Kerala Church urges believers to live a Christian way

Kerala's influential Syro–Malabar Catholic Church has delivered another letter, a circular instead of pastoral letter, attacking the Marxists for trying to run down Christian beliefs and teachings.

The letter issued by Archbishop Mar Joseph Perunthottam was read out during Sunday Mass in churches falling under the archdiocese of Changanassery.

The circular was issued following the controversy surrounding the administrator of the last rites to the late Marxist legislator, Mathai Chacko.

The Communist Party State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan had created a divide between the Church and the CPM after a bishop disclosed that Chacko had received the rites in his hospital bed when he was fully conscious.

In the circular, the Archbishop reiterated that a true believer could not be a member of the Communist Party since the party sought to debunk the basic tenets and dogma of the Church.

The circular questioned how a true believer can subscribe to an ideology that seeks to negate the existence of God.

“The CPM in Kerala reckons it despicable for its cadres to swear in the name of God… In which case, it’s clear that worshipping God and Mammon won’t go hand in hand”, it said.

Parish priests had started removing Marxists from their posts, clearly spelling out the Church’s intention to maintain a distance from the party, noted a Christian news source.