antichrist (Fri Oct 22 1999 6:18 IST)
What's your opinion on the VHP asking the pope to apologise for the Christian conquests in Goa and Kerala?

antichrist (Fri Oct 22 1999 6:26 IST)
your archbishop (??) can issue a diktat as to how Christian should vote, the mullah can do the same for Muslims but when someone ask Hindus to do the same, you guys shout communalism from every roof-top. Isn't that hypocritical??

John Dayal (Fri Oct 22 1999 6:42 IST)
antichrist: Interesting handle, friend. I'll try to answer all three of your questions as briefly as I can.
1: The VHP, and everybody else in India, has a right to express its/his/her/their opinion as long as this does not create a law and order problem. It is for the govt of India to ensure that the statements of the VHP etc do not disturb communal harmony or appear as being coercive against the Christian community.

2. The Church has made it clear for decades that it does not condone anything dark that has been done anywhere at any time.

3. On the question of the archbishop making any statement on the eve of elections, all that he said and openly was that the people should vote for party and candidates who have a record of not fomenting hatred between communities and who are not made use of religion for political ends.

Yatri (Fri Oct 22 1999 6:24 IST)
Mr Dayal, why is the Pope conducting the mass on the same day as Diwali?

John Dayal (Fri Oct 22 1999 6:44 IST)
yatri: It is a pleasant coincidence that Diwali is on Sunday and that the Papal Mass is being performed on the same day. What a wonderful coincidence! Let us rejoice in this festival of lights.

John Paul (Fri Oct 22 1999 6:26 IST)
Good evening, Mr Dayal. Do you think that by allowing The Holy Father to visit India, the BJP has at last proved its secular credentials?

John Dayal (Fri Oct 22 1999 6:45 IST)
Dear John Paul: It is an NDA government in power, as it was when the agreement was reached on the Pope's visit. The Pope has often expressed his fondness for India and we are happy that the government has reciprocated this feeling.

Durga (Fri Oct 22 1999 6:29 IST)
Namaste, Dayalji. Do you or don't you agree that conversions are a problem in India?

John Dayal (Fri Oct 22 1999 6:48 IST)
Durga: A false controversy is being created about conversions. Any number of judicial enquiries have confirmed that there are no forced conversions in India, either by violence or by fraud or by inducement. It is a vested interest that seeks to create a confrontation when there is none.

The Constitution guarantees freedom of faith as much as freedom of choice and it is left to the individual to decide on his political beliefs as his religious convictions. We hold that conversions is not possible unless it comes from within the human being as a free choice and an individual acceptance of the truth of a religion.

Mathew (Fri Oct 22 1999 6:48 IST)
Mr Dayal, will everything be ok during Pope's visit? We are little worried here in the states. (I am from Kerala, Mr Dayal)

John Dayal (Fri Oct 22 1999 6:51 IST)
Mathew: I am very happy to say that we've been assured by the government of India that nothing untoward will happen during the visit. We have been assured repeatedly that the Pope will be honoured as a state guest and as a religious leader. In fact, we are happy to report that many Hindu organisations and seers have publicly welcomed the Pope's visit to India.

Hary (Fri Oct 22 1999 6:44 IST)
Mr Dayal, why are you opposing the VHP leaders all the time? Can't you just ignore them?

John Dayal (Fri Oct 22 1999 6:54 IST)
Hary: First, a warm welcome to all who have just joined in. Dear Hary, we do not oppose the VHP or anybody else. We oppose anything that negates the values that are the basis of democratic India. We honour a democratic debate and in fact, welcome as an important platform for strengthening the secular character and plural cultural heritage of this great country where I and 25 million other Christians have had the privilege of being born.

Neena (Fri Oct 22 1999 6:46 IST)
Mr Dayal, who are these Dalit Christians? And tell me, you give money, house etc to these poor to convert. After receiving all that why should they get reservation also?

John Dayal (Fri Oct 22 1999 6:58 IST)
Neena: As you are aware, the Dalits have suffered a social, political and economic infirmity for well nigh three millennia. This is so deeply ingrained that a change of religion does not immediately help them. This is true for those Hindus who rejected the bonded status and became Buddhists 2,500 years ago or with Ambedkar 40 years ago. This is also true for the Mazhabi Sikhs of Punjab. This is also true for those Dalits who espouse Christianity.

It is funny that the Indian Constitution gives Mazhabi Sikhs and Buddhists all Dalit rights, including reservation in jobs, but denies it to the Dalit Christians. This, in fact, is communalising the law and using it to prevent people from one specific religion.

Geez Ass (Fri Oct 22 1999 6:58 IST)
JOHN DAYAL. Ha, look at that name! Part Christian, part Hindu. Cross-breed, eh? Yuck!!! And you talk about things holy. Baaaahh!

John Dayal (Fri Oct 22 1999 7:0 IST)
Geez Ass: God Bless You, my friend. My parents named me after John the Baptist. My father's name was Dayal. If it is of any interest to you, my wife's name is Mercy and my daughter's name is Karuna.

manas (Fri Oct 22 1999 6:59 IST)
Mr Dayal: Many of us in the US feel that you are the Ashok Singhal of Indian Christianity. Your comments please.

