By Verghese V Joseph –
While there are many issues (the list runs long) that bog down the church in Kerala, the recent statements of Pala Bishop Joseph Kallarangatt of the Syro-Malabar Church on what is essentially a social issue has undermined all the good work that the church in known for.
It is indeed appalling to see both sides taking up cudgels over the issue. The crux of the matter is the allegation that Christian women were falling prey to “love and narcotic Jihad”. Common sense tells us that the issue could have been addressed in a more dignified manner. Instead, by bringing in a communal angle, the issue has unnecessarily has taken a turn for the worse. It has eventually played into the hands of communal fundamentalists who were looking for an opening to exploit the issue to the hilt in the public domain.
Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church Thrissur diocese metropolitan Yuhanon Mor Meletius wisely cautioned against the possibility of church leaders getting trapped into a larger fundamental designs to trigger a division between minority communities. He said the Christians, particularly the clergy, should be more judicious and discreet when making statements on public issues.
More so, in a transformational digital age, the digital world is quick to morph such thoughts into divisive ends. People managing digital media space would know very well how difficult it is to tame the tiger, let alone ride it.
The metropolitan went on to mention that even though the rise in the use of narcotic substances is a major social issue in Kerala, by using the term ‘jihad’, the Pala bishop has given rise to the suspicion that he was trying to associate this menace with a particular community.
According to the Metropolitan, “Even though jihad is an Arabic expression, there is a minority community which uses that expression. When the When the bishop clubs narcotic abuse with that community, he raises the suspicion that he was trying to raise this issue on communal lines.”
“We must not overlook the fact that if our children are consuming narcotic substances, it also means that we have not groomed them well. What is the point in in blaming others for this predicament?” feels Metropolitan Yuhanon Mor Meletius.
Incidentally, in this connection, the Catholic diocese of Thamarassery had to tender an apology for bringing out a catechism textbook with several defamatory and derogatory statements against Islam.
The book was published by the Catholic diocese of Thamarassery. Following which, several Muslim organisations asked the government to impound the book. The catechism book is for students of classes X to XII. Besides the derogatory statements, the book states that “love jihad” is a reality and goes on to detail how Christian women are allegedly trapped. The book claimed that this is an organised activity, and warns the youth against accepting invitations for events from Muslims, two-wheeler rides, and even visits to ice cream parlours.
Ever since the book’s content became public, several religious and progressive organisations have raised their concerns. The issue even threatened to spill over on communal lines, thereby disturbing the fragile harmony, but timely intervention helped end the controversy.
At the initiative of Indian Union Muslim League leader Dr MK Muneer, who represents Koduvally Assembly constituency, Bishop Remegiose Inchananiyil and Vicar General Fr John Oravunkara held a discussion with a group of Muslim religious leaders last week. Leaders of all major Muslim outfits – EK and AP Sunni factions, Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen and Jamat-e-Islami – took part in the discussion. Finally, good sense prevailed and it was decided to remove all controversial content from the book. In the right spirit, the meeting also decided to foster religious harmony and work against social evils.
The situation has left a sour taste and is indeed unfortunate for the region, which has been a cradle for early Hinduism, Islam and Christianity; besides having India’s first Jewish synagogue.
Incidents such as these could not have come at a much worse time for the church in Kerala. In the past few years, the church in Kerala has been rocked by many scandals – financial irregularities, land grab issues, sexual exploitation by people in power, among others. The issue of Bishop Franco Mullackal of the Jalandhar diocese of Roman Catholic Church is still fresh in the minds of the people. In another incident, a vicar from Idukki district was found in a compromising position with a woman. This incident happened at a Catholic church at Vellayamkudi of Kattappana. The pornographic visuals went viral on social media after the vicar Fr James Mangalassery gave his mobile phone for repair. There have also been cases of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church facing charges of blackmailing and sexually abusing a woman. Not to forget the recent furore over the conduct of the Syro-Malabar mass, which has been shared widely on Social Media.
Besides the above, the land scam too has come to bite the church in Kerala. Rejecting petitions by Cardinal George Alencherry, head of the Kerala-based Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, the Kerala High Court last month ordered that he should face trial in all the cases linked to the 2018 Church land scam. The land scam had rocked the Church in 2018 after an internal probe found that prime properties of the Archdiocese of Ernakulam were alienated for a pittance with the Cardinal’s confidant Saju Varghese allegedly operating as middleman in the dealings, starting from 2015. The Church panel had found that the diocese had lost Rs 90 crore in dealings, which allegedly involved black money. In August, a single bench of Justice P Somarajan rejected the Cardinal’s seven petitions against a lower court order, which in 2019 had directed that Alencherry and Varghese should face trial. The lower court had acted upon petitions from worshippers.
Covid-19 notwithstanding, the footfalls in the church have come down drastically and so have the revenues. It is high time that Kerala church deals with such sensitive issues in a manner that appeals fair to churchgoers and stakeholders. It is imperative for the church leaders to introspect, reflect and work even more harder and make known the good work it does for the last and the least. More importantly, people managing church affairs should be even more careful while dealing in sensitive matters where digital world is quick to amplify issues in diverse ways, going by the way hate is spewed online, which is bound to affect younger minds
At a time when Pope Francis’s in his teachings calls for global religious harmony particularly in today’s challenging times, alienating people, indulging in unethical practices, or coming up with divisive comments, thereby, affecting its core faithful base is something that the church cannot afford today. Lest it turns out to be a case of reaping what we sow!
I appreciate the writer for highlighting the present scenario of Kerala Church, caught up in ‘communal tag’ with the Muslim community. This write up also highlights various events reported within the ‘Church politics’ like land deal, Liturgical renewal, sex scandals, etc. Such negative image created by some of the clergy and laity within the Church have added to the issue. International events like turning ‘Hagia Sophia’ in Turky into a Mosque, the recent capturing of power in Afghanistan by the Taliban and its plans to capture non Muslim countries for Narcotic markets, marriage or eloping of some of the Christian girls with Muslim boys who joined ISIS in Afghanistan and syria, ‘In the Name of Jesus’ titled in the Malayalam Movies with sarcastic roles, etc may have triggered the bishop to feel the impending danger to Christian community in Kerala. In the above contexts, besides, ‘gold smuggling and drug abuse continues unabated in the State may have compelled the bishop to ‘warn especially the mothers gathered in the Church ‘ on the feast of ‘Immaculate conception’ of the Virgin Mary. Of course, the bishop could avoided the word, “Jihad”. suffix to ” Narcotic”. All the same, although bishop himself clarified the meaning of Jihad in its original flavor. However, in the contemporary society, this word seems lost its original meaning. Often, ‘terrorists’ were identified with ‘Jihadists” by some Western media. It is a challenge for both Christians and Muslims to ” trailblaze their path towards ‘LOVE, COMPASSION AND PEACE’ that both the religions stands for through dialogue with other religions and culture. In fact, a moment of introspection and correction required of creed and practise.