This time it was four sisters from Mother Theresa’s order, the Missionary Sisters of Charity. They were not physically harmed, but they were verbally assaulted by a mob at a train station, falsely accused of “forced conversions and kidnapping” and handed over to the police, who detained them as if they were criminals. In Orissa state twenty-five Christians have been killed recently, and tens of thousands have had to flee their homes for their lives. Scores of Churches, convents, nurseries, orphanages, and even homes of Catholics have been burnt to the ground with impunity. Even the refugee camps set up to shelter the homeless proved too dangerous. Some Hindu terrorists had managed to gain employment in some of these places as cooks. In one, the water supply was poisoned. Rumors spread that even the food might be lethal. In Orissa the mobs justified their violence by accusing the Christians of murdering some Hindu leaders when the crime was actually the work of a rival Communist sect. But, the real reason for the hatred, is that lower caste Hindus, who are poor and abandoned are taken in by religious sisters and given the care that only Christians are willing to do. Even if the religious do not directly try to convert them, their charity speaks the truth of the one true religion.
There is no question that extreme prudence is needed in anti-Christian countries, where laws are passed (as in 94% Hindu India) against prosyletizing. Although Catholic leaders in China are daily persecuted, imprisoned, and often sent to labor camps, there is no law at this time against making converts. The Church in China is growing exponentially, despite (I should say even because of) the persecution. In India there is a different situation. It is the Hindu extremists who go out and enforce the laws themselves, often acting as judge, jury, and executioners. The more valiant Catholics are forced to keep silence, rather than lie, when they are accused of covertly making converts. Nevertheless, it is one thing to be silent; it is another to give in to the unjust law and apologize to the anti-Catholic oppressors. Such, to me (and it’s easy for me to say it from a comfortable place), is a contradiction of the Gospel mandate: “Teach all nations.” Not every missioner can be a Francis Xavier, whose miraculous powers gave his enemies much to fear. Today, there are no such saints. So I find the following quote unfortunate, erroneous, concessionary, disturbing, and defeatist, but par for the course in this age of “diabolical disorientation”:
[Cardinal Osvaldo Gracias] stresses that he knew “Mother Teresa personally, and I was also involved with her mission, and I can vouch for the fact that never has any baby or anyone been converted by the Missionaries of Charity, either in the remotest rural area or in any part of the world”. Oh really! Full article here.
