Piqued by the propaganda against the Church in the social media in the wake of sex-related allegations against some clergy members recently, a group of Catholic priests have opened a Facebook page titled ‘Vigilant Catholic’ to counter the campaign.
Sources said these priests were well versed in the Church’s positions on various public issues and had the legal background to handle the questions raised by online critics. The group administrators would directly contact the purveyors of ‘fake news’ against the three Catholic rites — Syro-Malabar, Malankara and Latin — in Kerala to set the record straight. If defamatory posts and comments continued, the critics would be handled legally.
The group members have not revealed their identities so as to avoid individual criticisms and personal comments. Group administrators said they welcomed healthy discussions from the public on any issue related to the Church.
The page created last month already has 2,000 followers. Sources said that the activities of ‘Christian Helpline,’ a Sangh Parivar-floated Facebook page purportedly standing for the rights of Christians, will be monitored by the group.
Church’s stance
Meanwhile, spokesperson for Syro-Malabar Church Jimmy Poochakkattu said the church did not officially endorse the Facebook group though it was reportedly being run by a group of Catholic priests. “Of course, some of us have shared the contents of the page in our personal groups, but that does not mean that we encourage anonymous online campaign on behalf of the Church,” he told The Hindu .
Frowning upon the ‘undercover and anonymous’ operation of the ‘Vigilant Catholic,’ State joint convener of the ‘Christian Helpline’ Jis Nalleparamban said that people who wanted to fight for the rights of the faithful should not stay anonymous. “We have a clear political stance for the empowerment of the Christian community and we are supported by people with transparent identities,” he claimed.
