By: John J. Kennedy [P. John J. Kennedy is an educator and political analyst, based in Bengaluru.] Published in:* The Wire* Date: August 11, 2025 Source: https://thewire.in/communalism/quiet-complicity-of-the-church-in-india-demands-more-than-careful-diplomacy *Note*: Please access the source to read the entire article.
"Increasingly, sections of Christian leadership in India have sought transactional accommodation with majoritarian parties, hoping to secure temporary protection or resources. However, such alliances are double-edged. Just recently, priests and nuns in Odisha, returning from a prayer service after a bereavement in Jaleswar, Balasore district, were attacked by Bajrang Dal activists. This was no isolated skirmish but a continuation of a grim, unbroken pattern of the targeting of religious personnel for the simple act of fulfilling their pastoral duties. It is a chilling reminder that in today’s India, violence against Christians is no longer exceptional but expected. The brazenness of such assaults reflects an atmosphere of impunity thriving under an increasingly majoritarian political order. And the intimidation transcends physical violence. In Mumbai, St. Xavier’s College was recently compelled to cancel its annual Stan Swamy lecture after protests by the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the RSS. The cancellation did not merely undermine a one-day academic programme – it silenced a tribute to a Jesuit priest who spent his life defending Adivasi rights and advocating for the voiceless. It also signalled the narrowing of India’s academic spaces, traditionally regarded as sanctuaries of dialogue, dissent and critical thought. These two recent flashpoints, one on the street in Odisha and the other in the lecture hall in Mumbai, are not isolated events. They sit in direct continuity with a decade of intensifying hostility toward Christians in India. If the Church continues down this path of quiet survivalism, it will betray not only its flock but also the constitutional ideals of pluralism and secularism. The choice could not be more urgent: to speak up, to protect the persecuted, to risk discomfort for the sake of justice. Faith without courage is no faith at all – and if the Church remains silent, the stones, in time, will indeed cry out."
