Vatican ambassador urges Christians to refrain from 'forced conversions'

The Vatican ambassador to India, Archbishop Pedro Lopez Quintana, urged Christians to refrain from "forced conversions," stressing on the need for inter-religious dialogue.

Addressing the 21st plenary session of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India [CBCI] in Mysore, Archbishop Quintana, called forced conversion unpardonable especially "in a country, which has maintained unity in diversity."

"Christians should honour other religions and strive for the development of the nation," he said.

The Archbishop appealed people to "concentrate on what unites us and think of what we can do together to alleviate the suffering of humanity."

The Catholic Church in India has sternly warned its members to avoid forced conversions after the recent violence in Orissa and Karnataka had paralyzed the community.

Mumbai-based Cardinal Ivan Dias, the first Asian in a top Vatican office had earlier stated that: "Conversions should never be induced by force, fraud or allurement: the Catholic Church considers all such conversions as invalid."

"But, any opposition by law or de facto to a genuine conversion, besides being a grave violation of the code of human rights and of the spirit of the Indian constitution, is, above all, an unwarranted interference in God's unique competence in the matter."

The CBCI in India has over 30,000 priests, about 15,000 schools and colleges and about 1,800 hospitals and dispensaries in the country.