Christian and Muslim leaders have disapproved of the passing of a polarising and contentious uniform civil code by a pro-Hindu government in a northern Indian state.
The Uniform Civil Code Bill was passed after two days of debate on Feb. 7 by the Uttarakhand state assembly through a voice vote amidst chanting of ‘Jai Sri Ram’ (Hail Lord Ram) and other pro-Hindu slogans.
The Uttarakhand government has fulfilled the demand of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an umbrella organization of Hindu groups, Christian and Muslim leaders said.
The RSS has long espoused a common civil code for the entire nation of 1.4 billion. It has been one of the electoral promises made by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India does not have uniform laws for personal matters such as marriage, divorce, adoption and inheritance. Instead, it has a patchwork of different codes based on the customary traditions of different communities and faiths.
The rights of women, children, and families across India vary considerably depending on which code they fall under.
Goa located on India’s west coast is the only part of India with a common code, introduced when it was a Portuguese colony.
Many hardline Hindu politicians, jurists and reformists have described these custom-based codes as regressive and have lobbied for a code that would apply to all Indians equally.
Amid arrests of Indian priests and nun, bishop calls for ‘storming of heaven’
After the recent arrests of priests and a nun in India on charges that they violated the Hindu-majority country’s “anti-conversion” laws, a Catholic bishop has sent out an appeal “to storm heaven with prayers.”
Bishop Ignatius D’Souza of Bareilly in the Archdiocese of Agra issued a “prayer request” on social media Feb. 7.
“I request you to storm heaven so that all those who are dealing with this sensitive case may get enlightened by the Holy Spirit and our brothers may be released soon,” D’Souza pleaded.
In the post, he said that Father Dominic Pinto and nine Protestant lay organizers have been taken into custody on charges that they violated the anti-conversion act, which, he said, does not allow those arrested to be released on bail.
Eleven out of India’s 28 states have passed laws to criminalize forced conversions but, in practice, they have been used to prevent the practice of the Christian faith.
Pinto, director of the Lucknow Diocese’s pastoral center in northern Uttar Pradesh state, was arrested on Feb. 6 for allowing a gathering of 100 people led by evangelical pastors to take place in the Catholic center. The government of Uttar Pradesh is controlled by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is the party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India’s population is 79.8% Hindu, 14.2% Muslim, and 2.3% Christian. In Uttar Pradesh state – India’s most populous state with 2.3 million inhabitants – only 18% are Christian.
“Hindu fundamentalists barged into the center and insisted on the arrest of the priest at the police station along with the pastors while other fundamentalists even threatened the nearby convent and nuns nearby,” Father Donald D’Souza, chancellor of the Lucknow Diocese, told.
Karnataka’s first Syro-Malabar diocese celebrates silver jubilee
Option for the poor and the marginalized is the only mission of the Syro-Malabar Church in India, asserted Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil while inaugurating the silver jubilee celebration of Belthangady diocese in Karnataka.
Belthangady is the first Syro-Malabar diocese in the southern Indian state, created in 1999, that caters to the migrated Catholics from Kerala. It is spread over in Dakshina Kannada, Kodagu, Chikmagaluru, and Shimoga districts.
Indian dioceses to educate members on AI, digital revolution
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, the first episcopal body in the world to study Artificial Intelligence (AI) seriously, has asked the country’s 174 dioceses to educate their more than 20 million members to responsibly use digital tools.
School girl dies by suicide, nun sent to jail
A Catholic nun has been remanded in judicial custody in connection with the death by suicide of a school girl in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh.
A court in Ambikapur, a major city in Sarguja district, on February 7 remanded Carmelite Sister Mercy to jail after police charged her with abetting the suicide of the sixth grader the previous night.
Indian bishops review Rome synod, Manipur, challenges facing Christians
The second day of the General Body Meeting of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) on February 1 saw the participants the review the outcome of the Rome Synod on Synodality, Manipur crisis and situation of Christians across the country.
Cardinal Oswald Gracias, who played a pivotal role in the Synod in Rome in October 2023, presented the theme, “The Fruits of the Synod on Synodality.” The cardinal, who is the archbishop of Bombay, described the synod as a renewed call of the Vatican I1, stressing the role and responsibility of God’s people in the Church.
He said that, on one of the synod’s innovations was “conversation in the Spirit,” a process that involved time to internalize discussions, fostering mature discernment and consensus.
Archbishop Linus Neli of Imphal, who addressed the present status of Manipur, ex-pressed immense gratitude for the spiritual and humanitarian assistance provided by bishops and NGOs to his strife-torn people.
He highlighted the demographic, historic, and ethnic aspects of Manipur, shedding light on the relief and rehabilitation efforts by the Catholic Church. He explained the devastating destruction of approximately 300 churches, and thousands of homes, the closure of numerous educational institutions, and the displacement of thousands of people.
