The weeks following Easter have been a political rollercoaster for the Christian community — more precisely, the Catholic Church — in Kerala.
Easter day dawned with Cardinal George Alencherry, Major Archbishop of the Syro Malabar Church headquartered in Ernakulam, praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and contending, much to the chagrin of sections of the faithful, that Christians are safe in India.
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The Syro Malabar Church, with some 45 lakh members, has been a divided house for some time with an organisation of lay people under the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese unsuccessfully demanding the Cardinal’s scalp over a series of controversial land deals. While the Catholic apex tribunal gave a clean chit to the Cardinal last week, he is facing trial in criminal cases related to these deals. The Enforcement Directorate, too, initiated an inquiry into them as possible instances of money laundering. This apart, the Cardinal and the Synod of the church have been facing stiff resistance from groups of laity and priests over the way the Mass should be celebrated.
It was in early 2020 that the Synod of the church raised an alarm about ‘love jihad’. While the dubitable expression has been officially shelved thereafter, Catholic bishops have time and again made anti-Muslim jibes such as ‘narcotics jihad’ while increasingly parleying with leaders of the BJP. A few weeks before Cardinal Alencherry offered his Easter musings on the BJP, Bishop Joseph Pamplany of the same church offered to remedy the party’s inability to have a Lok Sabha member from Kerala if the Centre raised the base price of natural rubber to ₹300 per kg.
It was only natural, therefore, for some Catholic priests and laity groups to ascribe a pattern to these developments. Almaya Munnettam, a group of reform-minded Catholics in the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese, slammed these statements, and even equated Bishop Pamplany with Judas. Satyadeepam, a weekly published from the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese with some five lakh members, reminded the church leadership about the rise in attacks by Hindu militants on churches and Christians elsewhere in India. The publication pointed to the unkind treatment meted out to Jesuit priest Stan Swamy and why Christian groups were forced to hold a demonstration in Delhi in February. It accused the church leadership of being complicit in the crimes against Christians by extending “unquestioning” hospitality to Mr. Modi, who maintains a “criminal silence” on attacks on the community, when he visited the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Delhi on Easter. The Latin Catholic Church expressed the concern that thoughtless statements by church leaders could give rise to the perception that the Catholic church is closing ranks with the BJP.
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Notably, that perception is gaining ground and the schism within the church is deepening every time a church leader provides an uncharacteristic political signal. Their detractors within the church read these signals as an offshoot of some bishops being investigated for alleged wrongdoing, some fretting about donation channels, and some being driven by plain Islamophobia or opportunism.
All this has worked to the advantage of the BJP, which has created a sustained channel of communication with some Church leaders in its bid to split Christian votes in central Kerala. Recently, eight bishops from different Christian denominations met Mr. Modi in Kochi and were told about the BJP’s partnership with Christians in the Northeast and in Goa. Some of them sought action to prevent violence targeting Christians.
Also read | Catholic apex tribunal gives clean chit to Cardinal Alencherry in land deals
Be that as it may, the BJP has not been able to win over any tall leader from the community in Kerala so far. The induction of Anil Antony, a novice leader and the son of veteran Congress leader A.K. Antony, into the BJP helped build some perception about the party’s growth.
Meanwhile, a new political outfit named National Progressive Party (NPP) has come into being in central Kerala. A predominantly Christian party helmed by leaders who exited Kerala Congress (Joseph), which wields influence among Christians in Idukki and Kottayam, the NPP has set its sights on settler-farmers and echoes Bishop Pamplany’s demand. Though dismissed as spent forces, these leaders are said to enjoy the tacit backing of some church leaders and are bracing to mobilise a convention of one lakh people soon as a show of strength.
