Catholic Bishops of India respond to Supreme Court decision

India’s Supreme Court has upheld a 2005 ruling of the High Court of Orissa state, which commuted the death sentence for Dara Singh to life imprisonment for burning to death Australian Missionary Graham Staines and his two sons in Orissa in 1999.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India has issued a statement applauding the decision to commute the sentence.

The statement also raises concerns with the concluding part of the judgment, which they say creates the impression that religious conversion was the triggering factor behind the crime.

In their statement, The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India notes that the Church strongly believes in the possibility of repentance and reform in life, and believes that even this convicted murderer should be given an opportunity to reform his life.

The statement goes on to say that the Church in India is seriously concerned about the concluding part of the judgment, which calls the idea that one religion is better than the other, “[a] flawed premise.”

The spokesman for the CBCI, Fr. Babu Joseph told Vatican Radio that this observation by the Court has clubbed the criminal case against Dara Singh with the question of religious conversion, thereby giving an impression in many sections of the media that religious conversion was the triggering factor behind the crime. "This gives room for a certain amount of suspicion among the people, saying that the Court may have intended such an understanding of it - that the crime took place because of the attempt of the missionary to gain converts, and this is something we are seriously concerned about."

The statement stresses that the Church neither believes nor endorses any attempt to forced conversion; any such attempt – it says – is indeed an insult to basic human dignity.

“Conversion is wholly the work of God in the life of a person,” the bishops say, “and if a person genuinely wants to embrace a faith of his choice, his right to do so must be respected.”

The Constitution of India guarantees the fundamental right of citizens freely to profess, practice and propagate their faith.

“The Church,” continues the statement, “has always worked within the parameters of the Constitution.”

The statement concludes by saying, “In fact, all institutions within the country should be working within the limits of the Constitution; they must adhere without fail to its precepts, especially when it comes to the fundamental rights of citizens.”

Listen to Chris Altieri's report: