R.L. Francis

R.L. Francis resides in India and is the President of the Poor Christian Liberation Movement. You can reach him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Sudarshan’s Demise...

Thursday, 20 September 2012 00:00 GFP Columnist - R.L. Francis

'...K.S. Sudarshan, the great proponent of Hindu rights and self-respect and former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Chief...'

...will Damage Holistic Indian Society - K.S. Sudarshan, the great proponent of Hindu rights and self-respect and former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Chief, has left the world forever. He took his last breath in Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh. He was fifth Sarsanghchalak of RSS.

He was well educated and an engineering graduate, but he dedicated his whole life to RSS after joining Sangh in 1954. He always believed in service of humanity and he was a deep Hindu devout. He had deep love for his country.

When he assumed the post of Sarsanghchalak in 2000; minorities had lot of ill-will towards RSS.Communal tension was rampant in the country. K.S. Sudarshan tried very hard to diffuse the atmosphere of mistrust by starting the process of dialogue.

The Story of Budhiya Offers Insight

Saturday, 25 August 2012 23:19 GFP Columnist - R.L. Francis

'...This short novel is also story of millions of converted Christians who adopted Christianity and rejected their original Hindu faith in the hope of better life and respect. But, their conditions have worsened and priests are exploiting them even more...'

Church leaders always remain cautious to allegations of conversion and especially when it involves fraud, deceit and greed. They out rightly reject such allegations. People who make such allegations are told to present proof.

“Budhiya-Ek Satyakatha” (Budhiya - A true story) has been authored by P.B Lomeo, resident of Jhansi, and noted Christian thinker and the novel exposes Christian priests. This is not a fiction but a reality and message encrypted on the grounds of truth. It offers church to adopt some reform measures to change the situation. The novel requests church to take positive view of the issues raised in the novel.

An Unwanted Priest

Tuesday, 20 March 2012 00:00 GFP Columnist - R.L. Francis

An autobiography of Father William Premdass Chaudhary – Reveals the pain and agony of Dalits and Tribals after the conversion into Christianity.

Letters can be a great instrument to showcase the socio-political landscape of any society and culture and many people have used this as a great tool to express their feelings – both sorrow and happiness. Letters written by Dalit priest Father William Premdass Chaudhary have also been used to reveal quite a dark world of discrimination and untouchability widespread in the grandiose Catholic Church system and debunks many myths surrounding Church.

Father William Premdass Chaudhary attacks on the problem directly in his latest published autobiography ‘An Unwanted Priest’. He has an inimitable style of writing; he describes life in the Church and priest and presents insight hitherto unknown to most of the people. Father William Premedass Chaudhary does not mince words when he picks pen. He goes on analyzing very far and peels the problem layer after layer with a great precision.

Read Between the Lines: As What Appears May be Deceptive

Monday, 06 February 2012 23:28 GFP Columnist - R.L. Francis

Christians are increasingly the target of Hindu extremists because their schools allow members of the lowest castes to study, Brother Phillip Noronha told AsiaNews. The religious is a missionary and vice principal of Holy Cross School in Whitefield (Bangalore). At present, he is in hospital recovering from the wounds he received when he was beaten up in front of his school.

Union Minister Jairam Ramesh speaks to his heart and he has mastered the art of calling spade a spade. He even invites some controversy unwillingly because of his nature. Recently, while addressing a gathering of bishops, fathers, catholic nuns in a golden jubilee celebration of Caritas India, an organization which claims of working for the rehabilitation of people affected from natural calamities.

He stressed on the need to respect ‘Lakshman Rekha’ by Church sponsored organizations active in various parts of country. Minister even invited Caritas to play an active role in the development of naxal affected regions. He even said that his apt comment with regards to Caritas was not for catholic organization rather it was for Caritas as a social organization.

Union Minister Jairam Ramesh praised the positive role played by Ramkrishna Mission in the Narainpur district of Chhattisgarh. He said that Caritas India can work hand in glove with Rural Affairs Ministry. But, they should avoid conversion related activities.

Open Letter to Pope Benedict XVI

Friday, 23 December 2011 00:00 GFP Columnist - R.L. Francis

Pope Benedict XVI leads a mass at Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.

An Open Letter of Indian Dalit Christians to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI and Church Authority - The debate related to the status of Christians in India is going on and you are already aware of it. There are two points to this wide ranging debate. Firstly, social, economic and political status of converted Christians and second is growing tension in different parts of country due to conversion related activities. The second has more to do with the way catholic church adopts to function in the country.

According to official estimates of government, there are 30 million Christians in the country and 70 percent of this population has directly come from socially and economically downtrodden community popularly known as “Dalits”. However, as per unofficial figures the population of minority Christians is not less than 60-70 million.

Irony is that; these people have been constantly suppressed and exploited even under the structure of catholic church being led by you (Pope). They are ridiculed for their sacrifices made hundreds of years ago for the church. They don’t command equal status in the existing structure of church and this has made the sacrifices futile. Christianity stresses on the fact that God has created people with his own image and this has become founding stone of equality of human values in Christian society. But, they are continuously meted out differential treatment in the name of caste and birth. In order to catch your attention towards these core issues, I am writing this letter to you. I am going to discuss first core issue.

Truth Behind the Appeal to Hindus

Monday, 07 November 2011 03:24 GFP Columnist - R.L. Francis

Vatican’s thinking about Indian Christians is not based on facts and that is why Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue of Pope has issued a message on the eve of Dipawali for Hindus.

In this message, Hindus have been told to fight against anti-Christian propaganda in the country. The appeal says Dipawali is the festival of conquer of light over dark.

It again says that Hindus and Christian should jointly fight and pave the way for religious freedom. The Vatican’s appeal is very shrewd as it is trying to justify Conversion.

Vatican should know that Catholic Church enjoys equal freedom as Hindus do. Representative of Pope Benedict XVI Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio is directly appointing Bishops in India without any problem. They are building new churches and schools in the name of minority rights. How much more freedom Vatican needs?