In a significant development, 45 senior Church leaders across the country announced the formation of the National Federation of Churches in India (NFCI).

Cardinal Anthony Poola, chairman of the Catholic Bishops Council of India (CBCI) office for Dialogue, has been named as the chairperson of the new body. Archbishop Joseph D’Souza, president of Good Shepherd Church of India and the All Indian Christian Council; Archbishop Joseph Kallarangatt, Mar Bishop of Eparchy of Palai and Rev. Vincent Vinod Kumar, Bishop of Church of South India, Diocese of Karnataka Central would serve as convenors of the NFCI. Father Anthonyraj Thumma, national secretary of CBCI will serve as the secretary of the federation.

Archbishop D’Souza in a statement issued here on Monday (May 11, 2026) said the CBCI’s 4thEcumenical meeting held in Bengaluru decided to form NFCI. The NFCI brings together Catholics, major Protestant mainline denominations, evangelical groups, independent churches and the Pentecostal community.

“The formation of this national platform comes at a critical time, as the Christian community faces increasing systemic challenges and targeted attacks. These incidents can no longer be dismissed as isolated events,” he said pointing out that Church leaders expressed deep concern over the stringent anti-conversion laws enacted in several States, including the recent ones passed in Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra.

The meeting noted that the latest laws ‘under the guise of regulating conversions', effectively criminalised the core Christian practices, house prayer meetings, praying for the sick and instances of individual family members accepting the Christian faith are being treated as criminal acts of ‘mass conversion’.

Archbishop D’Souza pointed out that the Christian community could not afford to fight these challenges in isolation. The establishment of NFCI would enable the community to speak with one united voice, mobilise resources and protect the right to practice and propagate the faith as guaranteed by the Constitution of India, he added.