ASIA/INDIA - Bishop in Madhya Pradesh: “Pope Francis' welcoming approach has improved interreligious coexistence”

Indore (Fides Agency) - “What surprised us positively is like a surprise from the Holy Spirit: so many people, so many non-Christians, who spontaneously appreciate Pope Francis as a man of dialogue, welcome, and compassion, have somehow changed their attitude towards us Catholics. Many non-Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs came to offer their condolences and express their solidarity. Pope Francis' approach has had a positive impact on our lives, in terms of coexistence with people of other faiths. And this is very important and a beautiful legacy in our diocese (18,000 Catholics out of a population of 8 million, ed. ) and in a state like Madhya Pradesh, where there are sometimes interreligious tensions, is very important and a beautiful legacy,” Bishop Thomas Mathew Kuttimackal of Indore, a diocese in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, the second largest and fifth most populous state in India with over 72 million inhabitants, told Fides.
The proportion of Christians in Madhya Pradesh is small: less than 0.3% compared to a national average of 2.3%. Catholics in the Diocese of Indore, as in other dioceses in the central Indian state, watched the funeral Mass for Pope Francis on television and celebrated memorial Masses in memory of the late Pope in their parishes. Bishop Kuttimackal remarked, “We remember him as a shepherd of dialogue and mercy: our Catholic communities feel a sense of gratitude, also because they see how the Pope's words and gestures in recent years have touched hearts, even here in our area, which is so far from Rome and which Francis never visited in person.”
Recently, tensions have also arisen in the state with radical Hindu groups accusing Christians and Muslims of “proselytism.” And the state government, led by the nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has at times supported this narrative. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said in a public speech last March that he wanted to “introduce the death penalty to punish what he called ‘forced religious conversion of women.’”
Radical Hindu groups sometimes accuse Muslims and Christians of converting members of tribal groups from lower castes using allegedly illicit means, such as money. In Madhya Pradesh, a so-called “anti-conversion law” has been in force since 2021, which provides for penalties of up to 10 years in prison for those who use violence or deception to persuade people to convert to another religion. In this context, according to the bishop, “the faithful of Indore are experiencing the Holy Year as ‘pilgrims of hope’, also with a view to improving the climate of interreligious coexistence."
The evangelical message proclaimed and lived by Pope Francis is also represented in Indore by the “Forum of Religious for Justice and Peace,” a network of Catholic religious communities of men and women who are particularly committed to humanitarian issues and the “care of our common home.” The religious are committed to implementing the “integral ecology” mentioned and described in the encyclical Laudato si', starting from their closeness to the poorest and most marginalized communities, but also promoting respect for natural resources and the promotion and dissemination of sustainable lifestyles. (PA) ( Fides Agency 30/4/2025)

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