Prime Minister Narendra Modi was honored with a statue of Jesus Christ by Archbishop Anil Joseph Thomas Couto during his visit to the Sacred Heart Cathedral Catholic Church on the occasion of Easter in New Delhi. , Photo Credit: ANI
TeaThe weeks following Easter have been a political rollercoaster for the Christian community – more precisely, the Catholic Church – in Kerala.
Easter day began with Ernakulam-based Archbishop Cardinal George Alencherry, head of the Syro-Malabar Church, praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and much opposition to sections of the faithful, that Christians are safe in India.
Read this also | Church leaders invited to meet PM during his two-day state visit
The Syro Malabar Church, with some 4.5 million members, has been a divided house for some time with an organization of laymen under the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese unsuccessfully seeking the cardinal’s scalp over a series of controversial land deals . While the Catholic Supreme Tribunal gave a clean chit to the cardinal last week, he is facing trial in criminal cases related to these deals. The Enforcement Directorate also started probing them as possible cases of money laundering. In addition, the Church’s cardinals and synods are facing stiff resistance from lay people and priestly groups over the way Mass is to be celebrated.
In early 2020, the Synod of the Church warned about ‘Love Jihad’. Though the questionable expression has since been officially dropped, Catholic bishops have repeatedly made anti-Muslim statements like ‘Narcotics Jihad’ while interacting with BJP leaders. A few weeks before Cardinal Alencherry presented his Easter views on the BJP, Bishop Joseph Pamplani of the same church offered to remove the party’s inability to field a Lok Sabha member from Kerala if the Center raised the base price of natural rubber to ₹300 per kg. Extended up to ,
Therefore, it was only natural for some groups of Catholic priests and lay people to ascribe a pattern to these developments. Almaya Munnettam, a group of reform-minded Catholics in the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese, condemned these statements, and even equated Bishop Pamplani with Judas. Satyadeepam, a weekly published from the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese with nearly half a million members, reminded the church leadership about the rise in attacks by Hindu extremists on churches and Christians elsewhere in India. The publication pointed to the brutal treatment meted out to Jesuit priest Stan Swamy and why Christian groups were forced to organize a demonstration in Delhi in February. It accused the church leadership of being complicit in crimes against Christians by providing “unquestionable” hospitality to Mr Modi, who maintains a “criminal silence” on attacks on the community when he visited the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Delhi on Easter . The Latin Catholic Church expressed concern that thoughtless statements by church leaders could give rise to a perception that the Catholic Church is closing ranks with the BJP.
Read this also | Cardinal Alencherry’s views come under attack from members of the Church
In particular, the notion is gaining ground and schism within the church is deepening every time a church leader provides an unintended political allusion. His detractors within the church read these signals as a branch of some bishops being investigated for alleged wrongdoing, some concerned about donation channels, and some motivated by plain Islamophobia or opportunism.
All this has worked to the advantage of the BJP, which has maintained a constant channel of communication with some church leaders in an attempt to divide Christian votes in central Kerala. Recently, eight bishops from different Christian denominations met Mr. Modi in Kochi and were briefed about the BJP’s partnership with Christians in the Northeast and Goa. Some of them called for action to stop violence targeting Christians.
Read this also | Catholic Apex Tribunal gives clean chit to Cardinal Alencherry in land deals
However, till now BJP has not been able to bring any big leader of this community in its fold in Kerala. The induction of Anil Antony, a novice leader and son of veteran Congress leader AK Antony, into the BJP helped create some perception about the party’s growth.
Meanwhile, a new political organization named the National Progressive Party (NPP) has come into existence in central Kerala. A predominantly Christian party run by exit leaders from the Kerala Congress (Joseph), which wields influence among Christians in Idukki and Kottayam, the NPP has set its sights on the settler-farmers and echoed Bishop Pamplani’s demand . Though dismissed as expendable forces, these leaders are said to enjoy the tacit support of some church leaders and are soon set to organize a convention of a million people as a show of strength. Are.