Q: Rajnath Singh has called for a national debate on Mass Conversions. “If someone turns alone to a religion, there should be no objection, but mass conversions are a matter of concern for any country. If you are Hindu, be a Hindu, if a Muslim be a Muslim, if a Christian be a Christian. Why, he asked, do you want to convert the whole world? What your take on it?

A: When I travel by train, I talk about it, just as I show who I am by behaviour. Thanks to the Constitution of India, we have the freedom to practice and propagate our religion. We want to bring the whole world to God within the ambit of the Gospel. If you go to Varanasi, you will meet thousands of Khristu Bhaktas who believe in Christ, but nobody is converting them. Individuals approach us and get converted. They are already converted, but formally or institutionally moving towards the sacraments, like say baptism, takes time, preparation and guarantee. While propagating, individuals as persons get converted and they go to a parish priest to get baptism and so on. Baptism is the external sign of the internal conversion that happens on an individual level. Those Ghar Vapsi mass reconversions are just a show. Individuals continue to go to pilgrimages of churches and receive sacraments as they choose. We revere and follow our Constitution and encourage others to do the same. We will also propagate our religion using the freedom we have to express and communicate to everyone. Then you have unhindered propagation of Hinduism in the West.

Abp Albert D’Souza
Agra