Mangalore: Outlook Magazine Tenders Apology for Defaming Bishop

Media Release

Mangalore, Dec 10: Popular English weekly Outlook has tendered an apology for publishing a defamatory letter against Bishop Aloysius Paul D’Souza of Mangalore in its October 10 issue.

“We sincerely apologize to the Bishop of Mangalore Diocese and to the members of the Catholic community for the oversight and regret the inconveniences caused,” wrote Outlook editor-in-chief Vinod Mehta in a clarification published in the latest issue.

The weekly, without verifying its contents, had published the controversial letter written by one Joe A Lewis which stated that ”a recent raid by the Enforcement Directorate on a bishop in Mangalore resulted in the seizure of Rs 9 crore.”

The letter had also urged the magazine to get the matter investigated.

The weekly, following investigation, wrote that “we are happy to clarify that there was no such raid by the Enforcement Directorate on the bishop of Mangalore and nothing was seized.”

Mehta said he is contemplating legal proceedings against the letter writer for the “false, baseless and ill-motivated allegation”.

Bishop Aloysius Paul D’Souza called it “a victory of the prevailing truth against those who intend to maliciously defame the goodness of the Church. God is with us.”

Melwyn P Noronha, president of the Catholic Lawyers Guild of Mangalore and who headed the legal proceedings, said “the national weekly has investigated into the issue and put an end to the baseless rumors of a few biased individual anti-Christians.”