The Catholic church in India on Friday criticised government plans to allow single people to adopt children, a move that has prompted Mother Teresa's charity to stop adoptions from its orphanages.
According to an AFP report, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) said some of the new guidelines went against the principles of “ethics and human dignity” established by Mother Teresa.
“It would be quite an unacceptable procedure to allow the single parent to adopt a child, as it involves many risks for the adopted children and defeats the very purpose of adoption,” the CBCI said in a statement.
The Missionaries of Charity — the order of nuns that Mother Teresa founded in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata — said earlier it had stopped its work on adoptions after the government introduced new guidelines.
The guidelines, introduced in July but details of which have only recently emerged, allow single, separated or divorced people to adopt from registered organisations in India.
The government says the changes are aimed at boosting the number of adoptions in India.