Church tells Christians to shun CPI

The Catholic Syrian Church urged Christians in the state to keep away from the Kerala's ruling Communist Party of India, after the recent war of words between the political unit and the Church.

The eight page tabloid–sized newsletter sent on Sunday, was distributed after Holy Mass in all the churches under Thalassery, Thamaraseri and Mananthavadi dioceses.

The church and the CPI(M) have been on a collision course over differences on issues in the education sector.

The church, which has a major stake in education in the state, has been opposing the CPI(M)–led government's policy on self–financing colleges and the proposed reforms in school education.

''The newsletter was not brought out to answer the CPI(M) campaign alone. It commented on this issue because the topic is live now. In the next edition it will be covering some other topic of interest,'' said Fr Thomas Nagaparrambil, Vicar General of Thamarasseri diocese.

The north Malabar area, which comes under the three dioceses, has around 1.5 million Catholics. Most strongholds of the CPI(M) in Kerala are also located in this region.