Pune – Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay and advisor to Pope Francis, has expressed serious concerns over planned mass conversion of Christians by RSS-backed group in Aligarh on December 25 and said it would be a sad moment for India if such a campaign is allowed by the government.
Speaking to The Indian Express, the Archbishop not only expressed his reservations on “ghar wapsi” events, but also on saffron groups’ demand for calling ‘Fathers’ in Catholic educational institutions as ‘Gurujis’ and installing statues of goddess Saraswati on its premises.
Western Regional Bishops’ Council in a recent meeting concluded: “Religious freedom should be respected and this trend does not augur well for maintaining communal harmony in the country.”
“No minority community should get this feeling of insecurity or be threatened with such campaigns. We all love this country so much and the community was happy with the newly-formed stable government. But, now what is happening. Some fringe groups are creating a sense of insecurity by stepping up such activities. This is bound to cause disharmony,” Cardinal Gracias said .
“There have been no forced conversions to Christianity. This is sheer imagination on the part of the fringe groups who say that the missionaries have forcibly converted Hindus.”