Page-1

Challenges for the Churches in 2022 to "Proclaim the Glorious Gospel in India"
About how this topic is so necessary in this period of time or age. People need to have some
reflections on how as believers, one body of Christ, they had to face when they go out of
their house, into the world, filled with wolves, and deadly snares, weapons of warfare,
spiritual battles, more of their own neighbour who persecute, thinking they are doing it for
the good of their religion based beliefs systems, and more for their safety to keep some
unrealistic word.
Page-2
Contents
Understanding Religion
An In-depth Look into Religion in Indian Context
What has changed in 2022?
Challenges facing in 2022 Churches in India
What does persecution looks like in India?
The myth and danger of anti-conversion laws in India
What it means to follow Christ in India
Violence against Christians in India
Why are Christians Persecuted in India? Roots,
Reasons, Responses
Conclusion
This content gives us a clear picture of how I am going to cover the topic, some ideas, in the
niche level, starting from the basics, then taking some routes, some pictures, and statistics,
reasoning about challenges in day to day life, some anti-conversion dogmas, and then
straight to roots, reasons, and responses…..
Page-3
Understanding Religion

 Understanding the beliefs and feelings and ceremonies and morals and life styles
of religions and religious people.
 Religion is belief in a god or gods and the activities that are connected with this
belief, such as praying or worshipping in a building such as a church or temple.
 The purpose of the practice of religion is to achieve the goals of the salvation of
oneself and others and to render due worship and obedience to God. Different
religions have different understandings of salvation.
Page-4
An In-depth Look into Religion in Indian Context
The schematic picture, or we call the pie chart gives us a clear researched evidence about
how the spiritualism is structured in India. the most percentage as we can see, is Hinduism,
followed by Muslim, and Christianity comes in the 3rd place. Its not our fault, or not that we
haven’t done a good job as evangelizing, rather, the reaping of what God’s people has
showed didn’t had much deeper recognition in making people believe the means to true
salvation, or the gospel of Jesus Christ.
So, when we think of these analysis or figures, we can only think of how miserable our
country is, and how their unbelief has shut their door to salvation.
The context is not only in terms of numbers, or percentage, but also, in terms of
justification, sanctification, and glorification, that is way too amateur, and immature.
Page-5
21st Challenges facing the 21st century church
Here, let’s see something on the “inside of church scenario”…
1. Biblical Illiteracy
2. Presence
3. Disembodied Tendencies
4. Compartmentalization
5. Boredom
6. Temptation to Reinvent the Wheel
7. Complexity
8. Consumer Christians
9. The Temptation to Homogeneity
10. The “Authenticity = Brokenness” Fallacy
11. The Idol of Autonomy
12. Aversion to Commitment
13. The Struggle for Balance in an Immoderate Age
14. Social Media
15. The Need for Racial Reconciliation
16. Gender and Sexuality
17. Religious Freedom
18. Anti-Intellectualism
19. Hyper-Intellectualism
20. Distrust of Authority
21. Entanglements of Allegiances
1) Biblical Illiteracy. Biblical literacy is a huge problem in the Indian church, and it makes
many of the challenges on this list all the more challenging. Quite simply, people in churches
(and even more so those not in churches) may pay lip service to the importance of the Bible,
but by and large they do not read it or know it. Surveys have found that 82% of Indian think
“God helps those who help themselves,” is a Bible verse. 12% think Joan of Arc was Noah’s
wife. 50% of graduating high school students think Sodom and Gomorrah were husband and
wife. It’s embarrassing, and there is much work to do.
2) Presence. Christians ought to be people of presence, connected to God and to one
another through the inhabiting, unifying power of the Holy Spirit. But the 21st century world
busies our lives and distracts us so that every moment pulls us away from presence. The
church must reprioritize its vocation as presenters of God’s presence in the world, and to do
so we must cultivate habits and liturgies that create the space and contours for that
presence to be felt and known.
3) Disembodied Tendencies. The trajectory of technology is away from incarnational
presence and toward disembodied experience. We increasingly live our lives via screens,
streams, apps, phones. Our relationships are digital. This exacerbates existing Gnostic
tendencies (a cerebral rather than embodied faith) and subtly deemphasizes the crucial
physicality of the church, the “body of Christ” in the material and not just theoretical sense.
Churches should find ways to encourage physical gatherings, the practice of the Lord’s
Supper, meals together in neighborhoods, bodily movement in worship, shaking hands and
hugging each other, whatever it takes! Anything to re-sensitize people to the fleshly reality
of the church in the world.
4) Compartmentalization. We live our mediated lives via windows and boxes. We chat with
multiple people at a time, post one fragment of our lives here and another there, consume
visual media in one window and read the Bible in another. All of this makes it easier to
fracture our lived experience into disconnected compartments, a process that wreaks havoc
on our spiritual formation. Integrity is wholeness (integer = whole number), all parts of our
lives integrated and reflective of the Lordship of Christ. Churches today must work extra
hard to cultivate this.
5) Boredom. We are an antsy culture. Everything is fast-paced and harried; we can hardly
remember which Netflix show we loved last month or which restaurant was the rage last
year. We have short attention spans and get bored easily, and this poses a huge challenge to
the church. The values of routine, tradition and stability that define the church are
distasteful in our fidgety age. Churches are naturally tempted to use gimmicks and
