Interior Minister Rajnath Singh expressed concern over mass conversions in the country and called for a national debate on the issue. Speaking at a meeting organized by Rashtriya Isai Mahasangh, a Christian group, he clarified that mass conversions must be controlled.

In the meeting, held in New Delhi on January 15, the minister said he supported the freedom to follow any religion, but to have the opinion that a debate is necessary as mass conversions are a matter of concern for any country. “If someone turns alone to a religion, there should be no objections, but mass conversions are a matter of concern for any country. If you are Hindu, be Hindu, if Muslim be Muslim, if Christian be Christian. Why – he asked – do you want to convert the whole world?”

As for the government, he said, there will be no discrimination against anyone. “In my life, I have never discriminated against caste, creed and religion. Whether we get less votes, whether we form the government or not, whether we win or lose, we will never discriminate between people. This is what our Prime Minister thinks.” Singh, he added, can not be in power and govern without love. “You can only govern with love, there is no other way.” (see Focus)

A retired judge from India’s Supreme Court says the upcoming Vatican summit on clerical abuse is “very important” and the Catholic Church has an obligation to hold a “correct moral perspective.”

Justice Kurian Joseph, who is Catholic, spoke to Crux in Mumbai on Jan. 17.

Pope Francis has called the heads of all the bishops’ conferences around the world to the Feb. 21-24 gathering, the first such global meeting on abuse.

“This summit is very important, from a legal and human rights perspective, but also from the moral perspective,” Joseph said.

“The Catholic Church must be recognized for her moral authority and integrity and this anti-abuse summit will play a fundamental role in the Catholic Church’s moral authority,” he continued.

“The Catholic Church has an obligation to instruct the world on correct moral perspective on these issues,” the retired judge said.

Joseph said the government and civil society have their own role to play in tackling abuse, but the Church has the duty to address the “moral perspective” of the issue. Mumbai’s archbishop, Cardinal Oswald Gracias, is a member of the organizing committee for the summit.

Artists in Chennai are unhappy that Loyola College has apologised for display of satirical paintings on contemporary issues on campus. On January 21, the Catholic minority institution now at the centre of a controversy over art works put up by a cultural group not from the college had apologised after right wing Hindu groups alleged that some of the paintings hurt Hindu sentiments.

“We acknowledge our lapse and apologise for insurmountable hurt. The venue for a cultural event was misused. We’ve immediately removed the exhibits. We are pained our pluralistic campus was used for derogative exhibits. We do not advocate anything tantamount to peace and tranquility of society,” the college said in a statement.

Cartoonist Bala, who was arrested in 2017 for a caricature of Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palani swami and Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam, says stifling freedom of expression has become the norm in Tamil Nadu.

“The college should not have apologised. It was not their work in the first place. I find nothing wrong with those paintings. It’s an expression of a cartoonist’s view. Whether the idea is right or wrong an artist should have the right to express,” he said.

Recently, Lois Sophia, a woman researcher was arrested for criticising the state BJP chief Tamilisai Soundararajan.

The ruling AIADMK had also banned Kamal Haasan’s certified film Vishwaroopam till legal intervention.

Similarly, Actor Vijay’s films Mersel and Sarkar too faced heat from BJP and AIADMK for taking on Centre’s GST and state’s freebies.

Hit by controversies, including sexual abuse involving priests, the Kerala-based Syro-Malabar Catholic Church has decided to set up internal committees at the diocesan level to create a “safe environment” for all, including children and vulnerable adults.

The decision to implement the “Safe Environment Policy” was taken at the Synod of the Syro-Malabar Archiespicoal Church being held here.

This policy is being  implemented to ensure safety and security for all, especially children and vulnerable adults, a Church official said.

Claiming that the safety and security for all have already been ensured in parishes, diocese, religious congregations and institutions of the Syro-Malabar Church, the official said that the implementation of new “Safe Environment Policy” would further strengthen it.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has announced that the State government would increase the financial aid to the Christians for the Jerusalem pilgrimage from Rs 40,000 to Rs 75,000. He also announced Rs 1.5 crore financial aid to the CSI St Pauls Basilica Church known as CSI Church located near the State Guest House. Stating that the church is very beautiful, he announced that the government would extend support for completion of works.

Chandrababu Naidu joyfully participated in the Christmas celebrations at the CSI Church. He recited some verses and took part in the cake cutting function.

He announced that the State government would increase the financial assistance from Rs 40,000 to Rs 75,000 to the Christians proceeding to Jerusalem pilgrimage. He said a large number of Christians go to Jerusalem to see the birth place of Jesus Christ.

He praised the services of Christian missionaries in the fields of education and health. He said many popular persons in Krishna and Guntur districts have studied in the educational institutions run by missionaries. He recalled that TDP founder N T Rama Rao studied in Andhra Christian College in Guntur.

The National Dalit Christian Watch (NDCW) on January 9 expressed shock and anguish over the Indian government’s determination to extend reservation benefits to the economically weaker section of the dominant castes of the country.

