Bengaluru: The protesters against the closure of the St Paul the Hermit Church at Nagenahalli in the City because of the ‘illegal’ erection of the statue of Fr Chowrappa Selvaraj alias Chasara within a month of his death are “part of a conspiracy being executed at the behest of organisations belonging to Protestant denominations collecting funds to break the Catholic Church, claimed the Indian Christians United Forum (ICUF) and other organisations.

In a joint press release issued by ICUF President T J Abraham and Secretary Aida Margarent D’Cunha, Federation of Karnataka Christians Catholics Association (FKCCA) President SilvianNorohna and Secretary Ida Sequeira and Karnataka Sarva Bhasha Catholic Association President Richard D’Souza, alleged that “some people claiming to be Catholics, who bear Christian names’’ were part of the conspiracy to break the Catholic Church.

They have announced plans for organizing a massive protest rally in the City in the first week of August to denounce the actions of the people, who are out to break and destroy the Catholic Church.

They claimed that the protesters rallying behind the statue of Fr Chasara and demanding reopening the St Paul the Hermit Church, which had been ordered to be closed by Archbishop of Bangalore Dr Bernard Moras for erecting the statue of Fr Chasara in defiance of his canonical warning against installing the statue of a person without being declared a Saint or beatified by Vatican as per the Code of Canon Law, were receiving ” foreign funds from Protestant agencies routed for the division of Catholic church.’’

They alleged that the funds are routed “through a Trust, ‘Carmel Seva Sangha trust’ headed by Fr A Thomas, who is also the President of the ‘Akhila Karnataka Kannada Dharmagurugala Balaga’. The funds are from an organization called the FODERVEREIN BEDEN, GERMANY, which is actually funded by Protestant Funding Agencies such as Billy Graham Evangelist Association, Post Box.1270, Charlotte, No.28201, 1270, USA and Assemblies of God-Agape Ministries and also the Living Word Fellowship, 512, Beach Pond Road, Voluntown, CT 06384, Box,36, USA and also IN ASIAN MISSION, Box531011, Birmingham, AL-35253, USA, etc.’’

“The funds received from these Protestant Funding Agencies are aimed to destroy the peace in the Catholic Church,’’the statement said and claimed that “around Rs.2,67,48,999.00/- (Two Crore, Sixty seven lakhs, Nine hundred and Ninety Nine rupees)’’ have been received,’’ they alleged.

The developments pertaining to the closure of the St Paul Paul the Hermit Church by the “so-called parishioners’’ have been “disturbing the sentiments of the true Catholics, who have absolute faith in the Catholic Church,’’ the statement said, adding: “The so called parishioners who are pretending to be protesting in the St. Paul the Hermit Church, in Nagenahalli, have been continuously insulting the Archbishop of Bangalore and have been demonstrating their Anti-Catholic motives more often publicly and intentionally to tarnish the image of the Catholic community itself.’’

The leadership of the entire protest aimed at disturbing the peace in the Catholic Church is of two priests, who are accused in the murder case and another lay person also an accused in the murder of Fr K J Thomas. All these are now on bail and a person, who is declared by the Police as a rowdy-sheeter. These people, who are out on bail, do not have any respect for the Constitution of the Catholics, The Cannon Law, at all and have been exhibiting utter disrespect and are dishonoring the Catholic Church and the Archbishop continuously, the statement said.

“As every Indian Citizen is bound by and required to respect the Constitution of India, all the Catholics world over are also bound to respect and honour the Cannon Law. Those who do not respect the rules framed for the Church under the Canon Law cannot continue to be the members of the Catholic Church. It is easy to instigate people and in this direction a bust of Fr Chasara, who had died due to the liver damage, caused by excessive consumption of liquor, was overnight put up in the compound of the Nagenahalli church, which is not permissible according to the Catholic Cannon Law. Yet, in absolute contempt of the Cannon Law and the under provocation from the leadership of the ‘Akhila Karnataka Kannada Dharmagurugala Balaga’, the ‘Catholic Christian’s Religious Right’s Forum’ have violated the rules regarding the installation of the Images/statues in the Catholic church and are involved in several activities that are Anti-Catholic,’’ the statement said.

The statement said the Church premises are a sacred place where the images or statues of saintly people are kept. “According to the Catholic Cannon Law only images of Saints declared by the Pope or people who have contributed outstandingly to the Church or the Society can only be installed with the permission of the concerned Bishop. The statues/pictures of any person cannot be kept, that too of a person who has all through his life been a source of embarrassment and has been attacking the Catholic Church, living a life that is most condemnable as a priest.’’

“If a question is raised regarding the relationship of Fr Chasara with Rita Rini, the lady accused in the murder of Fr K J Thomas and in whose favour Fr Chasara had written a will before his death, when the writing a will by a priest is never heard of in the history of the church, that too in favour of an unrelated lady, what would be the answer of the people of the Nagenahalli church or even other Catholics of their relationship?,’’ the statement asked.

“If at all any ordinary lay person makes a will, it would be in the name of the parents, siblings or wife or even a relative. Don’t the people of the Nagenahalli Church know whom this will is written for by this Priest? Yet, would they want an image of a person who has lived an immoral live as a priest to be erected in the Sacred Church compound?,’’ the statement said and strongly condemned the demand for the erection of the statue of people like Fr Chasara, whose “addiction to alcohol and his immoral lifestyle cannot even remotely be emulated or shown as an example to the future generations at all. ‘’

The signatories also alleged that a few people, who were sponsored and funded by the Protestant agencies, have obtained an order from the Hon’ble City Civil Court in O.S.No.4442/16 by intentionally suppressing material facts that the people belonging to this group itself, who have no respect for the Catholic church or the Canonical laws, had already approached the Hon’ble High Court of Karnataka and also the City Civil Court itself in W.P.No.29526/16 and OS.NO.3340/16 with the same cause of action on the same issue, for which the Hon’ble Courts had refused to pass any Interim Order or Stay order.’’

By this act of suppression of the Material facts, these persons have committed an act of perjury and an intentional Contempt of Court, they said and declared that they would be moving the Hon’ble Courts for prosecution and appropriate punishment.

Using this fraudulently obtained order, under the leadership of a declared rowdy-sheeter and an accused in the Fr KJThomas’s murder, people have taken the law into their hands and have broken the locks of the church to illegally gain entry in to the church, the statement said and urged the Archbishop to take appropriate stepsagainst all those persons by approaching the Courts opposing the Catholic Cannon Law and immediately throw them out and excommunicate from the Catholic Church.

(Source: Daijiworld )