The All India Catholic Union has demanded the complete withdrawal of the FCRA Amendment Bill, 2026, saying its provisions threaten Church assets and religious freedom.
In a statement, the 107-year-old organisation said the Christian community would not be satisfied unless the Union government withdrew the Bill in full from both Houses of Parliament.
The AICU objected to provisions that would allow authorities to seize and manage the assets of registered organisations. It also called on the government to provide “explicit, unequivocal, and written assurances” that there would be no future attempts through legislation or administrative action to take over Church institutions or restrict religious freedom protected by the Constitution.
“These assets and institutions have been built over decades and centuries by the community with its own money and assistance from fellow Christians across the globe, without government funds,” AICU national president Er Elias Vaz said.
He said Church institutions were being used for humanitarian, educational, healthcare, and spiritual work, including in areas where government facilities do not exist. Any move to weaken them, he said, would affect the public.
The AICU said delaying or withholding the Bill would not address its concerns, especially if such a move was linked to elections in states such as Kerala.
The organisation said a temporary suspension of the Bill would amount to political expediency rather than a commitment to constitutional values. It said such a step would treat the concerns of the Christian community as an issue to be managed for electoral reasons.
Rejecting any partial measure, the AICU said only a complete withdrawal of the Bill would restore trust. It warned that anything short of that would leave “the government’s Damocles sword” hanging over the autonomy of religious institutions.