by Adolf Washington
 
BANGALORE, Dec 1 : Over 500 priests and pastors from various Christian denominations registered participation at an ecumenical meeting December 1st at St. Marks Cathedral on MG Road in Bangalore. Presided over by Archbishop Bernard Moras, Bishop Samuel of the Belivers Church and Bishop Vasant Kumar of the CSI church, the meeting was attended by priests and pastors of the Catholic Church, Church of South India, Full Gospel Church, Believers Church, New LIfe Fellowship, Methodist, Jacobite, Church of Horeb, Baptist Church, Faith Prayer Assembly, Independent Churches, Marthoma, Syrian Orthodox and Touch India Ministries.
 
The four hour long meeting assumes significance as this is the first ever meeting of priests and pastors of all denominations willing to come under the umbrella of Karnataka United Christian Forum for Human RIghts (KUCFHR) which was formed in September 2008 after a series of attacks on Christian Churches across Karnataka..Archbishop Bernard Moras, president of the Forum informed the gathering of the attempt by the government to pass an anti-conversion bill. 
 
Archbishop Bernard Moras under whose initiative the KUCFHR was formed, told the gathering that "I feel the attacks on our Churches was a sign from God that we need to come together. That is why we started the KUCFHR. The KUCFHR has a three fold common minimum programme that focuses on Faith, Ethics and Common programs.  When we came together we made a resolve that all those who want to come under the banner of KUCFHR must decide not to indulge in any kind of induced or forced conversions". The prelate however told the gathering that the issue of forced conversion was "blown out of proportion just to create animosity and insecurity between people of other religious groups against the Christian minority. These allegations are politically hued".  He added "If there were cases of forced conversion, it should be established clearly in a court of law.  Blanket allegations against the Christian community at large, is only a willful attempt to create disharmony in society and to achieve political mileage" the archbishop said.  "The Christian community has never been a threat to anyone.  In fact, the services rendered by the Christian community to people of all relgious background, especially the poor and marginalized cannot go unnoticed.  Only recently have we been demonized so much by false propaganda" the Archbishop said.

 
"We have started this organisation not just to address the issue of attacks against the Christian Community, but also to assert our consitutional right to profess and peacefully propogate our Faith just as any other religious group enjoys the privlege.  The KUCFHR will also address issues of Human Rights violations" Archbishop Moras said.

Bishop Vasanth Kumar of the Church of South India said "We must thank God for the political climate that actually brought us together in unity.  Those who indulged in political manipulations to keep the Christian denomination apart and in conflict with each other, did not realise that coming together was not an impossibility.  The KUCFHR is a clear answer to those who thought we cannot come together as Christians of various denominations.  As Christians, we have a command from Christ to proclaim the Gospel of Love to all people and as Indians, we have a Constitutional right to proclaim that message.  Muslims, Jains, Buddhists and all minority communities enjoy this same privilege,  But it is unfortunate that Christians have been victimized and falsely accused." The Bishop matressed the need for "coming together for more programmes where we will gradually discover our common faith and overlook our minor differences in dogma and teaching". Bishop Vasant expressed disappointment over some politicians who were using "religion as a tool for political gain".  He said, "If there are any internal politics within us, we will be able shed them when we look at the external politics working against the community".
 
Addressing the issue of Ecumenism, he observed "In world circles, we will have noticed that there are lesser  theological debates and more debates and discussions on issues affecting humanity like AIDS, Enviromenet and Climate Change.  This is an indication that we no longer see ourselves as a divided community, but rather a united community focussing on humanitaria issues".
 
Bishop Samuel of the Believers Church said, "The wave of suspicion created against the Christian community is deliberate with political overtones.  However, persecution  has been part and parcel of our Fatih experience.  It is only when we stand together that we will strengthen each other.  We have never indulged in any form of forcible conversion.  Conversion is the outcome of a free decision of one who wants to change his faith or way of life, none of us have a right to indulge in forcible conversion.  We preach a religion of love and forgiveness.  I wonder why anyone should be against a religion that preaches love and forgiveness" the Bishop said.
 
Jesuit Priest Fr. Ronnie Prabhu, Secretary of the Karnataka Commission for inter-religious dialogue and Ecumensim, co-ordinated the interactions.  Secretary for the Commission for Ecumenism, Bangalore Archdiocese, Fr. JA Nathan also addressed the gathering.   Journalist Anto Akara who authored "Khandamal- a blot on Indian Secularism" presented his book and shared his first hand experience of the travails of Christians in Orissa and the Government apathy.
 
More frequent meetings are scheduled to take place to discuss issues affecting the community in Karnataka. A bigger gathering of an expected 1000 priests, pastors and laity from various denominations is scheduled to take place at St. Josephs High School on 13th December.