The National Catholic Register portal reports on a “People’s Tribunal on Violence Against Christians in India,” held in New Delhi on June 1, 2026, which documented a sharp escalation of anti-Christian violence since the Hindu nationalist BJP came to power in 2014. The tribunal, organized by Catholic activist John Dayal, brought together over 200 Christian, Hindu, and Muslim leaders, lawyers, and researchers, and heard testimony from 20 survivors. It examined attacks on places of worship, social and economic boycotts, denial of burial rights, expulsions from villages, and the alleged complicity of police and judicial institutions. The article highlights the “systematic denial of burial rights,” obstruction of funeral processions, and the “growing normalization of hostility towards Christian prayer meetings.” It notes that incidents of anti-Christian violence rose from 127 in 2014 to 834 by 2024. The tribunal’s findings are to be published in a 300-page book. While the article presents a grim picture of persecution, it entirely omits the supernatural dimension of suffering for the Faith, the Church’s teaching on martyrdom, and the ultimate spiritual battle underlying such events, instead framing the issue solely through the lens of secular “human rights” and “constitutional guarantees.”
The Tribunal’s Secular Framework: A Symptom of Modernist Apostasy
The very structure and language of this “People’s Tribunal” reveal the profound theological bankruptcy of the post-conciliar mentality. Organized by “Catholic activist John Dayal” and involving “Christian networks and action groups, lawyers, researchers, and members of Hindu and Muslim groups,” it operates entirely within a secular, humanistic framework. The demands are directed at the “Indian government” to end “impunity for non-state actors” and ensure “constitutional guarantees of freedom of conscience, religion and equal citizenship.” This is the language of the world, not of the Church.
The Church, in her immutable teaching, has always understood persecution and suffering for the Faith as a participation in the Cross of Christ, a means of sanctification, and a path to martyrdom. Pope Pius XI, in his encyclical Quas Primas (1925), established the Feast of Christ the King precisely to remind nations that “not only private individuals, but also rulers and governments have the duty to publicly honor Christ and obey Him.” He warned that “Christ, whom not only was cast out of the state, but was also forgotten and ignored through contempt, will very severely avenge these insults, because His royal dignity demands that all relations in the state be ordered on the basis of God’s commandments and Christian principles.” The tribunal’s plea for “constitutional guarantees” from a Hindu nationalist government, while ignoring the divine constitution of the Church and the Kingship of Christ, is a stark illustration of the conciliar sect’s abandonment of its supernatural mission in favor of secular political activism.
The Omission of Martyrdom and the Supernatural
The article details horrific acts of violence: attacks on places of worship, social and economic boycotts, denial of burial rights, expulsions from villages, and even the desecration of Christian graves. Father Ajay Singh recounts cases where “funeral processions were obstructed, burial in village graveyards was denied, and even the bodies of deceased Christians were allegedly removed and buried against the wishes of families.” Siju Thomas laments “social and economic boycotts, expulsions and ostracization of Christians, especially of newly converted families and members of independent congregations.”
Yet, nowhere in this extensive report is there any mention of martyrdom, the theological significance of suffering for Christ, or the spiritual fruits of such persecution. The victims are presented merely as targets of “violence and discrimination,” their plight framed as a violation of “human rights” and “equal citizenship.” This silence is deafening and reveals the modernist impoverishment of the conciar sect’s understanding of the Faith. The Church has always taught that “the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians” (Tertullian). St. Augustine, in his Sermon 47, De Sanctis, testified that celebrations of martyrs were “an encouragement to martyrdom.” The Catechism of the Council of Trent explains that martyrdom is “the supreme testimony given to the truth of the faith, and the highest degree of charity.” By reducing these acts of hatred to mere “atrocities” or “human rights abuses,” the article strips them of their supernatural meaning and denies the faithful the consolation and inspiration that comes from understanding suffering in light of eternity.
The Complicity of “State Institutions” and the Failure of Justice
The tribunal’s statement highlights “the alleged role of state institutions,” describing instances where “police officers failed to protect victims, registered cases against those who had been attacked, delayed investigations, or pressured communities into so-called compromise agreements.” John Dayal urges “state governments to obey Supreme Court directions in this regard to end the rampant impunity.”
This points to a systemic failure of justice, where the very institutions meant to protect citizens become instruments of oppression. The Church’s teaching on the duty of the state is clear: “The state is happy not by one means, and man by another; for the state is nothing else than a harmonious association of men” (St. Augustine, Letter to Macedonius). Pope Leo XIII, in his encyclical Immortale Dei (1885), emphasized that “the Almighty, therefore, has given the charge of the human race to two powers, the ecclesiastical and the civil, the one being set over divine, and the other over human, each supreme in its own order.” When the state fails in its duty to uphold justice and protect the innocent, it acts contrary to the natural law and divine ordinance. The Syllabus of Errors, in its Proposition 54, condemns the notion that “Kings and princes are not only exempt from the jurisdiction of the Church, but are superior to the Church in deciding questions of jurisdiction.” The Indian state’s alleged complicity in anti-Christian violence, or its failure to prevent it, is a grave violation of the order established by God.