John Dayal (Fri Oct 22 1999 7:1 IST)
manas: I quote the Constitution. I plead for peace with justice. I bring to the attention of the Indian government the violence and hate speech against my community. Do you really think I am the person you named?

holy ghost (Fri Oct 22 1999 6:54 IST)
Where do modern Christians imitate Christ? A visit to any seminary or major church will reveal the kind of luxuries that priests and nuns enjoy? Mr Dayal, what do u say about this?

John Dayal (Fri Oct 22 1999 7:5 IST)
holy ghost: Have you experienced the conditions in which the nuns work deep in the forests and deserts? All alone, miles from civilisations. in hospitals with leprosy patients and with the dying destitute. Have you seen priests living off dry chapatis as they work in Dalit bastis, teaching the young?

holy ghost (Fri Oct 22 1999 7:5 IST)
Mr Dayal, isn't 'wearing the garb of the place' -- if I am not mistaken something that has elevated to a formal strategy by the second Vatican council-- in essence a patronising attitude towards local religions/cultures/milieus?

John Dayal (Fri Oct 22 1999 7:8 IST)
holy ghost: No garb, my friend. I was born in this land as were my ancestors.

Hellobabhi (Fri Oct 22 1999 7:7 IST)
Why are your nuns and priests wearing such funny dresses? Will it ever change?

John Dayal (Fri Oct 22 1999 7:9 IST)
hellobabhi: Do you find the cotton dhoti of Mother Teresa funny?

Durga (Fri Oct 22 1999 7:6 IST)
Dayalji, you haven't answered me. The Wadhwa Commission found that the Bajrang Dal was not involved in the Staines murders. Do you agree with that finding? I personally believe we cannot give too much credibility to these commissions. Point is, priests do proselytise and this causes tensions in some areas. Do you or don't you agree with this? Unless you do, there can be no meeting ground and discussion.

John Dayal (Fri Oct 22 1999 7:11 IST)
Durga: You just read the last fragment of the Wadhwa report. The judge's findings are a strong indictment of how right-wing communal forces operate in regions of Orissa. All that Wadhwa said, after tracing Dara's Sangh past, was that in the Staines murder, the Parivar's links with Dara could not established by the then existing evidence.

mydear (Fri Oct 22 1999 7:10 IST)
Will India ever have a Pope? How is a Pope selected?

John Dayal (Fri Oct 22 1999 7:13 IST)
mydear: Johannes Paulus II is from Poland. Personally I wish and pray that a future Pope will be from Africa or Asia, and as any Indian, it is my dream to have a Pope from my homeland.

Shah (Fri Oct 22 1999 7:13 IST)
Hello sir. Why are Christians being attacked. We read too much about it. And here even in the US it is a big issue. Why so many attacks?

John Dayal (Fri Oct 22 1999 7:15 IST)
Shah: This is a question well asked of those who wield the gun, the bludgeon or the burning flame. I think we are being targetted because of our work in empowerment of those who have been kept in developmental bondage all these years. Now these poor are asking for their rights, are demanding a living wage, are clamouring that they be treated with the dignity that is their right as human beings.

Daddoo (Fri Oct 22 1999 7:15 IST)
Mr Dayal: Why are priests and nuns not allowed to marry. And what is the punishment if someone of them is found breaking this solemn pledge?

John Dayal (Fri Oct 22 1999 7:17 IST)
Daddoo: Protestant and Orthodox priests can marry. Catholic priests and nuns take a vow of celibacy by choice.

Peacebewithyou (Fri Oct 22 1999 7:15 IST)
SIR! Please answer me too. Can you give us some details of the Pope's programmes in India? Will he be also coming to Nagaland?

John Dayal (Fri Oct 22 1999 7:21 IST)
peacebewithyou: The Holy Father will visit only Delhi. He arrives on the night of 5 November, and leaves early on 8 November. His public functions are on 6 & 7 November and include a solemn ceremony to proclaim the document 'Church in Asia', a Papal High Mass at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, and an important inter-faith meeting at Vigyan Bhavan with representatives of all major Indian religions. His first official engagements are, of course, a call on the President of India, tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at his samadhi, and receiving the vice-president and prime minister of India.

Daddoo (Fri Oct 22 1999 7:21 IST)
SO are you all ready for Pope? Will he speak in Hindi?

John Dayal (Fri Oct 22 1999 7:22 IST)
Daddoo: In 1986, when the Pope first came to India, he greeted the people of this country with "Namaste!" He ended many speeches with "Jai Hind!".

Durga (Fri Oct 22 1999 7:15 IST)
Ok, Dayalji, but why are you fighting shy of answering my question on conversions. Surely you do not expect me to believe your pious outpourings?

John Dayal (Fri Oct 22 1999 7:26 IST)
Durga: It is you who must learn to face the facts. Conversion is an individual's decision. Grant him that human right.

Prem (Fri Oct 22 1999 7:14 IST)
Why has the Vatican's role decreased in world politics and why have they become more of local political leaders and world bankers than messengers of God?

John Dayal (Fri Oct 22 1999 7:27 IST)
Prem: It will be sad day for the world when the forces of moral values and ethics lose their relevance in world affairs. There always will be a place for those who preach "Peace with Justice".

John Dayal (Fri Oct 22 1999 7:28 IST)
Peace with you all. Namaste!