trendiness to solve this problem, but this is ill-advised. The tricky task of the church in the
21st century is to lead people to awe, wonder and worship without watering things down or
constantly reinventing the wheel.
6) Temptation to Reinvent the Wheel. The boredom challenge leads to this challenge, to
“rethink” church every couple years. The problem is endemic in evangelicalism. It is
exhausting to read the scores of books that come out every year that provide a new
paradigm or prescription for a revived church. One is tempted to just become Catholic so as
to avoid the nauseous glut of “The church must become _____ to survive” blog posts and
book rants. In this sense I think the evangelical church should become a bit more Catholic,
trusting a bit more in continuity rather than seeing every cultural change as an invitation to
reinvent the wheel.
7) Complexity. Related to our temptation to reinvent the wheel is the temptation to
complicate Christianity and church life. We see this in the 345 definitive “definitions” of the
gospel that various authors and theologians set forth every year. We see it in the enormous
staffs and array of programs that turn churches into bureaucratically complex corporations.
Complexity is cumbersome. It impairs mission. Especially at a time when faithful churches
will be increasingly exiled from mainstream culture, we need to become leaner and more
nimble. We need to rediscover the beauty of simplicity, focusing on the core practices and
historic sacraments of the church. The more complicated we make the church, the less
countercultural she is.
8) Consumer Christians. The ubiquity of consumerism in late capitalism has fully infiltrated
the church, to the extent that “church shopping” and “what I got from the sermon” are
things we say without thinking anything of it. People go to Sunday services to “get
something.” They choose churches that “fit them” and match their checklist of preferences,
just as one would choose a car or a new pair of jeans. But churches must challenge rather
than cater to this mentality. Church is a place where members of a body come together for
purposes beyond themselves. It’s an invitation to join Christ in what he is already doing in
the world, not an invitation for Christ to affirm our self-actualization.
9) The Temptation to Homogeneity. The consumerism of contemporary Christianity has
unsurprisingly led to churches that are more homogeneous than ever. When we go to
churches that fit us (how we look, talk and worship) we will naturally be surrounded by
people who look, talk and worship just like us. But homogeneity is not the biblical ideal. The
power of the gospel is that of unifying diverse groups of people, breaking down the walls of
hostility that naturally divide us (race, class, culture, gender, music preference, whatever).
At a time when social media allows us to curate feeds and surround ourselves with people
who agree with us and confirm our biases, this work becomes even more difficult.
10) The “Authenticity = Brokenness” Fallacy. This is one of the biggest challenges currently
facing the church. At the heart of it is an unbelief in change and a weak theology of
sanctification, a problem that leads to claims of “this is just who I am” essentialism and
immutability. Aren’t we a people of resurrection and hope? Isn’t the Spirit who raised Christ
from the dead within us now? Our anemic belief in change is coupled with a fetishizing of
brokenness, and it’s a toxic combination. Many Christians today are quite simply more
compelled by sin (though we call it “brokenness”) than we are with holiness, and that is a
significant problem the church must address.
11) The Idol of Autonomy. Little poses a bigger threat to the church in 21st century culture
than the pervasive mindset that individual people are the sole arbiters of their identity,
morality and destiny. The “be and do whatever feels right to you” philosophy of expressive
individualism is fundamentally at odds with Christianity, which calls us to bow to the
lordship of Christ. Churches must counter this and disciple people to submit their
convictions about themselves, however sincere and authentic they may be, to the authority
of Jesus Christ as revealed to us in Scripture.
12) Aversion to Commitment. We live in a culture that is commitment averse. Millennials
are the FOMO (“fear of missing out”) generation, preferring to keep options open rather
than committing to something or someone and foreclosing other possibilities. We are the
generation that has rendered RSVP-based party planning a futile endeavor. We are the
generation that is opting to own homes at a far lower rate than previous generations did.
91% of us expect to stay in a job less than 3 years. We are far less likely to be affiliated with
a religion or a political party than previous generations were, and we get married at lower
rates and later in life than our parents and grandparents did. Naturally, this leads to weak (if
any) commitment to the local church, which makes discipleship and true “long obedience”
formation difficult. Against this backdrop, churches can be relevant not by reinforcing
unencumbered individualism but by challenging people to connect and commit to the body
of Christ.
13) The Struggle for Balance in an Immoderate Age. As the world becomes more and more
polarized and less and less capable of nuance and complexity (favoring simple, soundbite
answers and tweetable convictions), the church will increasingly struggle to resist
oversimplifying or too neatly resolving important tensions and complex paradoxes (which
often leads to heresy). Truth and love. Word and Spirit. Justification and sanctification.
General and special revelation. Gathering and scattering for mission. Now and not yet.
Churches must lean into the complexities and paradoxes of these things and try to seek
healthy balance, tempting as it will be to claim “radical” and “extreme” positions so as to
appeal to Generation Antsy.
14) Social Media. There are some positive things social media offers, but there are many
things about it that pose challenges to the contemporary church. Chief among them is the
