Senior Vatican officials have been denied entry to India to attend the national assembly of its bishops’ conference, which began on Tuesday.
The Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) described Archbishop Arthur Roche, Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship, and Archbishop Protase Rugambwa, President of Pontifical Mission Societies, as “key resources” and condemned the Government’s decision not to issue them visas.
According to the CCBI, the pair applied for visas in mid-December and were rejected at the last minute. They were not travelling on Vatican passports.
They had intended to address the conference on “life and liturgy” but instead delivered the speech via a video link.
The official Vatican news website news.va reported that India’s Ministry of External Affairs denied them visas on the advice of the Home Ministry.
Fr Stephen Alathara, deputy secretary general of the Indian bishops’ conference, said the visa was denied on technical grounds, but a source at Vatican Radio suggested it could be because of a delay in the presentation of their official credentials by India’s ambassador to the Holy See, Chitra Narayanan, who is resident in the Swiss capital, Bern.
It comes amid rising concerns at the treatment of religious minorities in India, where the ruling BJP party has been accused of pursuing an agenda of Hindu nationalism.
Meanwhile in New Delhi police said they arrested 350 Catholics demonstrating against attacks on churches yesterday, on suspicion of unlawful assembly.
Dr John Dayal, secretary general of the All India Christian Council, told the Wall Street Journal from the Parliament Street police station where he was being held: “Our protest demanded that the Government inquire into the violence against Christians because we do not trust the police to investigate it properly.”
Loading ...
