Author:
Publication: www.123bharath.com
Date: September 30, 2004
URL: http://www.123bharath.com/news/index.php?action=fullnews&id=24360
Denouncing forcible conversion as
a "very bad" strategy to spread religion, Supreme Head of Syrian Church
Ignatius Zakka I Iwas today said some sections were trying to "buy" people
to their fold.
"We see some people from the West
who have their own new methods, they approach people and persuade them
to switch to those ideas. These people who are not part of any church but
certain sects or communities, help to buy people which is very bad," Zakka
Iwas told reporters here.
Pointing out that it is "our" duty
to share the teachings of Christ, he said, "we do not force people to follow
the church." Asked about the increasing attacks against Christians in India,
he said he was sure that the governments concerned are "wise and capable"
to solve the problem.
"These attacks are not new and it
is happening all over the world. But we do not know who are behind these
attacks," he added.
When quizzed on the feud between
two factions in the Syrian Jacobite Church, Iwas, on his third visit to
the country after being concecrated as the Patriarch of Antioch and all
the East, said "if anybody wants to separate then we cannot question them."
"They (orthodox faction) have their own ideas. They are talking about nationalism.
They are foloowing crazy ideas like these in religious matters. These ideas
will not bring us together and we will lose a lot," he said.
None from the orthodox faction contacted
him, he said. Some people even tried to prevent him from visiting India.
PTI