challenge of posturing, a performative obsession that feeds pride and hypocrisy. But social
media (and texting too!) also can complicate pastoral situations and make existing problems
worse. Closely associated with social media, the allure of celebrity and “platform” has
become pervasive in the 21st century and can destroy a church, particularly when pastors
and leaders become more interested in impressing their “audience” than tending to the
flock of God.
15) The Need for Racial Reconciliation. The church should be no haven for racism, and yet
too often the church has let racial wounds fester and prejudice (whether explicit or implicit)
go unaddressed. The 21st church must not be on the sidelines in the work of justice, healing
and reconciliation; she must actually lead these efforts. The most vibrant centers of global
Christianity are not in western countries these days, and the face of western Christianity is
becoming much more diverse. Churches that celebrate, embrace and embody this reality in
their communities will thrive, while those that resist diversity and cling to their ethnocentric
privilege will falter.
16) Gender and Sexuality. This is a vast area that encompases a wide range of things
(homosexuality, gender identity, marriage, divorce, egalitarian vs. complementarian gender
roles, pornography, etc.), each of which could be its own category on this list. We are
already seeing how this issue creates fragmentation within churches, denominations and
parachurch organizations, and this will only continue. It will also be the primary issue that
drives the cultural alienation of the church in the 21st century. The challenges are aplenty
here, with major theological and pastoral implications. One of the biggest challenges for
theologically conservative churches will be to maintain a consistent biblical ethic on these
matters, speaking in truth and love about (for example) the witness of Scripture on divorce
as much as the witness of Scripture on homosexuality.
17) Religious Freedom. The days are numbered for churches to freely conduct their affairs
according to traditional beliefs and practices on issues of sexuality and gender, without
government interference. The recent state law, which forces churches to allow transgender
people to use church bathrooms and shower facilities of their choice, is just the tip of the
iceberg. Churches will need to disentangle from the government to the extent that they can
(return to house-churches?), or else figure out how to deal with inevitable legal/legislative
challenges.
18) Anti-Intellectualism. It has been 21 years since Mark Noll’s discouraging assessment in
The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind (that “there is not much of an evangelical mind”), and
while progress has been made there is still a lot of work to do in combating anti-
intellectualism in the church. Too many churches do not encourage intellectual curiosity,
vibrant debate and healthy questioning. They offer simplistic and unsatisfying answers to
huge questions and in so doing they foreclose a whole arena (the life of the mind) wherein
God can be worshipped and holy wonder cultivated.
19) Hyper-Intellectualism. The other end of the spectrum is a challenge as well. As
important as apologetics, theological training and rigorous rational defenses are for the
faith, if our presentation of Christianity is entirely cerebral it is missing something. The
church in the 21st century must embrace the mystery and embodied elements of
Christianity, the experience of God rather than just the conception of Him. This means
worship and church life will be messier, more emotional and more unpredictable than the
rationalists would prefer, but it will be more powerful and I daresay more transformative.
20) Distrust of Authority. For many (very valid) reasons, younger generations today have a
real distrust of authority. This makes church inherently challenging for them, not only
because they have a hard time trusting leaders but (more importantly) they struggle with
submitting fully to the authority of Christ and the authority of Scripture. Yet churches must
lean into the “transcendent authority” of Christ, countercultural as that may be. As Russell
Moore recently observed, “In an age suspicious of all authority outside the self, the appeal
to a word that carries transcendent authority can be just distinctive enough to be heard,
even when not immediately embraced.”
21) Entanglements of Allegiances. This has been a struggle for the church since her earliest
days. In what sense does a person’s allegiance to empire or nation or some other secular
community interact with their allegiance to Christ and his church? Today we’re seeing this
play out in the messy entanglements of Christians in politics, to the point that we have to
say out loud that trickle-down economics and the right to bear arms are political, not biblical
values. Today’s focus on identity politics makes this even more challenging, as any given
member of a church may see their Christian identity as secondary to some other identity
(gender, race, political affiliation, nationality, etc.). Churches will have the messy task of
acknowledging and respecting multifarious identities while also challenging people to
prioritize them in the right way.
Page-6
What does persecution looks like in India?
The persecution of Christians in India is intensifying as Hindu extremists aim to cleanse the
country of their presence and influence.
The driving force behind this is Hindutva, an ideology that disregards Indian Christians and
other religious minorities as true Indians because they have allegiances that lie outside
India, and asserts the country should be purified of their presence.
Hindutva ( transl. Hinduness) is the predominant form of Hindu nationalism in India. ... The
term was formulated as a political ideology by Vinayak Damodar
Allegiance - loyalty or commitment to a superior or to a group or cause.
Page-7
Meet “Sumi” Sumi is a 25-year-old widow whose husband was murdered for his faith.
“If needed I will die for Jesus, but I will never leave Him.”
Page-9
What has changed this year?

