Mother Teresa's canonisation portends more conversions: VHP

Granting of sainthood to a person based on miracles attributed to them was not practical in today's times, said VHP Joint General Secretary Surendra Jain

Mother Teresa's canonisation portends more conversions to Christianity, an issue that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have considered before deciding to send a delegation to the Vatican, the VHP said on Sunday.

"The canonisation of Mother Teresa is an alarm bell that now there would be more conversions in India and more funds (for conversions) would be routed to India," Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) International Joint General Secretary Surendra Jain said here.

He said granting of sainthood to a person based on miracles attributed to them was not "practical" in today's times.

"Do you expect miracles to happen in this age," he wondered.

Jain warned that with more conversions, there would be more unrest in the society.

He said Modi should have considered the issue before deciding to send an official Indian delegation to the canonisation ceremony at the Vatican.

"The issue of Mother Teresa's services vis-a-vis religious conversions is not new. We have been raising it for years. I think the Prime Minister should have thought over it before he decided to send an official delegation to the Vatican," Jain said.

An official Indian delegation led by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is scheduled to attend Mother Teresa's canonisation ceremony at the Vatican on September 4.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his 'Mann Ki Baat' radio address paid tributes to the late Catholic nun for her services to the poor of India, saying that Indians should be proud that Mother Teresa is being officially declared a saint.

The nun founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious congregation that runs hospices in India. She died in 1997.