NEW DELHI (CWNews.com) - Hindu extremists slammed Pope John Paul II's call for a new Christian evangelization in Asia as a slap in the face to their concerns over proselytism.
"The Pope has abused the hospitality India extended to him. He should not have said it," Rajender Chadha, spokesman for a section of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) told the Press Trust of India. During his three-day visit to India, the Holy Father proclaimed the right of conversion as an inalienable human right and urged the region's bishops to continue with the task of spreading the Gospel.
Chadha said the Pope confirmed fears among hardline Hindus that the Catholic Church has "grand plans to convert India into a Christian country." He also repeated claims that Catholic missionaries forcibly convert the poor and lower castes under the guise of charity -- all of which India's Catholic bishops deny.
"Much as we preach and proclaim ... it is up to the others to accept," Archbishop Alan de Lastic of New Delhi, told reporters.
"We will not allow this conspiracy against the Hindus to succeed," said Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) general secretary Acharya Giriraj Kishore.
Christians, who make up 2 or 3 percent of the one billion people in India, have been the object of attacks by extremist Hindus in recent years, including the murder of an Australian missionary and his young sons earlier this year and a Catholic priest in September.
CWN - Catholic World News