nationals,” said the statement issued by the bishops’ public relations officer Father Robinson Rodrigues. The RSS is seen as the umbrella organization of all Hindu groups working to make India a nation of Hindu hegemony.
Hindu group Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP or World Hindu Council) spearheads a campaign called Ghar Wapsi (homecoming) in northern India to convert Christians to Hinduism, claiming Hinduism is the “home” religion of all Indians.

Indian Christians face an existential threat if the government fails to act immediately to stop the spiralling incidents of hate crimes, says an ecumenical Christian group. Incidents of anti-Christian violence rose steeply from 127 in 2014 to 834 in 2024, revealed the latest report released by the United Christian Forum (UCF) on Jan. 24. “If the trend is not stopped immediately by political will and concerted government action, it will threaten the identity and existence of the Indian Christian community in their motherland,” the New Delhi-based body of several Christian denominations said in a statement. A.C. Michael, a UCF office-bearer, said practicing the Christian faith in the country is going to be a challenging task unless the government reins in the right-wing Hindu groups. “Chri-stians are being treated like they do not belong to this country,” Michael told. Michael, a former member of the Delhi state’s minority commission, said that the Church’s charitable works were falsely portrayed as “a façade for religious conversion through false narratives” by the right-wing organizations.
Michael Williams, president of UCF, said the attacks against the community have become “more frequent, brutal, and systematic.” “Christians who have long been a peaceful and integral part of India’s diverse society are now living in fear,” he said. Williams said the data collected by UCF wasn’t just numbers. “They are the stories of real people, individual lives shattered, families torn apart, and communities destroyed because of their faith,” he added. The findings of the latest report are “very disturbing” as there has been no let-up in violence against Christians in states like northern Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in central India.

The Major Archbishop of the Syro Malabar Church has lauded the Vatican for appointing Cardi-nal George J. Koovakad as the new prefect of the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue. The Jan. 24 appointment of Koovakad is “a matter of great pride for his mother Church and the Indian Church,” said Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil. Koovakad becomes the second Indian cardinal to head a Vatican office after Cardinal Ivan Dias, who was Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples from 2006 to 2011. Dias died in 2017. In his message, Thattil, said, “Koovakad will be able to promote harmony between different religions and accelerate dialogues for peace.” The dicastery is responsible for nurturing dialogue with Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, and members of other world religions.

Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Cardinal Oswald Gracias as the Archbishop of Bombay on Jan 25 and elevated Coadjutor Bishop John Rodrigues as his successor in India’s largest diocese. Although retired from the archbishop’s office, Gracias continues serving on the Council of Cardinal Advisers. Gracias joined the Council of Cardinal Advisers in 2013 when Pope Francis established it and handpicked Gracias to be part of the nine-member team to advise him on revising the Roman Curia. Gracias “was a giant of a man, and now as his successor, I have mighty big shoes to fill,” Rodrigues, 57, said in a Jan. 25 statement. He thanked “Gracias for his dedicated service” to the archdiocese, the Church in India, and the Universal Church,” adding that they are proud of him. Rodrigues also urged his bishops, priests, religious men and women, and the Catholic community to work with the authorities and citizens “to further unity and true development in society.” Pope Francis appointed Rodrigues as coadjutor bishop on Nov. 30, and his installation took place only last week on Jan.23. Gracias said in a video message on Jan. 25 that Pope Francis “has accepted my resignation as the Archbishop of Bombay.” He said he submitted his resignation five years ago, when he turned 75, the canonical retirement age. However, the Vatican did not accept it then. He “reminded Rome about it recently,” Gracias said. His successor “comes with great knowledge, competence, experience and holiness of life,” he added.

