Open inquiry in India into “forced conversions” in Mother Teresa’s line | The world

Police India He launched an investigation into allegations of “forced conversions” within the Catholic Church founded by Mother Teresa, officials told the AFP on Tuesday.

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Authorities in the western state of Gujarat have launched an investigation to determine whether the Missionaries of Charity should “read the Bible to the girls in the Vadodara home carrying the cross”, according to a complaint by a district social service official.

The state of Gujarat is one India The majority Hindu-nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a descendant of which – vague rules against “forced conversion” have been established or enforced very harshly in recent years.

Social Welfare Officer Mayang Trivedi told AFP that he had lodged a complaint with the police based on reports from child protection officers and other district officials.

According to his complaint, 13 copies of the Bible were found in the library of the institution and the young women who stayed there were forced to read the Christian scriptures.

Missionaries of Charity, the Catholic Church founded by Mother Teresa in 1950 – a Catholic nun who lived and worked. India He spent most of his life and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 – they refused any forced conversion.

The founding text of the Order of Religion states that missionaries “do not impose their Catholic faith on anyone.”

Human rights activists have been concerned about the rise in discrimination and violence against religious minorities since Modi came to power in 2014.

His government rejects any plan of Hindu supremacy and insists on equal rights for all religions.

However, in 2020, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom was added India For the first time since 2004, the list of “countries of particular concern”.

Rights advocates say they have recorded more than 300 anti-Christian incidents this year.

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