Bengaluru: Catholics in the city have come in defence of Archbishop Bernard Moras, who has been served with a contempt notice for not reopening St Paul the Hermit Church in Nagenhalli.

A statement issued on Wednesday, by the Concerned Catholics of Bangalore, said that a small group of people, “Some of whom are obviously misguided and ill-informed, with the support of anti-social forces,” were tarnishing the image of the Church and the Archbishop of Bangalore with regard to St. Paul’s Hermit Church, Nagenahalli ever since the Archbishop sought to prevent the erection of the bust of Fr. Chowrappa Selvaraj in the Church premises.

On April 19, Archbishop Bernard Moras had warned the parishioners against putting up a statue of Fr Selvaraj, also know by the name Fr Chasara, as it was against the prescribed norms of the Code of Canon Law that governs Catholic Churches all over the world. A specific warning under Code 1187 of Canon Law was served, saying the church will be closed if the warning was not heeded. However, when parishioners went ahead with the installation of the statue, the Archbishop issued a canonical decree closing the church for willful defiance of the canonical warning, Times of India reported.

According to Petricho Prabhu, it is imperative at this point that the state police complete the investigation of the Fr KJ Thomas’ murder in St Peter’s Seminary in 2013.

“Fr Chowrasa Selvaraj is on the of the persons chargesheeted in the case and some of the protesting parishioners are also included additional chargesheets filed by the police. Even if the parishioners want to put up someone’s statue, shouldn’t it be someone with more merit, more excellence in the field?” he asked.

“We want the public to know the facts about Fr. Chasara and his followers. The argument that Fr. Chasara had built the Church and they wished to honour him by erecting his bust for the services rendered by him is totally fallacious as his posting to head the Church was only incidental. It is common knowledge that all churches across the globe are constructed by one priest or the other with the support and contributions from the public. Busts of such priests are not permitted to be installed by canon law,” said Fr Ambrose Pinto.

He added that obedience to the Archbishop on matters pertaining to the Church is the basic essential and requisite of a Catholic and more of a priest. “Those who have taken the Archbishop to the court for discharging his duties as per the Code of Canon Law are grossly misled and ill-informed. They can at least be described as led by a “lunatic fringe”,” he said.

The statement, endorsed by Justice Francis Michael Saldanha, Former Judge of the Karnataka High Court, Michael Fernandes, former MLA, JWJ Lobo, former Director, Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, TJ Abraham, Anti corruption activist, Lillian Xavier, Former member of Karnataka Public Service Commission and others, condemned and denounced the installation of the bust, the hunger strike from the parishioners that followed the closure of the church and the court case against the Archbishop.

“We believe that the church of Bangalore is committed to pluralism, diversity and harmony and we stand by it,” the statement said.