Religious freedom at stake in India, Archbishop Thazhath
The Church in India is facing unprecedented situation in the current socio-political scenario that threatens religious free-dom, says Archbishop Andrews Thazhath of Trichur, who was re-elected the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) for another two-year term.
“The religious freedom and justice guaranteed by the Con-stitution of India are at stake, and democracy is becoming a myth,” the archbishop told Matters India in an exclusive interview on February 7, the last day of the CBCI’s 36th bie-nnial general body meeting in Bengaluru.
He said attacks on Christian places of worship have now given way for physical attacks on priests and sisters with false allegations.
Archbishop Thazhath was reelected a day earlier, along with Archbishop George Anto-nysamy of Madras-Maylapore as Vice-President I, Bishop Joseph Mar Thomas of Bathery as Vice President II and Arch-bishop Anil Couto of Delhi as the Secretary-General. Father Jervis D’Souza will continue as the Deputy Secretary Gen-eral.
CBCI Office bearers: Arch-bishop Anil Couto of Delhi, secretary general, Archbishop George Antonysamy of Madras-Maylapore Vice-President I, Archbishop Thazhath, Bishop Joseph Mar Thomas of Bathery Vice President II and Fr Jervis D’Souza, Deputy Secretary GeneralReferring to attacks on Christians, Archbishop Thazha-th mentioned the ongoing ethnic cleansing in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur and the arrest of a Catholic priest and Protestant pastors in Lucknow in the north.
Another Catholic priest was arrested recently in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, he said.
Attacks will not stop Church services: Catholic bishops
Increasing attacks and harassment on Christian institutions and personnel in India will not prevent the Church from serving the poor and downtrodden, assert the Catholic bishops in the country. “As loyal citizens of India, we will continue serving our country whatever be the cost, walking in the footsteps of Jesus our Master,” says the final statement of the 36th biennial meeting of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI).
More than 170 bishops representing the country’s 174 dioceses attended the January 31-February 7 plenary at Bengaluru’s St John’s National Academy of Health Sciences, managed by the conference.
They addressed the theme, “The Church’s Response to the Current Socio-Political Situation of the Country and the Benefits and Challenges of Artificial Intelligence (AI).”
The meeting has asked all dioceses in the country to observe March 22 as a day of prayer and fasting to seek God’s help to foster India’s democracy and social harmony.
The call comes a couple of months ahead of the general election in the country. The term of the current federal government will end in May.
While reviewing the current situation in India, the bishops noted the country’s “tremendous advances in the scientific, technological, economic and other fields” that have helped it emerge as an economic power.
Catholic priest among 7 arrested, remanded in Uttar Pradesh
A priest of Lucknow Catholic diocese was among seven people remanded to judicial custody on February 6 for allegedly trying to convert poor Hindus.
Father Dominic Pinto and others were presented before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate in Barabanki, some 90 km northwest of Lucknow, capital of Uttar Pradesh state. The arrested included five Protestant pastors.
The court remanded them in judicial custody.
Father Pinto is the director of Navintha, the pastoral center of Lucknow diocese, that was used by the Protestant pastors and around 100 Khrist Bhakts (followers of Christ) for their routine prayer meeting.
The arrest took place on February 5 after they were accused of trying to convert the poor to Christianity.
The arrest took place after Hindu radicals protested in front of Navintha that comes under the Deva police station in Barabanki district.
The First Information Report named 15 persons, including five women, as accused.
The arrested are charged under the provisions of the state’s anti-conversion law and, if found guilty, they could be imprisoned for a maximum of 10 years.
“Our people are arrested based on totally baseless charges,” bemoans Father Donald de Souza, chancellor and spokesperson of Lucknow diocese.
Indian Church leaders cry foul at secret profiling of missionaries
Church leaders have expressed their strong disapproval of a pro-Hindu state government’s attempt to clandestinely profile Christian missionaries in a central Indian state.
“Some of our institutions indeed got a questionnaire from the local police, but we are yet to reply,” said Bishop Gerald Almeida of Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh state.
Police are circulating the questionnaire among the Christian community seeking details of missionaries working in the state, the institutions run by them, and their funding sources.
“I do not know why single out Christians and collect such details. I see some ulterior motives behind it,” Bishop Almeida told on Feb. 7.
The police want details like the name and address of the individual missionary or institution, work objectives, bank account, and sources of foreign funding. They are also seeking names and phone numbers of those working with the missionary in case he/she runs a non-governmental organization (NGO).
The questionnaire also sought to know whether Christians resort to religious con-version activities, which are banned under a stringent anti-conversion law passed by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in 2021.
“We will seek legal opinion before sharing any information as police are trying to gather the information unofficially,” Bishop Almeida said.
Most of the information sought is already there in the public domain or filed with government agencies, he added.
“It seems that the government wants to harass Christians who have been working for the poor,” the prelate said.