Thai bishop: Pope’s visit a significant moment for small Catholic community

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves to the his supporters during a political event organised by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the GMIT College Grounds on March 25, 2023, in Davangere, India. / Credit: Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images

Thrissur, India, Oct 4, 2023 / 13:45 pm (CNA).

An elderly Catholic priest in India’s Kerala state was suspended from priestly duties for joining India’s ruling BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party or Indian People’s Party), which is known for pursuing a Hindu nationalist agenda.

The BJP is the party of Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi. The priest’s action took place at a time of rising persecution of Christians in India. According to the United Christians Forum (UCF), in the first eight months of 2023, 525 incidents of violence against Christians have been reported in 23 states of India.

“There was no option but to act, as it has become a scandal to the faithful,” Bishop John Nellikunnel of the Diocese of Idukki told CNA about the Oct. 2 suspension of Father Kuriakose Mattam, vicar of St. Thomas Parish of Mankua.

“His action violated the canon law, which prohibits priests from joining political parties without permission,” Nellikunnel said.

Elaborating further, Nellikunnel noted: “It seems that Father Kuriakose, who is close to retirement [he will be 75 in six months], was misled into joining the BJP. As the news spread, the priest was also disturbed. So, he was moved out.”

Father Jins Karackattu, spokesperson for the diocese, told CNA that a couple of local Catholics who are actively associated with the BJP had “lured” the elderly priest into joining the BJP two weeks ago, promising him a quick repair of roads in the area.

When Idukki district BJP leaders made public on Oct. 2 the photos and videos of the elderly vicar of the remote parish “taking BJP membership” on the church premises, parishioners rushed to the church.

“As the news spread, Father Kuriakose was agitated and locked himself up. Diocesan officials rushed and shifted him to the retirement home for priests,” a local Catholic said.

“We welcome the action by the diocese. The BJP propaganda is embarrassing for the Christian community,” Father Jacob Palackappilly, deputy secretary general of Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council, told CNA.

“Their statement about the ‘entry of the Catholic priest to BJP’ is very funny. The party is trying to fool the Christians with such gimmicks. There should be no confusion as to the agenda of the BJP with Christians being harassed and persecuted under their rule in several states,” Palackappilly said. 

BJP leaders have of late made a push to reach out to Christians in Kerala. While Modi visited the Sacred Heart Cathedral in New Delhi on Easter, BJP leaders claimed to have visited 10,000 churches and Christian homes in Kerala offering “Easter greetings.” 

Kerala is home to nearly 7 million Christians who trace their faith to St. Thomas the Apostle, who landed on the Kerala coast in 52 A.D. 

The BJP is not represented among Kerala’s 20 seats in the national Parliament, nor in the 140-member Assembly of Kerala.

KS Aji, of the BJP, based in Idukki, posted on Facebook that the elderly priest joined the BJP after “observing the current situation in the country.”

Aji also shared the Indian Express report that included photos of himself with Father Mattam as he was joining the BJP wearing a party shawl on his neck.

News of the Catholic priest joining the BJP has gone national, with leading pro-BJP news outlets including the national TimesNow channel carrying the story “Catholic Priest in Kerala Suspended After Joining BJP.” 

“This incident shows how the BJP is trying desperately to get a foothold among the Christians,” KM Francis, president of Kerala Catholic Federation, told CNA.   

“With the bloodshed in Manipur exposing their anti-Christian agenda, BJP is exploring new tricks as the [national] election is forthcoming,” Francis noted.

The BJP heads both the federal government and state government in Manipur where ethnic Kuki Christians have been targeted in ethnic clashes with majority ethnic Meiteis. Nearly 200 have been killed, and over 60,000 Kukis refugees have fled, along with 10,000 Meiteis.

The priest’s public act is similar to one that took place in eastern West Bengal state in March 2021, when the BJP announced that a senior priest of the Kolkata Archdiocese, Father Rodney Borneo, would join its ranks publicly, shocking the minuscule Christian community in the state.

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New Delhi, India, Jul 22, 2017 / 06:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The bishops of India have offered their congratulations to the country’s newly elected president, Ram Nath Kovind, urging him to live out the oath he will take to serve the well-being of the people.

India’s presidency is largely a ceremonial role, while the prime minister is head of government and leader of the executive branch.

In a July 20 statement the Indian bishops congratulated Kovind, assuring him “of our prayers for his good health and for wisdom and strength that he might guide our beloved country towards peace, development and justice for all peoples.”

“We pray that God may assist him, that, as per the Oath of Office, he will strive ‘to the best of his ability to preserve, protect and defend the constitution and the law, and that he will devote himself to the service and well-being of the people of the Republic of India.’”

The bishops closed their statement praying that under his leadership India would “march towards greater heights,” and again assured the president-elect of “our loyalty and support in the service of our country.”

India’s presidential election was held July 17, with the final votes counted July 20. The term of the country’s former president,  Pranab Mukherjee, is set to end July 24.

Kovind, part of India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was backed by the governing National Democratic Alliance coalition, and ran against opposition candidate Meira Kumar of the Indian National Congress.

The president-elect is a Dalit and a lawyer, and has served in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament. Most recently he served in the largely ceremonial post of governor of Bihar state.

The election comes in wake of a recent uptick in the number of “mob lynchings” happening in India, in which members of the country’s Hindu majority carry out acts of violence against those, typically from minority religions such as Islam, accused of killing cows, a sacred animal in the Hindu religion.

Attacks against minorities, particularly Christians and Muslims, are common in India. They include anything from jeering, violence, forced conversions, and the burning of property, and frequently go under-reported.

