By Verghese V Joseph –
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) vehemently objected to a fake letter being circulated across various social media platforms just ahead of the Karnataka legislative assembly elections. The State goes to polls on May 12.
The fake email purported to be from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India to Bangalore’s archbishop asking him to convert Lingayats in the state to Catholicism, has gone viral on social media and WhatsApp.
Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, Secretary General, CBCI warned that “The circulation of this letter just before the Karnataka elections is a disgraceful mischievous ploy.” The Bishop warned that, “We reserve the right to take legal action against those involved in making and promoting that letter,”
Significantly, Bishop Mascarenhas highlighted several glaring errors in the March 28 letter allegedly written by Cardinal Oswald Gracias to Archbishop Bernard Moras of Bangalore in the wake of the Karnataka government’s decision to grant religious minority status to Lingayat community.
He pointed out that “Cardinal Oswald Gracias is the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India. He is not the secretary general … as alleged by those who are circulating and promoting this letter.” The letter was neither written on a letterhead nor carried a signature. “The language mistakes in that letter point out that it could not have originated from our office,” Bishop Mascarenhas stated.
He said that neither Cardinal Gracias nor the bishops’ conference would ever “indulge in divisive tactics as indicated in that letter.”
The “fake” letter begins thanking God for the Karnataka government’s decision on the Lingayat community that it says was an answer to the Church’s prayers. It also alleges that the Vatican embassy officials had met the Karnataka rulers on December 21, 2013 and several times later to press for separate religious status for Lingayats.
“Let’s work hard for the rich harvest of souls of souls in Karnataka,” says the letter that lists several steps to evangelize the followers of Lingayats. It wants the Church to build an “emotional bridge” with Lingayat religious leaders and institutions by 2020 to effect 5 percent conversion of the community by 2043.
The Siddaramaiah led Congress government’s March 22 decision on Lingayats reportedly has great implications on the assembly elections. The community currently forms 17 percent of Karnataka’s population.
Lingayats, a distinct Shaivate religious tradition, are followers of the 12th century poet-philosopher-social reformer Basaveshwara who rebelled against established Hindu tradition by defying the caste system and Vedic rituals.
While strongly condemning the disruptive nature of the letter, CBCI called the email a fake and questioned the timing of the letter on the eve of elections in Karnataka and called the document a “disgraceful mischievous ploy”.