Page-10
New Delhi: A survey conducted by the United Christian Forum (UCF) has concluded that the
violence against Christians in India peaked in the year 2022. The survey has also revealed
most cases of this violence were reported in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
According to the findings released on November 26, until November 21 this year, there
were about 511 cases of violence that were reported against the Christians in the country.
The numbers are slightly more than the 505 cases of violence against the community that
were reported in 2021.
Page-11
Why are Christians Persecuted in India? Roots, Reasons, Responses
We reap what we sow.” (Gal. 6:7)
Let me read the full verse: 7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man
soweth, that shall he also reap.
“I have not come to bring peace but a sword.” (Mt. 10:34)- 34 Think not that I am come to
send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword
“If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also.” (Jn 15:20)- .- John 15:20, KJV:
Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they
have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will
keep yours also.
The fierce attacks on Christians in India have been reported nationally and internationally.
Both Christians and Hindus have been taken by surprise by the breadth and ferocity of
these recent developments. What are the roots, reasons, and responses?
During the Independence struggles against the British, very few Christians sided
wholeheartedly with their fellow countrymen. Many dalits felt quiet glee that their long
term oppressors were now getting oppressed themselves
Page-12
Anti-Christian violence in India
Anti-Christian violence in India is religiously motivated violence against Christians in India.
Human Rights Watch has classified violence against Christians in India as a tactic used by the
right-wing Sangh Parivar organizations to encourage and exploit communal violence in
furtherance of their political ends.[1] The acts of violence include arson of churches,
conversion of Christians by force, physical violence, sexual assaults, murders, rapes, and the
destruction of Christian schools, colleges, and cemeteries.
Anti-Christian violence increased dramatically since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) started
its rule at the center in March 1998. The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal, and
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) are the organizations which have been most frequently
accused of inciting the violence
Page-13
Roots, Reasons, & Responses
#1. Roots
Pre-Colonial Mission Work Hindu Revival The accusation of disloyalty to the nation has deep
historical roots, as we have seen.
The Pre-Colonial State
Before the advent of colonial rule, India was a self-sufficient and flourishing economy.
Evidently, our country was popularly known as the golden eagle. India had already
established itself on the world map with a decent amount of exports. Although primarily it
was an agrarian economy, many manufacturing activities were budding in the pre-colonial
India.
Indian craftsmanship was widely popular around the world and garnered huge demands.
The economy was well-known for its handicraft industries in the fields of cotton and silk
textiles, metal and precious stone works etc. Such developments lured the British to
paralyze our state and use it for their home country’s benefits.
Browse more Topics under Indian Economy On The Eve Of Independence
 Agricultural Sector
 Industrial Sector
 Foreign Trade
 Demographic Condition
 Occupational Structure
 Infrastructure

