New Delhi: In a nation celebrated for its pluralism, where faiths coexist and the Constitution enshrines freedom of conscience, India today faces a profound challenge to its founding ideals. The Catholic Church warns that state-level “Freedom of Religion Acts”, increasingly adopted across multiple states, including the new legislation looming over Maharashtra, are turning the promise of liberty into instruments of suspicion and oppression.
The Constitution of India, celebrated each year on Constitution Day, November 26, guarantees every citizen the right to profess, practice, and propagate faith (Article 25), the right to free speech (Article 19), and the inviolable protection of personal liberty (Article 21). Yet, anti-conversion laws have inverted these protections, criminalizing voluntary faith and humanitarian service, shifting the burden of proof onto the accused, and enabling vigilante interference in matters of conscience.
The tragic events in Durg, Chhattisgarh, on July 25, 2025, serve as a stark illustration. Two nuns from Kerala, accompanied by tribal youth and adult women Christians, travelled for voluntary work with documented consent. Yet, a mob led by a local extremist forcibly accused them of coercion. Despite the innocence of those detained, the nuns spent eight harrowing days in jail, while the attackers went unpunished, highlighting the inherent injustice embedded in such laws.
The proposed Maharashtra Freedom of Religion Bill threatens to further strangle the Church’s social mission. For decades, Catholic institutions have fed the hungry, educated the marginalized, and treated the sick acts of love and service now criminalized as inducement or proselytism under these new measures. Each loaf of bread, each classroom, risks being treated as evidence of an alleged crime, leaving the most vulnerable doubly abandoned: once by society, now by fear of legal reprisal.
The Church reiterates that it rejects forced conversion outright, and that true conversion is voluntary and spiritual. India already possesses laws against coercion and fraud; what is unnecessary and dangerous is the addition of draconian laws that punish compassion itself. These Acts undermine constitutional freedoms, transforming religion from a matter of conscience into one dependent on state approval, subjecting citizens’ faith to the scrutiny of mobs or magistrates.
India’s Catholic community, from St. Thomas in 52 A.D. to Mother Teresa, has a legacy of service, not subversion. Today, the Church operates over 25,000 educational institutions and hospitals across remote regions, serving Dalits, Adivasis, refugees, and the marginalized without imposing faith. These acts of charity are prophetic presence, not proselytism, and should remain protected under the law.
The Constitution is more than a legal framework; it is a moral vision that affirms unity, dignity, and pluralism. Article 51A calls citizens to promote harmony and protect diversity, while the Gospel’s mandate urges love and service. Upholding minority rights is democratic patriotism, and defending conscience is faithful discipleship.
The Church now urges immediate reform to restore constitutional integrity and justice:
1. Repeal or reform anti-conversion laws that criminalize voluntary faith and service.
2. Introduce safeguards against misuse, penalizing those making false allegations.
3. Shift the burden of proof onto the complainant, not the accused.
4. Protect charitable works as expressions of faith, not evidence of fraud.
5. Restore the Constitution’s vision, ensuring all citizens can follow their conscience without fear.
The Catholic Church calls on India to preserve its pluralist heritage, safeguarding the freedom of every heart to seek God in its own way. Conscience, not coercion, must define the nation’s soul a land where liberty, justice, and faith endure.