Mangaluru: The Catholic Church never works for conversions. There are people who misunderstand the mission of Christians, especially of the Catholic church, said Cardinal Mar George Alenchery, the major archbishop of Syro Malabar Church.
The major archbishop, who is on a pastoral visit to the diocese of Belthangady until May 5, said, “Conversion is a personal response of a person to God. Nobody can force or coerce a person. The church witnesses the charity of Christ and proclaims Christian values—truth, justice, love and harmony—to others. This attracts people. It is not something which we create, it is something they (people) request.
“Evangelization is not converting people. Actually conversion is not a business of a pastor or missionary. Conversion happens in the mind of a person while listening to the word of God. Ghar Wapsi is too simple a reaction to a complex problem,” he added.
The archbishop said his pastoral visit is to maintain a contact with the clergy, laity and an occasion to rejuvenate the energies of those engaged in the work of church. “A pastoral visit helps the bishop to evaluate the effectiveness of the structures and agencies designed for pastoral services, take account of the circumstances and difficulties and determine more accurately the priorities,” he said adding this was the 16th year of the establishment of Belthangady as a diocese, reported The Times of India.
The cardinal visited St Alphonsa Forane Church, Kankanady, where he was met Bishop Aloysius Paul D’Souza of Mangalore Latin diocese, Bishop Mar Lawrence Mukkuzhy of Belthangady and vicar general Fr Joseph Valiaparambil among others.
A religious harmony meet was also held on Bishop’s House Campus in Belthangady on Friday. Religious leaders Sri Kshetra Dharmastala dharmadhikari D Veerendra Heggade, Kukke Sri Narasimha Mutt seer Sri Vidyaprasanna Thirtha Swamiji, Maulana Abdul Aziz, Union minister for law and justice D V Sadananda Gowda, ministers B Ramanath Rai, Vinaykumar Sorake, U T Khader and MP Nalin Kumar Kateel were present.