According to Al Jazeera, the mob lynching of Muslims began to gain wider public attention in 2015 when 52-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq was beat to death by an angry mob who accused the man of eating beef.

Since his death, attacks against Muslims related to the slaughtering of cows have increased, with multiple attacks against minorities reported in 2015 and 2016, and at least seven such incidents between March and May of this year.

The latest, Al Jazeera reports, was the June 22 murder of three Muslims in West Bengal who had been accused of smuggling cows, and the June 27 attack against a man accused of killing a cow. The man survived, but was rushed to the hospital in critical condition.

On July 16, around 40 religious leaders and intellectuals from across India gathered in Delhi to address the increase of violence,  a “disregard for the rule of law” and the spread of an “environment of hate” throughout the country.

Backed by the Indian bishops’ conference, attendees urged the government to end “impunity which was at the root of the atmosphere of fear that stalks the land today” and threatens “not just secularism, but the Constitution and the democratic fabric of the country.”

They expressed their shock at the increased number of lynchings carried out on the pretext of protecting cows, stressing that in these cases, the state governments and police forces “acted against the guilty in an impartial manner.”

Past violence carried out against minorities in the country has largely been attributed to the radical Hindu group Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, also referred to as the RSS.

They were established in 1925 with the goal of establishing “Hindutva,” or “Hindu-ness,” and have been banned three times in post-independence India, with all three bans eventually being lifted.

Critics of the group have often refered to them as a sectarian, militant group who believe in the supremacy of Hindus and who preach hate against Muslim and Christian minorities. Narendra Modi, elected India’s prime minister in May 2014, was a full time worker with the RSS prior to his election.

As BJP spokesman in 2010, Kovind said that “Islam and Christianity are alien to the nation.”

The RSS sits on the right-wing and has no official registration in India. However, they maintain strong ties with the BJP, of which president-elect Kovind is a part, raising questions as to how much action will be taken against minority violence in the future. Kovind is also close to the RSS.

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CNA Staff, Jun 1, 2020 / 10:00 am (CNA).- Hong Kong police have reportedly curtailed a vigil for the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre, citing public health concerns.

The cancellation of the annual vigil comes after the Chinese legislature last week moved to impose security laws on Hong Kong that democracy advocates say completely undermine the region’s autonomy.

On Monday, the city’s police force sent a letter to the organizer of the Tiananmen vigil saying that the annual event could not take place out of caution for spreading the new coronavirus, the Hong Kong Free Press reported. The police said they were extending current public health restrictions on gatherings to the event.

It is reportedly the first time in 30 years that the vigil will not take place in Hong Kong, which commemorates the killing of hundreds pro-democracy protesters by the Chinese military in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, on June 3-4 in 1989. 

The “special administrative regions” of Hong Kong and Macau are the only places in China where the events have been publicly commemorated. Vigils for the 30th anniversary of Tiananmen last year were censored in the Chinese mainland. The annual vigil in the city’s Victoria Park draws large crowds every year. In 2019, organizers estimated participation at 180,000, though police announced a crowd size of only 40,000.

As a “special administrative region” of China, Hong Kong has its own legislature and economic system as part of the “one country, two systems” agreement when the United Kingdom transferred control of the territory to China in 1997.

While tensions with the Chinese mainland have existed since the handover, in recent years pro-democracy advocates have voiced increasing concerns that the city’s autonomy is in jeopardy.

Last summer, Hong Kong’s legislature introduced a controversial bill that would allow for extradition of alleged criminals to the Chinese mainland; the bill was pulled after months of large-scale pro-democracy protests. Mass demonstrations and street protests continued throughout the second half of 2019, with some Catholic students taking a role in the protests to push for autonomy and religious freedom.

Last month, China moved to impose new security and anti sedition measures on Hong Kong, prompting international observers to declare that the region is no longer autonomous.

After efforts to pass the law on the island stalled, on May 21 the mainland government announced a plan bypass Hong Kong’s legislature, criminalizing acts that are interpreted to be a subversion of state authority, foreign interference, or secessionist. On May 28, the national legislature passed a resolution to allow for the security laws to be imposed on Hong Kong. The vote carried by a margin of 2,878 to 1, with the single delegate from Hong Kong opposing the measure.

Cardinal Joseph Zen, the bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, told CNA on May 27 that “We have nothing good to hope for. Hong Kong is simply completely under [China’s] control.”

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated on May 27 that “[n]o reasonable person can assert today that Hong Kong maintains a high degree of autonomy from China, given facts on the ground.” A May 28 joint statement of the U.S., Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom expressed “deep concern” over the security law, saying it would “dramatically erode Hong Kong’s autonomy.”

Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), who authored the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act which passed the U.S. House last year, said that Beijing’s actions are linked to its systematic repression of human rights throughout the whole country.

“It would be myopic for the world not to recognize Xi Jinping’s assault on Hong Kong including the new draconian national security legislation as part of the Chinese communist government’s exponential increase of abuse that includes genocide against Muslim Uyghurs, the massive crackdown on religious freedom, the pervasive use of torture against prisoners of conscience, coercive population control including forced abortion and COVID-19 lies that launched a pandemic,” Smith said.

“The United States—even if we have to go it alone—must impose sanctions.” he said.

On May 30, President Trump announced that the U.S. would revoke its policies conferring special treatment on Hong Kong and revise the State Department’s travel advisory to the region.

The Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong has been led temporarily by retired Cardinal John Tong Hon since January of 2019. Cardinal Zen told CNA his concern that the next bishop of Hong Kong would have Beijing’s approval.

“And you can just imagine, in all these years, with all the persecution increasing in China, with all the cruelties, the brutalities of the police on our young people— no word from the Vatican. No word. Not one word,” Cardinal Zen said.

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