Hermit Indian priest complains of threat to life

A Catholic priest in a northern Indian state has received death threats from hardline activists after being questioned by police this week on suspicion of trying to convert Hindus who frequent his prayer center.

Iswardham (abode of God), a prayer center Father Vineet Vincent Pereira runs in Mohammadabad in Mau district in Uttar Pradesh, is mainly visited by Hindus who hold Jesus in high esteem.

Around 1,500 people, mostly Hindus who call themselves Krist Bhaktas (devotees of Christ), attend on Fridays and Sundays prayer services conducted by Pereira, who lives like a hermit. 

“I'm getting open threats from hardline Hindu activists,” said the priest, who began the prayer center 11 years ago.

Pereira, attached to Varanasi diocese in Uttar Pradesh, says the threats came after he appeared on the police's radar for allegedly violating a stringent anti-conversion law the state introduced in 2021. 

“The police interrogated me as I was accused of converting Hindus to Christianity,” he told

Ashutosh Singh accused the priest of brainwashing the Hindus to convert them to Christianity.

Singh named Pereira and 10 others in the complaint.

"We questioned them but could not find any evidence,” said a police official, who was part of the investigation.

Pereira said he thought "everything would be settled after the interrogation but the Hindu activists started to threaten me"

They would arrive in groups and shout slogans against Christians by standing in front of the prayer center. They uprooted a signboard of the prayer center and painted the slogan “Jai Shree Ram” (hail Lord Ram) on the wall, he said.

Pereira said he holds daily prayer services which are attended by mostly Hindus who follow the teachings of Christ but are not converted to Christianity.

“We don’t convert anyone, but still we are accused of conversion,” the priest added.

The priest said he used to conduct prayer meetings in nine nearby villages but stopped after he was attacked on at least four occasions in the past.

In 2018, the priest was attacked by activists belonging to the Hindu Yuva Vahini (youth force). Not long after the attack, police arrived and arrested him based on a complaint made by his attackers. The priest was charged with rioting and disturbing public peace.

Pereira claimed some people attending his prayers were healed of sickness and this attracted more people — almost all Hindus — to the center.

Krist Bhaktas are primarily Hindus who adopt the teachings of Christ in their lives but do not become Christians.