the Passion of the Catholic Church in Madhya Pradesh

The Bishop of Jabalpur is at risk of arrest due to fraud allegations against a tribal children’s shelter. The diocese of Jhabua is forced to ask for protection for the Holy Week celebrations. The Archbishop Emeritus of Bhopal to : “They are using the hammer and the tongs against us. But it is also a way of stopping the emancipation of the poorest.”

Bhopal () – “The president of the National Commission for the Protection of Children’s Rights (NCPCR) Priyank Kanoongo persecutes Christian institutions with hammer and pliers. By dint of inspections, he inevitably finds discrepancies and from there he brings up completely fabricated cases about conversions and alleged abuse of minors”. The Archbishop Emeritus of Bhopal, Mons. Leo Cornelius, thus denounced the situation of serious tension around which the Catholic community of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh currently lives the Easter celebrations.

The most serious is the threat of arrest that hangs over the head of the Bishop of Jabalpur, Mons. Gerald Almeida, who – together with the person in charge of a diocese shelter – has been formally investigated for a few days, accused of fraud. The investigation is the result of another inspection ordered by the chairman of the Child Rights Commission, who is originally from Madhya Pradesh and grew up in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the best-known organization in the galaxy of Hindu nationalism.

Monsignor Almeida appealed to the Madhya Pradesh High Court for early bail, after the Dindori District Court rejected his petition on March 31. And these days, due to the many April holidays, the court is closed. The case broke out a few days after another accusation in the same district -in this case of sexual abuse against some students- led to prison the director of the Junwani village school, who was released a few days later because the complaint turned out to be unfounded. Another Madhya Pradesh diocese, Jhabua, was forced to request police protection for its Easter celebrations due to strong concrete threats from Hindu extremists.

Bishop Cornelio explained to : “In recent times, in Madhya Pradesh there have been many checks and inspections at our shelters for tribal children, who have become targets of people who oppose Christian social activities. Thanks to the support of benefactors and people of goodwill, we manage these shelters in the best way possible to give children from adivasi communities training opportunities through education, something practically impossible in the remote rural areas where their families live.Ours are service institutions of minorities; we never force our religion on them or anyone else. The accusations of conversion are unfounded and fabricated. But they are also directed against the emancipation of adivasi children, to impede their social growth and self-sufficiency.”

“The Catholic Church in India has always selflessly served the poorest, the weakest, the most vulnerable and the most marginalized, without caste and creed discrimination. But today they want to discredit the work of the Church and intimidate and humiliate our staff” concluded the archbishop emeritus of Bhopal.