CBCI Stand That ‘BJP Is Lesser Evil Than Marxists’ Is Odious: Catholic Sabha
Mumbai Christian Group Demands Cardinal Vithayathil’s Clarification By SAR NEWS MUMBAI, Maharashtra (SAR NEWS) -- Bombay Catholic Sabha has expressed shock and dismay at the statement of the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, March 18, that the “Bharatiya Janata Party was a lesser evil compared to the communists”. “While the Sabha does not hold a brief for either the BJP or the Marxists, but to compare them and what they stand for is odious, to say the least,” said a press statement released here March 20 by the Sabha president, Dolphy D’Souza. “Religion is a personal matter and when it is mixed with politics – like what the BJP is doing currently – is leading to a divisive polity, demonising the minorities and hate-mongering, resulting in loss of innocent lives and properties,” the statement said. Cardinal Vithayathil’s statement lacks sensitivity to all those Christians who have been victims of such propaganda at Kandhamal in Orissa, Karnataka, the genocide in Gujarat and several other parts of the country, it said. “We are also shocked that one of the leaders of the Church has chosen to speak in this fashion in the run-up to the elections. The Church all along has maintained that we need to vote on secular lines and this statement is misleading. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India must clarify its position and Cardinal Varkey should withdraw his statement,” the Sabha statement said. Bombay Catholic Sabha represents over 44,000 members of the Christian Community in Mumbai.