The British came to India with the motive of colonization. Their plans involved using India as
a feeder colony for their own flourishing economy back at Britain. This exploitation
continued for about two centuries, till we finally got independence on 15 August 1947.
Consequently, this rendered our country’s economy hollow. Hence, a study of this
relationship between the colonizers and its colony is important to understand the present
developments and future prospects of India.
#3. Response
Opportunity for Self-Reflection. attacks have caused some soul-searching among Christian
church leaders. Opportunity for witness, just like the Dalits

#2. Reasons
The historical roots shoot up stems, which bear fruit even today. Politically, socially, and
religiously we still have these historical tensions. These are the reasons cited today for
persecution of Christians in India
Page-14
1 Context of violence
2 Manifestation
3 Causes and effects
 Political factors - Political factors
Many nationalists, especially the upper-caste Hindu nationalists, fear that as a result of the
arrival of non-Hindus, higher fertility rates among minority groups and conversions to
Christianity, the Hindu majority might become a minority.
  Cultural factors
The Hindu nationalist version of Hinduism and its Sanskrit overtones generally do not
fascinate the adivasi people and the Dalits. many members of the lower caste and tribes
claim of Christian conversion as something of a deculturation just in the same way as the
Hindu nationalists of the upper-castes do
 Economic factors

Major Incidents

 1998 attacks on Christians in southeastern Gujarat

 1999 Ranalai violence
 2007 Christmas violence in Kandhamal
 2008 Kandhamal violence
 2008 attacks on Christians in Southern Karnataka

1998 attacks on Christians in southeastern Gujarat[edit]

Main article: 1998 attacks on Christians in southeastern Gujarat
During the 1998 attacks on Christians in southeastern Gujarat, the Human Rights Watch
reported more than 20 incidents of Churches being burnt down and damaged in and around
the Dang District. The organisation also reported assaults against Christians, damages and
burning down of Churches and Christian institutions in at least 25 villages all over Gujarat
from 25 December 1998 to the next ten days. [34] In the previous year 1997, 22 churches
were burnt or destroyed, and another 16 in Gujarat alone.[35][36]
1999 Ranalai violence[edit]
Main article: 1999 Ranalai violence
The 1999 Ranalai violence occurred on 15 March 1999 in the village of Ranalai in Gajapati
district of Orissa. The violence occurred after a dispute of adding religious symbols in the
Khamani Hill of the village. A crowd of 2000 people, reportedly followers of the Sangh
Parivar, armed with country made guns and weapons, completely burned down 157
Christian houses and looted the remaining Christian houses in the village. 14 Christians were
injured including three injured by gun shots. An investigation by the National Commission
for Minorities (NCM) blamed the BJP for the violence.[37]
2007 Christmas violence in Kandhamal[edit]
Main article: 2007 Christmas violence in Kandhamal
An outbreak of violence started on 24 December 2007 at Bamunigam village of Kandhamal
District between the Sangh-affiliated Kui Samaj together with the groups led by Sangh
Parivar organizations and Christians where more than 100 Churches and Christian
Institutions were burnt down or Vandalized.[38] 3 to 50 Christians were killed.
2008 Kandhamal violence[edit]
Main article: 2008 Kandhamal violence
A young Christian girl who was bruised and burnt during the anti Christian violence. It
occurred when a bomb was thrown into her house by the extremists.
The 2008 Kandhamal violence refers to widespread violence against Christians purportedly
incited by Hindutva organisations in the Kandhamal district of Orissa, India, in August 2008
after the murder of the Hindu monk Lakshmanananda Saraswati.[39] According to
government reports the violence resulted in at least 39 Christians killed and 3906 Christian
houses completely destroyed.[40] Reports state, more than 395 churches were razed or burnt
down,[41] over 5,600 – 6,500 houses plundered or burnt down, over 600 villages ransacked
and more than 60,000 – 75,000 people left homeless.[42][43][44] Reports put the death toll at
nearly 100 and suggested more than 40 women were sexually assaulted. Unofficial reports
place number of those killed to more than 500.[45] Many Christian families were burnt alive.
[46]
 Thousands of Christians were forced to convert to Hinduism under threat of violence. [47]
[41][39]
 This violence was led by the Bajrang Dal, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the VHP.[48]
After the riots, 20,000 people were sheltered in 14 government established relief camps and
50,000 people fled to the surrounding districts and states. The United States Commission on
International Religious Freedom reported that by March 2009, and at least 3,000 individuals
were still in government relief camps.
During the riots a nun was gang-raped and later paraded half-naked in the streets, the
incident received wide media attention.[49]
2008 attacks on Christians in Southern Karnataka[edit]
Main article: 2008 attacks on Christians in southern Karnataka
In 2008, there was a wave of attacks directed against Christian churches and prayer halls
in Karnataka by the Hindu organisation Bajrang Dal around 2008.[50][51] The violence started
from 14 September 2008 when about 20 churches were vandalised
in Mangalore, Udupi, Chikkamagaluru, and in other districts of Karnataka.[52] Minor violence
was later reported from the border state of Kerala.The Christian leaders commented that
BJP was inciting violence rather than working to calm the situation. On the other hand, the
Central Government had strongly criticized and sent showcase notices to the state
Government for not solving the issue effectively.[53][54]
In October 2008, During the 2008 attacks on Christians in southern Karnataka the police
reported 20 graves in a cemetery were desecrated in Tamil Nadu, three churches were
stoned in the districts of Karur and Erode, bibles in the outer walls of Chennai and
Coimbatore were damaged, a statue of Mary was stolen in Krishnagiri, a Virgin Mary icon
was damaged in Kanyakumari and an idol of Jesus in Madurai was vandalized in the state of
Tamil Nadu.[55] Four members belonging to the Hindu Munnani were arrested on 9 October
and the number reached 22 on the next day.
Response