The “Conversion” Canard and the Right to Evangelize
The article notes that “accusations of conversion have become a recurring pretext for violence,” with Vijayesh Lal stating that “recent violence has been justified through allegations of religious conversion.” This is a critical point, as it directly contradicts the Church’s divine mandate to evangelize all nations.
Our Lord Jesus Christ explicitly commanded His Apostles: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19). The Church has always affirmed her right and duty to preach the Gospel and convert souls, for “there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). The Syllabus of Errors, in its Proposition 15, condemns the idea that “every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which, guided by the light of reason, he shall consider true.” Proposition 16 condemns the notion that “man may, in the observance of any religion whatever, find the way of eternal salvation.” The Church teaches that the Catholic Faith is the only true religion, and that it is a grave error to suggest that all religions are equally valid paths to salvation. The Hindu nationalist groups’ accusations of “forced conversion” are a direct attack on the Church’s divine mission, and the conciliar sect’s failure to unequivocally defend this right, instead often engaging in “dialogue” that implies a relativization of the Faith, is a betrayal of the Great Commission.
The Silence of the “Conciliar Sect” and the Betrayal of the Faithful
Perhaps the most damning aspect of this article is what it reveals about the conciliar sect’s response to such persecution. The “Catholic activist” John Dayal, while commendably documenting the atrocities, frames his appeal in purely secular terms, seeking “constitutional guarantees” and “Supreme Court directions.” There is no mention of excommunication for those who persecute the faithful, no call for public prayer and reparation, no appeal to the spiritual weapons of the Church. The “structures occupying the Vatican” are conspicuously absent from any meaningful intervention.
This silence is consistent with the conciar sect’s post-conciliar trajectory. The Declaration Dignitatis Humanae from Vatican II, which proclaimed the “right to religious freedom,” has been used to undermine the Church’s traditional teaching on the duty of states to recognize the true religion and suppress error. Pope Pius IX, in his encyclical Qui Pluribus (1846), condemned the “pest of indifferentism” and the idea that “every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which, guided by the light of reason, he shall consider true.” The Syllabus of Errors, in its Proposition 77, explicitly condemned the notion that “in the present day it is no longer expedient that the Catholic religion should be held as the only religion of the State, to exclusion of all other forms of worship.” The conciliar sect’s embrace of religious liberty as a fundamental human right, rather than a prudential tolerance, has effectively neutered her ability to call for the public recognition of Christ the King and the suppression of false religions.
The “People’s Tribunal” vs. The Church’s Tribunal
The very concept of a “People’s Tribunal” is an admission of failure – the failure of the Church to exercise her God-given authority to judge and protect her children. The Church possesses her own “ecclesiastical forum or tribunal for the temporal causes, whether civil or criminal, of clerics” (Canon Law), and her Magisterium is the supreme arbiter of faith and morals. The Syllabus of Errors, in its Proposition 31, condemns the abolition of the ecclesiastical forum. When Catholics resort to secular tribunals and “human rights” organizations, they implicitly acknowledge that the conciliar sect has abandoned its role as the “Kingdom of Christ on earth” (Pius XI, Quas Primas).
The Church’s true tribunal is not a “People’s Tribunal” but the tribunal of conscience, the sacrament of Penance, and ultimately, the Final Judgment of Christ. Pope Pius XI reminded rulers that “the annual celebration of this solemnity will also remind states that not only private individuals, but also rulers and governments have the duty to publicly honor Christ and obey Him: for it will remind them of the final judgment, in which Christ, whom not only was cast out of the state, but was also forgotten and ignored through contempt, will very severely avenge these insults.” The conciar sect’s silence on this ultimate judgment, and its reliance on secular mechanisms, is a profound betrayal of the faithful.
Conclusion: A Call to True Catholic Action
The suffering of Christians in India is a stark reminder of the world’s hatred for Christ and His Church. However, the response of the conciar sect, as exemplified by this “People’s Tribunal,” is a symptom of its deep-seated modernism and apostasy. By framing the issue in purely secular terms, omitting the supernatural dimension of martyrdom, failing to unequivocally defend the right to evangelize, and relying on the very secular powers that often persecute the faithful, the conciliar sect reveals its spiritual bankruptcy.
True Catholic action demands a return to the unchanging principles of the Faith: the recognition of Christ the King over all nations, the affirmation of the Catholic Church as the only true religion, the defense of the right to evangelize, and the understanding of suffering as a participation in the Cross. The faithful must reject the conciliar sect’s naturalistic humanism and turn to the immutable Tradition of the Church, seeking justice not from secular tribunals, but from the King of Kings, whose reign shall have no end. As Pope St. Pius X warned in Lamentabili Sane Exitu (1907), “the pursuit of novelty in the investigation of the foundations of things leads in our times to deplorable consequences, abandoning all restraint.” The conciliar sect’s embrace of modern “human rights” rhetoric, while abandoning the Church’s divine mission, is precisely such a deplorable consequence.
Source:
India Tribunal Urges End to ‘Impunity’ As Anti-Christian Violence Climbs (ncregister.com)
Date: 03.06.2026