--- On Sat, 12/20/08, Fr. Ivo C da Souza <icso...@bsnl.in> wrote:
> There have been cases of conversion "by
> force" in the 16th century, but that was never an
> official policy of the European missionaries who worked
> in India. The First Provincial Council of Goa, held in
> 1567, forbade the use of force, by decreeing that "it
> is not lawful to bring anyone over to our faith and baptism
> by means of force with threats or terror, because no one
> comes to Christ by faith, unless he is drawn by the
> heavenly Father with voluntary love and prevenient
> grace" (Bullarium Patronatus APP I, p.6).
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Excellent post Father Ivo. We must make clear the position of the church as it
has been for a long time. There is grave misconception out there fuelled by
right-wing fundamentalist groups that we must correct.
India has gotten into the nasty habit of taking away civil liberties in the
guise of upholding its democracy. If there are brutalities in the Gulf carried
out against maids, rule that maids cannot work in the Gulf. If HIV becomes
prevalent, propose that HIV testing be made mandatory before marriage. If there
is a high incidence of foetocide, makes sure that every women is denied the
right to know the gender of her baby before birth. And now this court has
deliberately split hairs on its definition of what is freedome of religion.
It's is a dire sign that barely 60 years after independence our Constitution
should come under attack like this. Little by little, we ensure that our civil
liberties are being curtailed and India can successful trot its way to a
totalitarian country based on some preconceived Raj model.
Best,
Selma
