A visiting Vatican official has reassured interfaith leaders that the Catholic Church is not seeking conversions but only wants to deepen inter-religious ties to foster justice, peace and harmony. “I know that the Indian people are very intelligent, and can see what our real intentions are,” Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue said yesterday. The cardinal is on a 10-day tour of India to meet leaders from the country’s main religions. The Vatican official said he is aware some Hindu groups accuse the Catholic Church of trying to use “fraudulent or forceful” ways to convert people. “This is not true,” Cardinal Tauran said. He said thousands of young people from other faiths study in Catholic educational institutions across the country but none accuse the Church of trying to proselytize them. The 68-year-old French prelate began his tour in Mumbai on Saturday by visiting a Muslim community and their leaders. He has also met Hindu religious leaders in Pune and attended the November 6-9 colloquium on “Enhancing Hindu-Christian relations and collaboration for justice, peace and harmony.” The cardinal said believers in God have a lot of things in common “that will bind us together to promote the common good. We all believe in love, justice, peace, the brotherhood of man, the fatherhood of God and co-existence.” He said his Indian tour is aimed at dispelling doubts and misgivings, if any. The Vatican official, however, maintained that every person has “the fundamental right to preach, practice and profess one’s faith, but not to impose or force anyone to embrace a religion.” Related links: Vatican cardinal stresses ecumenical, interreligious dialogue
