A Catholic priest has slammed the statements of Synod of Syro-Malabar Church on CAA and 'Love Jihad', saying they had not taken a clear stand against the law and it was not the right time to say something about the latter when the nation is "polarised along religious lines."
Syro-Malabar Church priest Fr Kuriakose Mundadan condemned his Bishops' stand over the two controversial issues in his column "in between lines" in "Sathyadeepam", a weekly run by the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese.
In his recent article "Can Citizenship Amendment and Love Jihad be Intertwined?", Mundadan, a former editor of the weekly, said all religions and castes have taken a clear stand against the "dangerous" CAA as it would "negatively affect" the pluralism and the democratic system of the country.
But a "clear stand" against the legislation was not taken by he Catholic Church in Kerala, he alleged.
While Latin rites of the Catholic Church and its Thiruvananthapuram Archbishop Soosa Pakiam strongly opposed the CAA, the Syro-Malabar Synod, chaired by Cardinal George Alencherry,also president of Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council, merely advised that "the Central government should resolve the concerns and apprehensions around CAA," Mundadan alleged.
He said the laity of the Syro-Malabar Church wanted to now what was happening to the Catholic church in Kerala, which also comes under Pope Francis, "who has taken a strong stand for securing secular values in society."
Attacking the Synod over its statement on 'Love Jihad', the priest pointed out that the Kerala High Court had dismissed such allegations after a thorough probe.
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In 2010, the Government of Karnataka had said that 'Love Jihad' was an illusion, the priest said.
The Uttar Pradesh High Court also in 2014 had rejected the allegations of 'Love Jihad', Mundadan said and sought to know whether anyone had counted the number of men and women converted to Christianity in the name of love.
His article comes two days after the Synod said "Love Jihad is a reality" and alleged that scores of women from the Christian community from the southern state were being lured into the trap of Islamic State and used in terror activities.
When contacted, Mundadan claimed he was expressing the majority view of the priests and laity in the Syro-Malabar Church on the issue of CAA.
"I have not said that there is no Love Jihad in Kerala. What I said was that this is not the time to make such a statement on Love Jihad at a time when the entire country is polarised on the basis of religion", the priest told PTI.
"It was just like adding fuel to fire," Mundadan added.
Kerala Finance Minster Thomas Isaac had said that the allegations of the Bishops have "no factual basis.
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