While various Catholic organisations have vociferously opposed a purported move by the Tamil Nadu Bishop Council’s decision to support the DMK-Congress alliance, it has come to light that it was merely the recommendation of one Archbishop, and was not endorsed by the Council.
“The Bishop Council has not given its nod to the appeal signed by Madurai Archbishop Anthonysamy Pappusamy. A few people who are interested in gaining political mileage and offices are behind the appeal,” said former IAS officer M.G. Devasahayam, who is also the convener of the Joint Christian Action Council and Forum for Catholic Unity, Chennai.
Objections from the community took the form of a petition to the Council, based on the grounds that the religious leadership of Catholics had never resorted to this kind of diktat in the past and should never do so in the future.
Mr. Devasahayam, one of the signatories of the letter questioning the appeal of the Bishop Council, asserted that diktat has been issued by Fr. Anthonysamy Pappusamy in his personal capacity, since there was no resolution by Tamil Nadu Bishops’ Council to this effect.
The other signatories are former IAS officer L.M. Menezes who is the co-convener of Forum for Catholic Unity; F.A. Nathan, Executive Committee member, All India Catholic Union, Chennai; Dominic Savio, President, Chinglepet Catholic Welfare Association; V. Edwin Paul, Organiser, United Christian Movement, Avadi; Richard Lal Mohan, CSI Church, Nagercoil; and advocates G. Alex Benziger, A. Arokiadoss, D.I. Nathan, S. Parisutham and J. Antony Jesu Rajan.
‘Council has no authority’
Mr. Devasahyam asserted that even the Council did not have any authority to issue such a diktat, let alone an Archbishop in his personal capacity. The trouble began when Fr. Anthonysamy in an undated letter claimed that DMK treasurer M.K. Stalin had promised support for various demands of the Christian community, including inclusion of Dalit Christians in the Scheduled Caste (SC) list and re-including those who had converted to Christianity in the list of Most Backward Classes.
“Since the DMK had released its manifesto before we could make an appeal, I spoke to Mr. Stalin and he had agreed to support our demands,” Fr. Anthonysamy had reportedly said.
Alleging that what Fr. Anthonysamy had done was a complete negation of the basic principles of the Catholic Church, Mr. Menezes said the Church worldwide had never participated in party politics. “The Church has always advised its members to exercise their franchise, as it considers doing so is a sacred duty. It has only asked them to vote according to their conscience,” said Mr. Menezes.
Mr. Devasahayam said he had spoken to Fr. Anthonysamy making it clear that his statement was a clear violation of Section 123 of the Representation of the People Act.
“The responsibility of the religious leaders of the Catholics is to take care of the spiritual/pastoral needs of the faithful and not to indulge in matters that they are not empowered to act on,” he said.
‘The Madurai Archbishop’s statement violates the Representation of People Act’
