Cardinal George Alencherry, president of Kerala Catholic Bishop’s Council, said here on Monday that the Catholic Church would accept any decision by the government on the age of marriage of women. He said the Church would abide by the law of the land and there would be absolutely no opposition to the government decision. He was speaking at an interaction with mediapersons at a programme organised to mark the beginning of Christmas season at the Pastoral Orientation Centre in Kochi. He was answering questions related to the proposed raising of marriage of women in the country to 21 years.
He said the canon law allowed the marriage of women from the age of 18. But that would not stand in the way of the Catholic Church willingly accepting a decision by the government.
Alappuzha murders
He said the murder of two persons in Alappuzha should not be portrayed as religious rivalry. He called the murders most shocking and appealed to the media, police, and government agencies not to allow political murders to create divide between religious groups.
The unhealthy competition between political parties, personal rivalries and the urgency to make an impact on the political sphere may end up in murders, he said, and appealed to the authorities to establish peace and end the culture of murders. The Cardinal also said that a decision by the Syro-Malabar Church synod on celebration of the Mass was expected to be implemented across the Syro-Malabar dioceses by Easter. He reiterated that the present exemption granted to some of the dioceses from carrying out the synodal decision was temporary.