“NDCW opposes this move which is against the spirit of the Constitution of India as the ‘Concept of Reservation’ was introduced under the principle of ‘Social Justice,’ to uplift the status of the communities who are socially and educationally backward due to cumulative oppression and discrimination for centuries in the name of Caste,” a press statement for the body said.

Earlier in the day, the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament, passed the proposed law to provide 10% quota in jobs and education for people from general category, who also belong to the economically weaker sections.

The Lok Sabha, the lower house, passed the bill a day earlier. The bill will now require the President’s nod to become a law. Most parties have called the government’s move a political stunt ahead of the national elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who called the law a “victory for social justice,” pointed out that elections are held in the country every few months.

A British parliamentary report has criticized the Indian government for failing to protect religious minorities from violent Hindu hardliners.

A report by the British AllParty Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief said the rise of nationalist “Hindutva” ideology — which defines ‘Indian’ as exclusively Hindu — has led to an increase in religious oppression in the country.

The Dec. 31 report titled ‘Commentary on the Current State of Freedom of Religion or Belief’ said anti-conversion laws in seven of India’s states are also used to threaten Muslims and Christians.

In its India chapter, the report said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has finally, condemned mob violence against minorities, but his government has remained largely inactive in proactively tackling spiraling religiously motivated violence.”

The report said a “particularly worrying” situation emerges from media reports that some members of the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have close affiliations with the Hindu hard-line group Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS).

Founded in 1925, the RSS draws on its vision from a mix of Hindu legends and ancient Indian history. It claims that India is a Hindu land and religious minorities should accept Hindu supremacy if they want to live in the country. Rights activists have agreed with the concerns expressed in the report.

Jesuit Father Samuel Rayan, a pioneer of theology with an Asian perspective that colleagues and church leaders considered a “radical interpretation of the Bible,” died at age 98. Before his Jan. 2 death, Rayan had been living in retirement and dealing with dementia. Jesuit Father M.K. George, provincial of the order’s Kerala province, told that Rayan had been under medical care for age-related illness for several years.

“Father Rayan was a pioneer who theologized from an Asian or third world perspective,” George said. The elderly priest became a professor at the Jesuit theology seminary at Vidya Jyoti College in New Delhi in 1972. He also served as its principal from 1972 to 1976. After more than three decades of teaching there, he returned to Kerala in 2010.

“Until Father Rayan’s rise as a theologian, the concerns of the people of India were not found in the theology that originated from Western Europe,” said P.T. Mathew, a fellow theologian who worked with the Jesuit.

Bishop Paul Mullassery of Quilon, India, said the Church in India always will “remember him for his radical interpretation of the Bible and as a man concerned for the poor and marginalized.”

Mullassery said Rayan’s interpretation of the Bible could broadly be labeled as part of liberation theology, which has been called controversial for its perceived links to Marxism.

“But his was not the militant version of liberation theology. His theology came from his deep meditations of the Gospel,” Mullassery said.

Rayan defended the poor, spoke for the environment and his theology was deeply rooted in Gospel values, the bishop said.

Bishop Jerome, the first native bishop of the Kollam diocese of the Catholic Church, will be elevated as Servant of God on February 24 at a function at Infant Jesus Cathedral, Thangassery. This will be the first step towards beatification and canonisation of the late priest.

Bishop Jerome had helmed the Kollam diocese, the first Catholic diocese in India, from 1937 to 1978. “An embodiment of Christian spirituality and a true visionary, he played an integral role in the overall development and progress of Kollam city. He also made key interventions in social and educational sectors, establishing a chain of institutions for the uplift of backward classes,” said Fr Julian.

Church officials in India want police to conduct a thorough probe into an attack on a Catholic Church in Assam, saying it could be part of a plan to create religious-based divisions in the north-eastern state ahead of Christmas.

Parishioners of St Thomas Church in Chapatoli, in Dibrugarh Diocese said they found their church vandalized on Dec. 15.

The church’s crucifix, stations of the cross and prayer books were allegedly destroyed, while a Marian statue was removed from its plinth in a grotto and thrown to the floor. “Somebody did this to destroy a harmonious atmosphere in this area,” parish priest Fr Cyprian Lakra told.

Nothing like this has happened before at the 88-year-old church, he added.

Despite police arresting two “drunk” men in connection with the vandalism, church officials believe those arrested were scapegoats and that the motive behind the attack was more sinister.

The arrests “appear to be a knee jerk reaction rather than attempt to identify the original culprits,” said Father G. P. Amalraj, deputy secretary of regional bishops’ council.

Bishop Joseph Aind of Dibrugarh demanded “a high-level inquiry” and said “certain forces with ulterior motives were seeking to sow seeds of hatred” among peace loving people living in the tea garden areas of the state.

Other Christian leaders like him suspect a political motive behind the attack with similar incidents being reported since a pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led coalition came to power in the state in 2016.