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Centre's attitude worries Church

Published On : 10 Mar 2016


Bangalore, (The Telegraph): : Cardinal Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, the president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI), has expressed concern that the Narendra Modi government is not consulting anyone even on matters of national importance.

"We find a growing tendency of not consulting anyone. Those who disagree are seen as enemies of this country," said the cardinal, who also heads the Malankara Catholic Church.

The Catholic community has not been included in discussions on education in spite of its vast experience in the sector, he said. The Church runs thousands of schools for the rural poor as well as some of the best-known educational institutions in urban areas.

"When we say 'please include us in the discussions on modernisation of education', it's only because we are in the field," said the cardinal. "We should also be heard in designing a new structure of education since we run thousands of schools in rural areas for the poorest of the poor."

Asked about the problems in education, he said: "What you people call saffronisation of education...."

But the cardinal quickly added that he did not want only the Christian viewpoint to be heard. "We are not demanding there should be just one way (of thought) as we do believe this is a country with diverse reality and culture," he said, before going on to express the Church's concern over threats faced by the secular fabric of the nation.

Addressing the media at the end of a nine-day plenary attended by 180 bishops, the Catholic leader said it was getting tougher to figure out what the current government thought about the rising instances of intolerance.

"Some people often say positive things. But the next day a few others speak just the opposite," he said, in a reference to hate speeches by some BJP representatives. "As we see, there is a growing tendency of fundamentalism and communalism in the country. This has to be stopped because it's against the fundamental nature of this great nation," he said.

The CBCI took note of the continuing fight by Dalit Christians to get the benefits of reservation for Scheduled Castes. "They are being denied this status only because they are Christians," he said, urging the government to allow Dalit Christians all the benefits enjoyed by their Hindu brethren.

The cardinal took note of rising family disputes and increasing consumerism affecting moral values and was particularly concerned about the rising addiction to pornography. "What are you gaining out of it? For that momentary satisfaction you are losing yourself," he said.

The Church has no plans to sanction divorces and gay unions, CBCI vice-president Bishop Andrews Thazhath said, adding there was total unanimity on this.

"We stand with the traditional dogmatic policy of the Church that has been followed from the time of Jesus Christ. We should show mercy, as we know there are problems in families (due to divorces and gay unions). But that's in no way a change in the Church's policy," he said.







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