'No conversion call' by Pope
Tribune News Service

NEW DELHI, Nov 8 — The Catholic Church of India today moved swiftly to contain the Sangh Parivar’s efforts to exploit the message of the Pope John Paul II by issuing a clarification that "evangelisation" did not mean a call for religious conversion.

The Pope on Sunday had declared freedom of religion as one of the human rights. The Catholic Church leaders made a conscious effort to clarify that evangelisation should not be misinterpreted as a call for religious conversion.

Addressing newspersons here, the President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), Archbishop Alan de Lastic tried to justify the use of the word "evangelisation" saying that "we will carry on proclaiming the word of Christ and it is for others to accept. There is no question of using force or allurements."

At the same time, the CBCI spokesman, Dr Dominic Emmanuel, said that the mentioning of the word "conversion" in the Asian Synod document did not mean religious conversion but a "change of heart and for the Christians to become better human beings".

In response to questions, the Church leaders took pains to clarify that "planting the cross" only meant spreading the message of Christ and not religious conversion.

Thanking the Government for the arrangements made for the Papal visit, Rev Lastic said that it was an evidence of the secular character of the Indian polity. "We thank the Government for making all arrangements for us to express our faith and worship", he said.

Showing understanding for the absence of the Government dignitaries at some of the functions religious in nature, the CBCI President said that it is because of the nature of the Indian polity.

If the Papal visit had alleviated the concerns of the Christian community like the recent attacks, Rev Lastic replied in affirmative.

"The situation is different. A new elected government with some new elements has taken over and we should give them a chance. We are always ready to forgive and look forward to participate in the nation-building process together", the CBCI President stressed.

Referring to the issue of having reservation for the Dalit Christians, the Archbishop said that this was a discrimination as Dalits converting to Christianity lose privileges granted by the Constitution but those converting to Buddhism and Sikhism continue to enjoy those privileges".Earlier, the Pope John Paul II was given a warm send off here this morning as he left for Georgia after a two-day state visit. .

Pope John Paul II waves to the crowd at Palam airport on Monday. — photo by Vijender Tyagi

During the visit, he lauded the religious tolerance in India, called for "fruitful dialogue" between different faiths and stoutly defended conversions

The 79-year old temporal head of Vatican, who arrived at the Palam Air Base in a motorcade, was seen off among others by the Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr Ajit Panja, Foreign Secretary, Mr K. Raghunath, officials and Church leaders.

Mr Panja presented the Pontiff with an album containing photographs taken during his stay in the country and a book "Calcutta", a compilation of photographs by Raghu Singh.

A visibly cheerful Pope looked back twice midway through the stairs and waved at media personnel and others before he boarded "Narmada", the chartered Air India flight. He was wearing his customary cassock with a skull cap.

Mr Panja later told newsmen that the "visit went off very well and the Vatican has expressed satisfaction about it. Though some people made some statements, good sense prevailed on all of them", he said referring to the campaign by some Sangh Parivar outfits demanding a Papal apology for alleged atrocities by the Church in the past, ahead of the Pope’s visit, his second to India after 1986.

Armed guards were lined up all along the route to the airport. Security personnel heaved a sigh of relief as the visit passed off peacefully barring some abortive attempts by handful of Shiv Sena workers to stage protests.

During his meetings with the President, Mr K.R. Narayanan, the Vice-President, Mr Krishan Kant, and the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, the head of the Catholic Church appreciated the "religious freedom and tolerance" in India.

While he skirted the issues of conversions and attacks on Christians in the country in his talks with the Indian leadership, he made a veiled attack on some Sangh Parivar outfits at an inter-religious meet here yesterday saying "no group had the right to control anyone’s convictions".

"Religious freedom constitutes the very heart of human rights. Its inviolability is such that individuals must be recognised as having the right to even change their religion, if their conscience so demands", he said without directly referring to the Parivar’s campaign against conversions.

The Pontiff told Indian religious leaders including the Shankaracharya of Prayag Mutt, Swami Madhavanand Saraswati, that the Catholic Church wanted to "enter ever more deeply" into a dialogue with other religions of the world".

Addressing a Holy Mass at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the Pope placed before the Indian religious leaders his "hope and dream that the next century will be a time for fruitful dialogue leading to new relationship of understanding and solidarity among followers of all religions".

During his brief visit, the Pope neither apologised for the alleged atrocities by the Church in Goa and other parts of the country during Portuguese rule, as demanded by some Sangh Parivar outfits, nor did he make any announcements about the much-awaited beautification of Mother Teresa, though he fondly remembered and praised her.

An important pastoral engagement of the Pope during his visit was the formal conclusion of the Asian Synod of Bishops, which was convened by the Vatican to discuss the challenges before the Catholic community in the coming century.

Addressing Bishops at the Sacred Heart Cathedral here, the head of the Church asked them to make "ever greater efforts" to spread Christianity across Asia.

"In presenting the fruit of the Synod’s work in the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, ‘Ecclesia in Asia’ (The Church in Asia), you the Bishops are being asked to make ever greater efforts to spread the Gospel of salvation throughout the length and breadth of the human geography of Asia".

At the Holy Mass too the Pope prayed that the Christian faith may be "firmly planted" on the soil of Asia in the third Christian millennium, like it did in Europe in the first millennium and America and Africa in the second millennium.

The Pope also paid homage to the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, at his samadhi at Rajghat on the first day of his visit, which had generated a lot of controversies.

In the runup to the visit, some Sangh Parivar outfits and the Church had traded charges against each other on varied issues including conversions, foreign funding, missionary activities and insurgency in the North-East.

The Sanskriti Raksha Manch, a Parivar outfit, took out a 1600-km ‘yatra’ (march) from Goa to Delhi to "create awareness about the atrocities committed by the Church", while another tribal outfit, the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, staged a sit-in here during the Pope’s visit "to draw his attention to the objectionable activities of the Church".

Pope abused hospitality: RSS

NEW DELHI, Nov 8 (PTI) — The RSS and the VHP today criticised Pope John Paul II for his exhortation to Asian Bishops to spread Christianity across the continent and said they would oppose any attempt to convert Hindus.

"The Pope has abused the hospitality India extended to him. He should not have said it (exhortation)", joint convener of ‘Prajna Pravah’ (RSS intellectual forum) Rajender Chadha said.

The head of the Catholic Church, he said, has only confirmed Sangh Parivar's "worst fears" about the Church's "grand plans to convert India into a Christian country".

"We accepted the challenge. Today, Hindus are an awakened people and will give a befitting response to it. Asia has always resisted the Church's expansionist plans and will continue to do so in future", Mr Chadha said.

Addressing the concluding session of Asian Synod of Bishops here on Saturday, the Pope asked them "to make ever greater efforts to spread the gospel of salvation throughout the length and breadth of the human geography of Asia".