VHP demands apology from Pope Francis for 'crimes' committed by Christians

Barely a month after prime minister Narendra Modi invited Pope Francis to visit India, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has demanded that he apologise for 'crimes' committed by Christians.

During the second day of the saffron outfit’s three-day meet of the Board of Trustees, International Working President of the VHP Alok Kumar said that the Pope should address the issue of religious conversions.

“Christians have persecuted, conducted genocides and mass executions for 350 years. So, when the Pope comes visiting, he should apologise for all this, and showing respect for all religions should declare to stop horizontal religious conversions,” Kumar said.

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Kumar compared Christian conversions to the “sacrifice” of Sikh religious leader Guru Tegh Bahadur, who he said that protected Hindus from Mughals. “To propagate his teachings, we will organise programmes and conferences across the country,” Kumar said.

The VHP’s stand is in contrast to PM Modi’s meeting with the Pope during the G20 Summit in Rome on November 30, when Modi shared pictures of the meeting and said that he had invited the Pope to India.

During the last papal visit in 1999, of Pope John Paul II, the VHP had demanded that the Pope “proclaim the validity of Gods other than the Christian Lord of the Bible”. The VHP has been demanding a national anti-conversion law, like the one implemented in Uttar Pradesh, and mooted in Karnataka.

Also Read | VHP demands nationwide anti-conversion law

The outfit’s stand might dampen the Bharatiya Janata Party’s chances in the election-going states of Goa and Manipur, where Christians are a majority.

The VHP’s three-day meet of Trustees and Governing Council started Friday at Gujarat’s Junagadh. Apart from discussing events to commemorate the outfit’s 60th anniversary in 2024, the meet will also tackle subjects such as protection of the environment and ecology, the liberation of temples from government control, central law against religious conversions, to name a few.

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