From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Jun 29 : As many as 25 eminent Catholics of Bangalore Archdiocese have strongly condemned the installation of the bust of Fr Chowrappa Selvaraj alias Chasara in St Paul the Hermit Church compound in Nagenahalli in wilful defiance of the Canonical warning by Archbishop Dr Bernard Moras, the hunger strike by a small group of misguided people and the filing of court case against the Archbishop.
The 25 Catholic leaders, who have called themselves as the 'Concerned Catholics of Bangalore Archdiocese', including Justice Michael Francis Saldanha, former judge of Karnataka High Court, former MLA Michael B Fernandes, former IG and DGP F T R Colaso, J W J Lobo, former Director of Indian Council of Cultural Relations of the Union External Affairs Ministry and anti-corruption activist T J Abraham, have expressed their "deep sense of hurt and sadness’’ at the action of a small group of ‘’misguided and ill-informed people with the support of anti-social forces’’ to tarnish the image of the Church and Archbishop of Bangalore merely because the latter sought to "prevent the erection of the bust of Fr Chasara in the Church premises’’ in violation of the Canonical norms governing the Catholic Churches.
In their joint statement, the Catholic leaders pointed out that the Archbishop sought to prevent the installation of the bust as it was prohibited as per the "Code of Canon Law governing Catholic Churches all over the world’’ and a specific warning under Code 1187 of Canon Law was served on the Parish Priest of the St Paul the Hermit Church that it shall be closed if the warning was not heeded.
"Upon installation of the bust in the Church compound, the Archbishop had issued a Canonical Decree on the closure of the Church as per the Code 1373 of the Canon Law for the wilful defiance of the canonical warning,’’ the joint statement said and explained that some of the leaders with "ulterior motives’’ had mobilised people for a hunger strike at first to maintain the bust and later approached the court to open the Church and subsequently were instrumental in serving contempt of court notice for not opening the church.
Archbishop Dr Bernard Moras
"The argument that Fr. Chasara had built the Church and they (his supporters) wished to honour him by erecting his bust for his services is totally fallacious as his posting to head the Church was only incidental. It is common knowledge that all churches across the globe are constructed by one priest or the other with the support and contributions from the public. Busts of such priests are not permitted to be installed by canon law,’’ they said and mentioned that the ``more important reason why a bust of Fr Chasara is unacceptable is that he has been accused and charge-sheeted in the murder of Fr K J Thomas, the then Rector of St Peter’s Pontifical Seminary at Malleswaram in 2013, by the State investigation agencies.’’
The statement contended that "if at all a bust in the church has to be erected, it can only beof persons who have excelled in virtue and holiness, commitment, dedication and service to humankind in accordance with the norms of the church.Obedience to the Archbishop on matters pertaining to the Church is the basic essential and requisite of a Catholic and more of a priest. Those who have taken the Archbishop to the court for discharging his duties as per the Code of Canon Law are grossly misled and ill-informed. They can at least be described as led by a “lunatic fringe.’’
"More shocking is the fact that two of the leaders in the protests are also charged in the same murder case of Fr. K. J. Thomas. The Police have not arrested them even after filing the charge-sheet and obtaining non-bailable arrest warrants. Unfortunately, the group has a strong political backing and patronage,’’ the statement said.
"As committed Christians, we stand by the church of Bangalore committed to pluralism, diversity harmony and express our solidarity with the Archbishop Most Rev Dr Bernard Moras for his actions to uphold the Rule of Law in the Archdiocese. We also urge the State to speed up the investigation and trial of the murder case of Fr. K. J. Thomas so that the killers of a scholarly and saintly priest irrespective of their status or position do not go scot free,’’ the statement added.
The other signatories to the joint statement are:
Prof John B Kutinha, Former Member of the Backward Classes Commission, Gabriel Vaz, Former Political Editor, The Economic Times, Bengaluru, Lillian Xavier, Former member of Karnataka Public Service Commission, M. Satyabhushan of M. M. Labs, B. G. Koshy, Entrepreneur, Daniel Prabhu, Proprietor, Spandana Innovations, Bengaluru, Pericho Prabhu, Coordinator of All Indian Christian Council, Anthony Melvin D Paul, Human Resource Trainer, Joseph Manoharan, Federation of Karnataka Christian Association, Shanthkumar, Managing Director Of Trinity Packers and Movers, Rayappa, President, Karnataka State United Christian Political Front, Alphonse Kennedy, Joint Secretary of the Regional SC/ST Commission, Grenold D’ Almeida, JMJ Enterprises, Advocate Shaji Varghese, Cynthia Menezes, Professor of Bangalore University, Arun Fernandes, Businessman, Jaijo Joseph, Chief Executive Officer, AA Associates, Bengaluru, P. K. Cherian, Governing Council Member of St. John’s appointed by CBCI, Anthony Joseph, Secretary of the State & South Indian Body-Builders Association, and Soosainathan, Former KAS Officer.