 US State Department
 National Commission for Minorities
 National Integration Council of India
 Vatican
 Human rights organizations

US State Department[edit]
In its annual human rights reports for 1999, the United States Department of State criticised
India for "increasing societal violence against Christians." [57] The report on anti-Christian
violence listed over 90 incidents of anti-Christian violence, ranging from damage of religious
property to violence against Christians pilgrims. The incidents listed in the report were
attributed to local media reports and information gathered by Christian groups in India. [57]
National Commission for Minorities[edit]
After the 2008 attacks on Christians in southern Karnataka by Bajrang Dal and Sri Ram
Sena activists, the National Commission for Minorities accused the Karnataka government of
serious lapses in handling the situation. They were found directly responsible for allowing
the violence to spread, and claimed the police failed to solve the issue effectively as the
violence continues. They also clarified that there were no reported complaints of forced
conversion registered in the state.[58][59]
National Integration Council of India[edit]
On 13 October 2008, the National Integration Council of India called a special meeting
chaired by Manmohan Singh, then Prime Minister of India, where he condemned the
violence of Hindu militant organisations such as Bajrang Dal, VHP etc.[citation needed] The prime
minister had earlier publicly admitted that the ongoing violence against the Christian
communities was a matter of great "national shame".[60]
Vatican[edit]
On 12 October 2008, Pope Benedict XVI criticised the continuing anti-Christian violence in
India. On 28 October, the Vatican called upon the memory of Mahatma Gandhi for an end to
the religious violence in Orissa. In a written address to Hindus, the Vatican office said
Christian and Hindu leaders needed to foster a belief in non-violence among followers.[61]
Human rights organizations[edit]
On July, 2021, at least 17 human rights organizations including Amnesty
International cosponsored a Congressional briefing in the Washington to request the US
Government to take action against the growing persecution of Christians in India
Page-13
Conclusion
Christians have bonded together in response to their hostile environment. However, they
have gathered to pray and march in silence, rather than to riot or retaliate. We pray that
through all of this God’s Spirit can bring a new reputation for the Indian Christians in the
land.
We pray they can be accepted and respected as the pre-colonial Christians were because of
their vulnerability, sincerity, and spirituality. As in the original Jerusalem congregation, they
will be seen “praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people, and the Lord added to
their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:47)