Your gift counts double until 5/31: $20,109 to go in our Easter Campaign. Please help now!

Indian bishops protest court judgment linking missionary's murder to conversions

CWN - January 24, 2011

The Catholic bishops of India have protested a statement by the nation’s highest court insinuating that religious conversions were at the roots of anti-Christian violence. “The Church is seriously concerned,” lamented the Indian bishops in a statement on January 24, about the remarks made by the federal Supreme Court judgment in its verdict on the triple murder of Australian missionary Graham Stuart Staines and his two sons in 1999 in eastern Orissa state. While confirming the life imprisonment sentence of Dara Singh, who had led the mob that torched Graham and his young sons, the supreme court commented: "It is undisputed that there is no justification for interfering in someone’s belief by way of ‘use of force,’ provocation, conversion, incitement or upon a flawed premise that one religion is better than the other.” By linking the missionary murder to conversion, the Indian bishops’ statement pointed out, the court was giving credence to the propaganda that “religious conversion was the triggering factor behind the ghastly crime.”

Additional sources for this story
Some links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

An appeal from our founder, Dr. Jeffrey Mirus:

Dear reader: If you found the information on this page helpful in your pursuit of a better Catholic life, please support our work with a donation. Your donation will help us reach five million Truth-seeking readers worldwide this year. Thank you!

Easter Campaign:
Progress toward our Spring 2013 goal ($20,109 to go):
$80,000.00 $59,891.45
25% 75%
Sound Off! CatholicCulture.org supporters weigh in.

All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!

There are no comments yet for this item.

Catholic World News Email Newsletter
Donate to Support this Site: Your contribution will be put to good work.
Tour the CatholicCulture.org Site
Shop Amazon to Raise Money for Catholic Culture

Recent Catholic Commentary

Revealing News, and Revealing Christ 18 hours ago
The Russell Ford problem 18 hours ago
Fr. Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly: Your Letter May Help 24 hours ago
The Rise and Fall of the (American?) Church May 23
The Ideal of Pope Francis: the Servant Church May 23

Top Catholic News

Most Important Stories of the Last 30 Days
Pope strongly supports call for reform in religious life CWN - May 8