Kochi- After bringing former priests and nuns under one umbrella, the Kerala Catholic Church Reformation Movement (KCRM), a Catholic laymen organisation, is on a mission to form an organisation of Catholics who have quit the Church for various reasons.

“There are thousands of Catholics who stopped associating with the church for various reason. A movement has been initiated to bring back those who are spiritually isolated. There are also people who joined other sects like the Pentecost Church in protest against certain policies of the Catholic Church,” said KCRM organising secretary Reji Njellani, The New Indian Express reported.

The initiative by the KCRM has been prompted by the recently concluded global synod on Family in Vatican. “Pope Francis’ message is to take a sympathetic attitude towards those who have left the Church for various reasons,” he said.

Njellani pointed out that most of the people who had left the Catholic Church were sticking to their Catholic faith, though they were not associating with the respective parishes.

“We have noticed that a large number of people have joined other sects like the Pentecost Church. Though official statistics are not available, it is roughly estimated that some of the Pentecost Churches in Kerala grew by 20 per cent in one year. We could reliably understand that Catholics who have joined the Pentecost Church are not leading a satisfactory spiritual life,” he said.

“The KCRM-Priests, Ex-Priests and Nuns Association, perhaps the first of its kind in the history of the Church, was formed under the KCRM initiative. The KCRM believes that issues faced by such persons in their spiritual life could be solved to a great extent,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Kerala Catholic Bishops Council(KCBC) refused to make any specific comment on the KCRM’s move. There is no need to respond at present. Everybody has the freedom to organise. Let them launch and start activities,” said KCBC deputy secretary and spokesperson Fr Varghese Vallikattu.