While protecting the right of each citizen to profess and practice his or her faith, they also facilitate efforts to build bridges between minority communities and Indian society as a whole, and thus foster national integration and the participation of all in the country’s development. The disturbing signs of religious intolerance which have troubled some regions of the nation, including the reprehensible attempt to legislate clearly discriminatory restrictions on the fundamental right of religious freedom, must be firmly rejected as not only unconstitutional, but also as contrary to the highest ideals of India’s founding fathers, who believed in a nation of peaceful coexistence and mutual tolerance between different religions and ethnic groups.
Lashing out at the Pope for his reported remarks about anti-conversion laws in India, the BJP said that Benedict XVI, the Head of State of Vatican, should not interfere in the internal affairs of India.
"Pope is not only a religious head, but also the leader of a nation," BJP National Secretary L Ganesan said in a statement while sharply reacting to Pope’s reported remarks while receiving India’s new envoy in Vatican on Thursday.
Criticising the reported remarks of the Pope, Hindu Munnani leader Era Ramagopalan said that the Pope’s remarks were "unacceptable".
Pope to Indian: "Let’s make you the prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples."
To succeed Sepe, the long-standing buzz was also confirmed: the new Red Pope is Cardinal Ivan Dias, the veteran of Vatican diplomacy who has served as archbishop of Bombay since 1996. Dias, shown at left, turned 70 last month. He was elevated to the College at the mega-consistory of 2001.
Read Previous Post