KOCHI: Kerala’s bishops have snubbed overtures by the state’s communist leaders who are trying to patch up strained relations with the Church to improve their electoral chances at the polls in a year’s time.
The communist-led Left Democratic Front suffered a crushing defeat in October’s village council elections when Christians turned against the party in droves.
But Church leaders say the only way to do repair relations is for the politicians to back away from their “anti-Church” policies.
Until that happens, the Church will not initiate any mediation talks or attempt for rapprochement with the left-front government or the communist leadership, Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council spokesman Father Stephen Alathara said.
“There is no point” in reviewing the Church’s stand against the communist government “as our stand is issue-based and not individual-based,” he said announcing details of bishops’ meeting in Kochi.
The three-day meeting of 38 bishops from Syro-Malabar, Latin and Syro-Malankara rites concluded yesterday after discussing the Church’s strategies in the socio-political situations of Kerala, Father Alathara said.
Political analyst A. Jayashanker says the communists are running scared of another bruising electoral showdown.
“The summersault made by communist leaders and their friendly visits to bishops’ houses indicate that they have learnt a hard lesson in the village elections,” he said. ”Now they are in appeasement mode.”
Communist leaders have said they lost in 520 of the 978 village councils because of the Church’s campaign against them through pastoral letters and parish meetings.
Church people including Father Alathara say the communists, who came to power four years ago, continue polices aimed at usurping Church’s educational institutions and spreading atheism.
“If it continues with its anti-church, anti-people policies, what’s the point reviewing our stand,” Father Alathara asked.
Bishop Stanly Roman of Quilon, who heads the bishops’ education commission, told ucanews.com that the government plans a law to control appointments in state-aided schools.
The Church manages nearly half such state-funded schools in the state and the new move is “an attempt to throttle quality education for the poor,” Bishops Roman said.UCAN