Social activist Robert Rosario, a member of the Association of Concerned Catholics (AOCC) in Mumbai, wrote an email on Wednesday to the Archbishop of Bombay Cardinal Oswald Gracias, urging him to take action against his Bangalore counterpart, Dr Peter Machado, for speaking out against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). Machado wrote to President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 9.

On December 27, the Cardinal's office put up a strongly worded press release on the Archdiocese of Bombay website, saying it didn't take a clear position on CAA. "The ongoing controversy and demonstrations and counter-demonstrations concerning CAA is a cause of great anxiety for all citizens and could harm the country," read the press note. It also pointed out that "religion should never be the criterion for citizenship of a country," and that there was no harm in "changing course if this is necessary for the good of the country and our people."