The Archbishop’s malacious letter has made campaigning murky and partisan
Dr (Mrs) Hilda Raja
The letter of Archbishop Thomas Macwan on the Gujarat election is most malicious and unfortunate. It is a projection of his real intent. He has addressed the letter to Cardinals (Eminences) Archbishops (Graces) and Lordships (Bishops) One feels like laughing at it because it is full of falsehoods. He says not a day passes without attacks on Christians and the churches. This is far from the fact.
The Archbishop should brush up the history of the Catholic Church which committed genocide the world over. What did the RC Church do to the Jews right within Vatican-denied even vaccination to the children, burned women and children within the synagogues? This is just one instance to depict the ‘Humane’ leadership of the R.Catholic church to which Archbishop Macwan belongs. What did the R.Catholic church do with its Inquisitions-all over the globe and right here in India? It destroyed churches-brutalised the poor Indians.
The kind of loot and scams that the RC. Church silently committed and even abetted, is a history. The UPA
government dented and shredded the Constitution and here comes Archbishop Macwan calling upon for safeguarding the Constitutional Rights. He goes further to state that the ‘secular and democratic fabric’ of the country is at stake.
White Lies
And what attributes does Archbishop Thomas Macwan give for being humane? Keep the ‘flock’ from birth to death in its clutches. Refuse them the freedom to think and brainwash them with the notion of One and Only God-which Archbishop Macwan has. If that is not oppression and tyranny then what is it? Is it not laughable that the Archbishop who belongs to the R.Catholic church calls for humane leaders? He has
forgotten the genocide the burning of the witches at the
stake-he has no knowledge of the torture and the Inquisition right in Goa. He has no idea of the forced conversion by luring people with a plate of rice/a loaf of bread-he has forgotten that the Mother Theresa indulged in baptising dying children-refused them even painkillers.
Yet the R.Catholic church saw in her a saint because of the thousands she baptized. Archbishop Macwan thinks that the elections in Gujarat is important because it will set the trend for the country. So he has advised and called upon the Catholics to recite the Hail Mary and Holy Mary. Recite the rosary he recommends. What if these Hail Marys and Holy Marys do not bring in the kind of result which Archbishop hopes for? So after the elections will he accept that the people have voted for ‘humane leaders’ and that the Hail Marys and Holy Marys produced that which the heavens wanted? Will he then talk of ‘secularism’ in the same breath and hail the verdict? The whole approach and the letter clearly depict how ‘unsecular’ the Archbishop’s mindset is-and the R.Catholic church to which he belongs. Where is the relevance for such a call in a secular’ environ? For ages now the Christian churches have destroyed the ethos of this country which was based on
tolerance and pluralism.
Did the Hindus succumb to conversion and that too through violence and the bloodshed unleashed by the R.Catholic church to which he belongs? In fact, all the invaders, be they the Dutch, the Portuguese, the French or the English, belonging to the various Christians churches, indulged in conversion and forced conversions. The Hindus did not-So who is secular and who is tolerant? Can one forget facts of history? Today so much is made of a few incidents and attacks. But the bloody battles and the forced
conversions are all pushed under the carpet. You get what you sow. Why has Archbishop Macwan tried to hide his real intention in ‘beloved country’ and ‘Constitutional rights’ and ‘humane leaders’ et al. If he is honest then he must openly state what his intention is? At least one would expect an Archbishop to speak out his mind with some clarity and courage. This is what this country deserves for giving the Minority Rights-which no other country in the world has.
(The writer is a former member of the National Advisory Council of the National Bishops Conference of India)