An Indian archbishop says he is waiting for a response from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi a week after seeking his intervention to stop harassment of Christians using laws that criminalize religious conversion. Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore told on Jan. 2 that he has “not yet received any response” to his letter to Modi’s office seeking he address some “pressing concerns of the Christian community” in India. Machado wrote to Modi’s Office on Dec. 23, seeking “five gifts” from the PM that would make the Christian community in India happy during Christmas. “We only apply and apply, hoping for a good response to our pressing concerns from the Prime Minister,” Machado said, expressing hope he will have a response. Machado told Modi that anti-conversion laws, currently in force in 12 states, are “distre-ssing, often leading to unjust persecution of Christians. “These laws, misnamed ‘Freedom of Religion Bills,’ impose stringent and unreasonable restrictions, violating personal liberty and human rights,” the letter said. He wanted Modi “to foster genuine freedom of religion by directing states to adopt a more tolerant approach.”
The prelate also wanted Modi’s inter-vention in “resolving the burning Manipur issue” of ethnic violence between Christian-majority Kuki and Hindu-majority Meitei groups in north-eastern India. He said Christians in Manipur have received a raw deal, but the prime minister has not visited the state since the onset of the civil unrest more than a year ago. Machado also wanted Modi to intervene and stop all attacks on Christians and their institutions. He noted that the Delhi-based United Christian Forum recorded 767 incidents in 2024 targeting Christians, and 80 Christians were jailed because of their faith in Christ. Machado also wanted the government to extend to Christians of Dalit origin the social welfare benefit guaranteed in the constitution for lower caste people. The government blocked Chri-stians and Muslims from receiving these benefits meant to help lower caste people on the ground that their religions do not approve of the caste system. Are Christians and Muslims “not citizens of this country with equal rights and privileges guaranteed to all in the country according to our constitution?” he asked in the letter.

More than 400 Christian leaders, including activists, lawyers and scholars, have urged India’s president and prime minister to take immediate action to address what they said was increased persecution against Christians. The appeal comes after 14 violent incidents against Christians were reported across the country during the Christmas season, a Dec. 31 statement from the group said. Statistics from the Religious Liberty Commission of the Evangelical Fellowship of India (EFIRLC) and the United Christian Forum (UCF) for 2024 highlighted the increase in violence Christians are enduring, the statement said. It said that between January and mid-December last year, more than 720 violent incidents were reported to the EFIRLC, while UCF recorded 760 cases by the end of November. The figures showed a steep rise in such incidents over the last decade, from 127 incidents recorded by the UFC in 2014.The UCF is an inter-denominational Christian organization in India that fights for the rights of the Christian minority.
A letter emailed on Dec. 31 to Indian President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi by 30 Church groups calls for immediate and decisive action to curb the acti-vities of violent mobs, terrorizing communities and tarnishing the image of the country. The letter was signed by A C Michael, a former member of India’s minorities commission, Supreme Court lawyer Sister Mary Scaria, and UCF President Michael Williams.

Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias and Christian leaders in Western Indian Maharashtra state have opposed a government pro-posal to bring worship places of all religions under the govern-ment’s control. “I am totally against this. It interferes with the religious freedoms guaranteed by the Indian Constitution,” Gracias, the Archbishop of Bombay, based in the state capital, told on Jan. 2. Last month, Rahul Narwekar, the speaker of the state legislative assembly, urged the House to consider a new law bringing religious places and properties of all faiths under state control. The cardinal said the state already exercises adequate control over Christian properties through its charity commissioner, an official who oversees the administration of churches’ properties and chari-table activities. “Besides, the Ca-tholic Church has more stringent measures to regulate affairs of the church than the government,” Gracias added.
Narwekar made the remarks while discussing changes in regu-lations for the management of Siddhivinayak Trust, which ma-nages a prominent Hindu temple in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), the country’s financial capital. He said Indian secularism demands treating all religions equally, but people question the government controlling only Hindu religious places. “I think all religions should be treated equally, and as such, worshipping places of all religions should be brought under the control of the government,” he said. Gracias said the govern-ment is “floating this idea to gauge our response, but it will certainly create disturbance in our communities.”

