Kerala Bishop expresses concern over attacks on priests, nuns
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Kozhikode: The Bishop of Thamarassery Diocese, Mar Remigiose Inchananiyil, sharply condemned recent attacks on priests and nuns in the country.
His words were in response to occurrences in Odisha in which clergy and nuns were beaten, as well as an incident in Chhattisgarh earlier this month in which two nuns were detained for eight days.
The two incidents at Chhattisgarh and in Jaleswar in Orissa have rocked the Christian community in Kerala.
“Attacks against Christian workers are continuing. When minorities in Pakistan were attacked, the Central government enacted a law granting citizenship to Hindus. Similarly, should minorities in India be forced to move to foreign countries?” he remarked.
He went on to ask whether Christians should be compelled to migrate to Europe, IANS reported.
The Thrissur Diocese Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church, Yuhanon Mar Meletheos took pot shots at Union Minister of State Suresh Gopi, who won a stunning victory at the Thrissur Lok Sabha polls. Taking to social media, he wrote: “We haven’t seen an actor from Thrissur, whom we elected and sent to Delhi. Should we inform the police?”
Thrissur is home to a sizeable and influential Christian community which includes the presence of a good number of priests and nuns.
The ire by the Christian Bishops is on account of the stoic silence of Gopi even after two incidents that hogged the media headlines.
Incidentally, the anger came at a time when a Hindu organisation in Chhattisgarh has approached the state government with a petition to see that Christian missionaries are banned entry into tribal hamlets.
On Friday, Archbishop Mar Andrews Thazhath, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) urged the Odisha government and the Centre to take decisive action against those who attacked Christian priests and nuns in Jaleswar on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Churches are likely to come out with a pastoral letter condemning these attacks and will be read out in between the Sunday mass.
