TOP JESUIT: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM UNDER PRESSURE IN

UNCLAS VATICAN 001299

SIPDIS


SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR EUR/WE LEVIN; DRL/IRF FOR BARNES; SA/INS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: IN KIRF PHUM PREL SOCI VT XD
SUBJECT: TOP JESUIT: RELIGIOUS FREEDOM UNDER PRESSURE IN
INDIA



1. (SBU) DURING A MARCH 31 MEETING WITH THE AMBASSADOR,
SOCIETY OF JESUS (JESUIT) SUPERIOR GENERAL HANS-PETER
KOLVENBACH EXPRESSED HIS MOUNTING CONCERN ABOUT RELIGIOUS
FREEDOM FOR CHRISTIANS IN INDIA. KOLVENBACH, WHO RECENTLY
RETURNED FROM A TRIP TO INDIA, SAID THAT HINDU FUNDAMENTALISM
SEEMED TO BE ON THE RISE IN THE COUNTRY. IN SOME PROVINCES,
HE NOTED, POLICE PERMISSION WAS REQUIRED TO BAPTIZE NEW
CHRISTIANS. ALTHOUGH THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION HAD DECLARED
SUCH PROVISIONS UNCONSTITUTIONAL, LOCAL JURISDICTIONS
SOMETIMES CONTINUE TO ABIDE BY OLD POLICIES.


2. (SBU) LAW AND CUSTOM ALSO DISCRIMINATED AGAINST CHRISTIAN
CONVERTS, ACCORDING TO KOLVENBACH. IN SOME SITUATIONS,
CONVERTS FACE THE LOSS OF SOCIAL STATUS AND ECONOMIC
OPPORTUNITY FOLLOWING THEIR CONVERSION. KOLVENBACH
CHARACTERIZED THE TREATMENT OF CHRISTIANS IN INDIA AS
HARASSMENT RATHER THAN PERSECUTION, BUT HE POINTED OUT THAT
AT LEAST TWO JESUITS HAD BEEN KILLED IN INDIA IN THE LAST FEW
YEARS IN WHAT APPEARED TO BE RELIGIOUSLY MOTIVATED ATTACKS.


3. (SBU) THE JESUITS ARE GENERALLY WELL RESPECTED IN INDIA,
KOLVENBACH SAID, DUE TO THEIR SCHOOLS AND UNIVERSITIES, BUT
THEIR PRIESTS ARE INCREASINGLY KEPT AT ARM'S LENGTH BY THOSE
HOSTILE TO "WESTERN" INFLUENCES AND BY OTHERS WHO ARE
CONCERNED WITH PUBLIC PERCEPTIONS OF THESE CONNECTIONS. HE
SAID THAT THE COMMON ATTITUDE FROM GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS IS
THAT CHRISTIANS ARE "WELCOME" IN INDIA, BUT MUST UNDERSTAND
THE DYNAMICS OF INDIAN SOCIETY: WITH LITTLE TO HOLD THE
WIDELY DIVERSE COUNTRY TOGETHER BESIDES RELIGION, HINDUISM IS
INCREASINGLY SEEN AS THE MOST IMPORTANT FONT OF NATIONAL
UNITY AND ONE THAT POLITICAL LEADERS -- PARTICULARLY AT THE
LOCAL LEVEL -- ARE LOATH TO SEE DILUTED.

NICHOLSON




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2004VATICA01299 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED