The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, which heavily impacts the minority Muslim community, was enacted into a law by Parliament with the tacit support of the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council and Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) who had no mandate to do that. It is not known as to by what authority (Qua Warranto) these unelected bunch of prelates assumed authority and supported a vital legislation that has far-reaching consequences for India’s secular fabric without any consultation with the Laity.
By doing this, they have violated Canon Law 212 §3 which lays down: “They (Laity–Christ’s Faithful) have the right, indeed at times the duty, in keeping with their knowledge, competence and position, to manifest to the sacred Pastors their views on matters, which concern the good of the Church.”
Therefore, consultation was an imperative and CBCI owes an explanation to the Catholic Laity on this. Be that as it may, even before the ink dried on the Waqf Bill, master-puppeteers of the ruling establishment have shown their true colours!
The web portal of an RSS-linked magazine (Organiser) has in an article sought to draw the Narendra Modi government’s attention towards the land held by the Catholic Church! In an article titled “Who has more land in India? The Catholic Church vs Waqf Board debate,” RSS has claimed that the Catholic Church owns around 7 crore hectares (17.29 crore acres) of land throughout the country and the total estimated value of these properties is around Rs. 20,000 crore, making the Church a significant player in India’s real estate landscape.
The fact that this is recycled information and the article was subsequently taken down are immaterial because the intention to launch one more powerful ‘astra’ at the Catholic Church is crystal clear.
RSS’s hatred towards Christians and Catholics
My personal experience is that even though the communal bigots in the RSS treat Muslims as enemies, their real hatred is towards Christians in general and Catholics in particular. Because despite being a miniscule community (just 20 million i.e. 1.55% of the population) Catholics have been punching much above their weight with their institutions and organisations of excellence in the fields of education, healthcare, social service and charity.
This story was originally published in thewire.in. Read the full story here.