Catholic leaders in India have lauded the chief minister of a southern state for raising the issue of falling birth rates in the world’s most populous country and urged the government to encourage couples to have more kids. “A young and vibrant population is an asset for any country and its decline is a matter of serious concern for everyone,” said Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) spokesperson Father Robinson Rodrigues. Andhra Pradesh chief minister, N Chandrababu Naidu, raised concern over declining birth rates in his own constituency and said last week that “India should not repeat the mistakes committed by other countries such as South Korea and Japan.” Naidu, who represents the city of Kuppam in the state legislature, was shocked to find the birth rate in his constituency had fallen to 1.5 – below the national average of 2. India’s current demographic dividend could last till 2047, but “if less than two children are born [per woman], then the population will fall [in the future],” the chief minister said. Naidu said the decline was “a worrying trend and needed a nationwide discussion on population management.”

A proposal to hold a Christian prayer service at the inauguration of a university in a northeast Indian state has been criticized by political leaders and civil society. Church leaders in Meghalaya, where Christians form a majority, advised caution and suggested upholding the nation’s secular tradition. The plan to “consecrate the Captain Williamson Sangma State University on January 13 by following Christian rituals” was announced by the state’s Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma recently, the New Indian Express newspaper reported on Jan. 5. The university, named after the state’s first chief minister, focuses on tribal studies and indigenous language preservation. “Ours is a Christian state. We want to consecrate the first state university with a massive prayer meet. If parliament can be blessed with Hindu rituals, why not Christian rituals in a Christian state?” Sangma reportedly said. The new building of the Indian parliament was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2023 by invoking Hindu gods. However, critics of Sangma’s proposal pointed out that a multi-religious prayer was also held at the new Indian parliament. Thma U Rangli-Juki, a non-government organization (NGO) in Meghalaya, said Sangma’s statement goes against the constitutional values of secularism. “Meghalaya may be a state where [a] majority of its population practices various forms of Christianity but that in itself does not make it a Christian state,” the NGO said in a statement. The state is home to people of several faiths and “the minister’s ignorant statement blatantly creates discriminatory conditions for the state’s other religions,” it said. The NGO demanded that the planned prayer service be cancelled immediately.

Christians in India will look upon 2024 as a year that challenged their faith and resilience with increased hostility, internal conflicts, scandals, power struggles, and natural cala-mities. Attacks against and harassment of Christians swelled this year amid growing hostility, particularly against those in remote villages of Hindu-dominated northern states, Christian leaders say. January through Sept-ember, Christians suffered 585 incidents, an all-time high, according to the United Chri-stian Forum (UCF), which documents violence against Christians based on the information they receive through its helpline calls.
Northern Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous state, has become the worst place for Christians as the BJP-led state government added more teeth to its draconian anti-conversion law in August. The amend-ment added a provision of life imprisonment or up to 20 years in jail for religious conver-sion and toughened the bail provisions. It also allowed anyone to complain about a law violation, changing the earlier provision that allowed only a victim of conversion or a close relative to do so. Uttar Pradesh reported 156 of 585 anti-Christian incidents, the highest among India’s 28 states to report such cases. Scores of Christians are arrested on charges of violating the anti-conversion charges. Several of them continue in jail, waiting for bail. In northeastern Manipur state, an ethnic violence that erupted on May 3, 2023, conti-nues between minority indigenous Christians and the Meitei Hindu majority. Christian groups accuse the state’s BJP-led government of supporting violence against Christians. The violence has so far killed at least 250 and displaced some 60,000, most of them Chri-stians who live in government shelter homes, clueless as to when they can return to their homes that are either in ruins or burnt down. With Hindu groups holding a firmer grip on political institutions, antagonism of Christians has spread across governing systems, with many taking legal measures to harass Christians and deprive them of the benefits they have enjoyed thus far. India’s Supreme Court on Nov. 7 backed a 2014 federal Income Tax Department order requiring nuns and priests working in government-aided Christian schools to pay tax on their salaries. The top court dismissed 93 appeals against the order.