Allegations have surfaced claiming the Catholic Church in India is the largest non-governmental landowner, second only to the central government, with clergy allegedly living extravagantly and institutions promoting conversions. A 2025 Organiser article asserted the Church holds 7 crore hectares (17.29 crore acres) valued at ₹20,000 crore, acquired partly through questionable means, and uses services to lure conversions. These claims, echoed by Clarion India and The Commune, misrepresent the Church’s structure and operations. Below, we systematically refute these allegations with verifiable data, using expanded bullet points for clarity.

1. Misrepresenting the “Catholic Church” as a Single Entity

• Allegation: The Catholic Church is portrayed as a unified organization controlling vast landholdings, implying centralized ownership.
• Clarification: The Catholic Church in India is not a single entity but a federation of 174 dioceses, 10,701 parishes, and numerous religious orders and trusts, as per Wikipedia (2006).
• Legal Structure: Properties are held by independent trusts or societies, registered under Indian laws like the Societies Registration Act, 1860, or Indian Trusts Act, 1882, not a central “Church” authority.
• Example: Institutions like St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, are managed by Jesuit trusts, not the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) or the Vatican.
• Expert Insight: Father Babu Joseph, former CBCI spokesperson, clarifies, “Catholic Church’s properties are either purchased or leased by legal bodies governed by existing laws” (News18, 2024).
• Conclusion: Labeling diverse Catholic entities as a single “Church” owning land distorts their decentralized, legally distinct nature.

2. Exaggerated Claims of Land Ownership

• Allegation: The Church owns 7 crore hectares (17.29 crore acres), making it India’s largest non-governmental landowner (Organiser, 2025; Clarion India, 2024).
• Context: India’s total land area is 328.7 million hectares. The alleged 7 crore hectares would represent 21% of India’s land, surpassing the government’s 1.553 million hectares (2021 data).
• Lack of Evidence: No primary survey or official record supports this figure. John Dayal notes in The Quint (2025) that such estimates are “guesstimates” without formal documentation.
• Actual Holdings: Church properties are tied to specific institutions, including 3,765 secondary schools, 7,319 primary schools, and 2,457 hospitals (Wikipedia, 2006), typically on small plots (e.g., urban schools on <1 hectare).
• Comparison: The Waqf Board, another major landowner, holds 1.58 million hectares, a fraction of the alleged Church holdings (The Commune, 2024).
• Conclusion: The 7 crore hectare claim is implausible, lacking credible data and inflating the scale of institutional land use.

3. Misconceptions About Historical Land Acquisition

• Allegation: The Church acquired much of its land during British rule via the Indian Church Act, 1927, some through “questionable means” (Organiser, 2025).
• Historical Fact: The 1927 Act transferred Anglican properties to the Church of India, Burma, and Ceylon, not Catholic entities, which were distinct.
• Acquisition Methods: Catholic lands were often acquired through donations (e.g., Lisie Hospital, Kochi, donated by a Muslim philanthropist), purchases, or grants from Indian rulers like Akbar in Agra.
• Rebuttal: Father A. Santhanam, a Jesuit lawyer, states, “Church properties are purchased and not donated,” unlike Waqf endowments (News18, 2024).
• Context on Leases: A 1965 government circular voided British-era land leases, but no specific evidence shows Catholic institutions illegally retaining such lands.
• Conclusion: Claims of dubious acquisitions lack documented examples and misrepresent the Church’s historical land acquisition.

4. False Narrative of Clergy Extravagance

• Allegation: Catholic clergy live lavish lifestyles funded by vast property wealth (Organiser, 2025).
• Reality: India’s 9,000 priests and 30,000 nuns often take vows of poverty, with urban priests earning modest salaries of ₹10,000–₹20,000 monthly (anecdotal reports from Catholic laity).
• Property Management: Properties are held by trusts with lay oversight, not individual clergy. For example, the Syro-Malabar Church’s CMA association governs 1,514 institutions collectively.
• Isolated Cases: Allegations against figures like Cardinal Alencherry or mismanagement in Pune Diocese are exceptions, addressed by CBCI oversight, not indicative of systemic extravagance.
• Social Impact: Church properties support 85,000 hospital beds and over 50,000 schools, with 60% of schools in rural areas serving marginalized communities (Wikipedia, 2006).
• Conclusion: The narrative of extravagant clergy ignores their modest lives and the social welfare focus of Church properties.

5. Unsubstantiated Conversion Allegations

• Allegation: Church-run schools and hospitals lure economically disadvantaged individuals with services to pressure conversions (Organiser, 2025).
• Legal Context: Strict anti-conversion laws in states like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh monitor religious activities. The United Christian Forum reports only 1,132 alleged forced conversion cases from 2014–2023, with <10% involving Catholics, most dismissed for lack of evidence.
• Institutional Practice: Facilities like St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, and Christian Medical College, Vellore, serve diverse communities without mandatory religious instruction or conversion policies.
• Conclusion: Conversion allegations are speculative, lacking data and contradicted by the inclusive operations of Catholic institutions.

6. Calls for Transparency and Legal Oversight

• Concern: A 2024 Madras High Court ruling suggested a statutory board to oversee Church properties due to isolated mismanagement cases (UCA News, 2024).
• Church Response: Catholic officials argue that existing trust and society laws provide sufficient oversight, and centralized control could infringe on religious autonomy.
• Current Framework: Decentralized management aligns with India’s legal system but can lead to inconsistencies, as seen in Madras-Mylapore diocese property disputes.
• Conclusion: While transparency can improve, systemic mismanagement is not evident, and existing laws govern Church properties adequately.

Conclusion

The claim that the Catholic Church is India’s largest non-governmental landowner, holding 7 crore hectares and enabling clergy extravagance or conversions, is a distortion. It conflates independent Catholic entities, relies on unverified figures, and ignores the social welfare role of Church properties. Enhanced transparency could address concerns, but the allegations are largely baseless.

Endnotes

1. Sashank Kumar Dwivedi, “Who has more land in India? The Catholic Church vs Waqf Board Debate,” Organiser, April 3, 2025.
2. “Catholic Church Surpasses Waqf Board as India’s Second Largest Landowner,” Clarion India, May 22, 2024.
3. “Major Land Owners In India: Govt Of India, The Catholic Church & The Waqf Board,” The Commune, February 13, 2024.
4. “Catholic Church in India,” Wikipedia, last modified April 1, 2006.
5. “After Govt, This Christian Body Largest Landowner In India,” News18, February 11, 2024.
6. John Dayal, “Debunking the Myth: Catholic Church as India’s Grand Landlord,” The Quint, April 9, 2025.
7. “Indian court order on Church properties worries Christians,” UCA News, October 30, 2024.
8. “India court order revives call for law governing church properties,” UCA News, May 31, 2024.
9. “Catholic Church land ownership comes under RSS scanner,” Bharata Bharati, April 6, 2025.
10. “Rahul Gandhi slams RSS over article on Catholic Church land,” India Today, April 5, 2025.