New Delhi: Federal Home Minister Rajnath Singh will be the chief guest at the launch of the Indian Catholic Church’s official Christmas celebrations.
Singh, who is known for his criticism of the Church’s social role in the country, will attend the annual Christmas dinner of the Catholic Bishops’ conference of India (CBCI).
CBCI spokesperson Father Gyanprakash Toppo told Matters India that the dinner will be held on December 17 at the conference’s headquarters in New Delhi. The invitation to attend the program was given to Singh when a Church a delegation, including Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay, had gone to meet the home minister.
Father Toppo also said Singh will be the only government official invited to the program that would be attended by prominent leaders from society, politics and media.
The mass circulation Hindustan Times reported that Singh had slammed conversion, an allegation against the Church, in March this year. Singh told a conference of the National Commission for Minorities in New Delhi that he did not understand why the Church’s service to poor had to be tied to conversion to Christianity.
“Service of humanity is fine, but why conversions? Why are religious conversions being carried out?” Singh asked. “Who could tolerate an attempt to change the demography of a country?”
Singh’s remark was seen as a harsh attack on the Church from the government that had found in the middle of a tough cultural climate, the newspaper added.
The remarks came immediately after a series of attacks on churches in Delhi and other places, raising fears about a deliberate campaign to target Christians.
However, after months of such attacks and remarks, Church leaders seem to appreciate Singh, who they have met regularly, seeking protection.
“I found in him a very honest and a sincere person,” said Monsignor Joseph Chinnayyan, CBCI deputy secretary general and in charge of the conference’s headquarters.
The Hindustan Times reported that the three senior Church leaders made an off-the-cuff request to Singh to attend this year’s Christmas party when they went to brief the minister about the Church concerns. Singh accepted the invitation.
Getting the minister to attend the event may have been impromptu but the Church has labored to build a political bridge with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, Indian people’s party) that heads the federal coalition government, the newspaper noted.
In February, the Syro-Malabar Church got Prime Minister Narendra Modi to open a national event to celebrate the canonization of two Indian saints by the Vatican. It was there that the nation heard the first clear condemnation of attacks at Christian places. Every citizen, the prime minister said, had the “undeniable” right to follow any faith, without “coercion” or “undue influence.”
The Syro-Malabar and the Syro-Malabar Churches are the two Oriental rites in India. They and the larger Latin rite make up the Catholic Church India. Bishops from the three Churches are members of CBCI.
The Church vehemently denies forced conversion. “Christians are 2.3 percent of the population. That would not have been the number if there were mass conversions,” said Bishop Jacob Barnabas of Gurgaon Syro-Malankara diocese.
Monsignor Chinnayyan says the home minister “will learn about what we do” when he interacts with the Church groups more.
Bishop Barnabas said things look better now as the attacks have slowed down. “But I don’t know if it will precipitate again,” he added.