India: the audit of Christian properties, a new administrative straitjacket

Context

Since Narendra Modi's third inauguration in June 2024, administrative pressure on India's religious minorities has been increasing. Christians, approximately 2.3% of the 1.4 billion inhabitants, face a climate combining localized violence, anti-conversion laws adopted in a dozen states, and bureaucratic harassment. Aide à l'Église en Détresse and Open Doors have been documenting the continuous deterioration of religious freedom on the subcontinent for several years. Maharashtra, which has over 120 million inhabitants and includes Mumbai, is governed by the Mahayuti coalition dominated by the BJP.

The Facts

On July 24, 2026, Zenit reports the launch by the Maharashtra government of an audit targeting properties owned by Christian institutions in this state. Schools, hospitals, orphanages, missions, parish buildings: the announced inventory affects the entire local ecclesiastical patrimony. The bishops of Maharashtra fear that the move may eventually lead to a challenge of property titles and a restrictive legal framework similar to that applied to NGOs at the federal level through the FCRA law. On the same day, Vatican News reports the condemnation by the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CBCI) of the violent repression of student protests in several universities, a sign of a general hardening of the civic climate.

Doctrinal Analysis

The Church teaches that religious freedom includes, as its institutional dimension, the right for religious communities to organize freely and to own the temporal goods necessary for their mission (Dignitatis humanae n° 4, Vatican II, 1965). The Code of Canon Law (canons 1254 to 1258) confirms the Church's legal capacity to acquire, hold, and administer temporal goods for its worship, apostolic works, and charity. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (Article 10) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 18) explicitly recognize this institutional dimension of religious rights.

Stakes for the Church and the Faithful

Depriving the Church of Maharashtra of its patrimonial base means striking at the heart of its network of education and care, which benefits millions of non-Christian Indians. Catholic schools welcome a significant portion of Dalits and tribes. Confessional hospitals often compensate for the absence of the state in rural areas. Weakening this network amounts to dismantling a de facto public service.

Critical Reading and Blind Spots

The audit will be presented under the neutral guise of financial transparency. The rhetoric is not new. It has been used at the federal level to cut foreign funding for Christian associations via the FCRA law. We must wait for the precise modalities to measure the real impact: geographical scope within the state, penalties provided, articulation with national legislation. A point to watch: the reaction of the Asian bishops' conferences meeting in Jakarta at the same time as the announcement, and the possible extension of the device to other states governed by the BJP.

To Reflect and Act

Pray for the bishops and Catholics of Maharashtra, support Aide à l'Église en Détresse and the congregations present on the ground, alert European elected officials to the continuous deterioration of religious freedom in India.