Catholics want law to govern church properties
July 29th, 2009 - 11:14 am ICT by IANS ( 3 comments )Panaji, July 29 (IANS) Amidst increasing clamour among the Catholic laity over the lack of transparency in the management of assets owned by the church, intellectuals from across the country have now begun demanding a law to govern properties owned and managed by the church.
Speaking during a lecture on “Should there be a law to protect the properties of the Church”, organised here Tuesday by the All India Catholic Union (AICU), former Supreme Court justice K.T. Thomas said that the Roman Catholic church’s unwillingness to enact a law for administering their properties “was on account of a fear that a provision for judicial scrutiny is likely to expose the expenses and the magnitude of wealth of the denomination”.
Thomas also said that in a republic like India, where Constitution was the highest, religious denominations should welcome enactment of laws to administer their properties.
“I would say that those who resist any such law being enacted could have the sinister motive of misusing the funds and wealth of the religious denominations,” he said, imploring different denominations of the church to demand such a law.
Former union minister of state for external affairs and commissioner of the Goa NRI cell Eduardo Faleiro went a step ahead, saying that the Goa legislative assembly was empowered to enact the much needed legislation, which would enable greater transparency in the administrative and monetary matters of the church.
“The legislative assembly is competent to enact a new law as it is within the legislative power granted to it by the concurrent list in the Seventh Schedule of the Indian constitution,” Faleiro said, adding that the new law could be worked out in consultation with the Roman Catholic church in Goa.
Remy Denis, president of the AICU — which represents the Catholic laity of India through 120 Diocesan units nationwide — said that questions were beginning to be asked about the church’s management of its estates.
“We all revere the bishop as our guide on matters of faith and morals, but not in matters of property,” Denis said, specifying that his views should not be construed as representative of the AICU.
He added that the Roman Catholic church in India was “suffering from aplenty”.
“At the moment the Roman Catholic church in India has five times the number of priests as compared to the rest of the world, its budget is equivalent to that of the Indian Navy and it is the second largest employer after the government of India,” Denis said.
The demand for a law to govern the properties of the church assumes significance in face of recent public criticism in the media and by the Roman Catholic laity here, who have accused the Goan church of stonewalling queries about high value coastal properties in its care, which have been have allegedly been sold off to real estate developers.
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Tags: aicu, catholic laity, catholic union, clamour, different denominations, external affairs, goa, indian constitution, intellectuals, judicial scrutiny, legislative assembly, legislative power, minister of state, monetary matters, religious denominations, roman catholic church, sinister motive, supreme court justice, t thomas, union minister
July 30th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
On the 28th of July 2009, a conference was conducted on the topic: “Should there be a law to protect Church properties?”
There were three main speakers. Prof Deniz, the President of the All India Catholic Union, gave his personal opinion that Church matters should remain in Church control, so no law was necessary.
The other two speakers, Eduardo Faleiro and Justice K T Thomas, spoke in favour of such a law. They based their arguments on the fact that India being a Democracy and a Republic, no one is above the law. What is puzzling is that there were almost a dozen priests, including those holding high positions in the Church and in the Bishop’s palace; but they just kept mum.
But I was surprised when Eduardo called for a vote of thanks immediately after the last speaker. It is only when the audience protested that some of us were given a chance to speak. I was one of those, but, constrained for time, I did not express myself completely. I wish to do so in the following write-up.
At the outset, I felt puzzled by the proposed topic. Doesn’t the law already protect private property? I had initially thought that the proposed law would protect the Church lands form being usurped by outsiders, but after hearing the speaker, I understood that they were proposing a law to protect Church lands from being robbed by insiders. It is a relevant thought, for I know it for a fact that many despicable men, wearing the clerical robe, occupy the highest positions of the Catholic Church in Goa.
But, when I look at the type of men who infest the Govt. in Goa, and aware that they will formulate such a law, and further aware that these people are experts at making laws with loopholes and also that these rapacious men are being controlled by the “Builders”, those destroyers of Goa, I say NO!! Let them not attempt to touch Church properties.
See what they have done to Communidade lands. See what they are doing with fields belonging to Catholics. See how Goan houses are being marked for destruction on the pretext of road widening. And observe how Goan Catholic lands are being targeted for acquisition be it for building bridges or for “Public-Private Partnership” or such like. Their lust for land is insatiable. When people linked with such a band of looters bring about such a conference, it should have been titled: “How can we get our hands on Church lands?”
Eduardo and K T Thomas talked about how in the Democratic Indian Republic, “Nobody is above the law”! is that so? We have seen many examples of the opposite type!
But I say that the Indian nation is only sixty years old. The ideas of “Republic” and “Democracy” are only two hundred years old. It is my personal view that the Indian Nation will not last forever, nor will Republicanism and Democracy; especially now that the real nature of both is being seen by the people. In contrast, the institution of the Church has stood the test of time for two thousand years! Hence I feel that the Church has the right to tell the Republicans and the Democrats how to run their affairs and not vice versa!
Another point I wish to emphasize is that as a Catholic, I am a member of two nations. The first nation is a transient one currently called India; the other one is the Kingdom of God, which is in the process of being perfected among us now, and which will never end. That which is transitory has no right to dictate terms to that which is unending!
But I am also painfully aware of the reasons why people like Eduardo had the guts to even propose such a topic for discussion. The reason is the rotten clergy. Our priests have forgotten their own dignity and mandate from God. They have refused to discipline the politicians and too often, have disgracefully played second fiddle to them. They have refused to oppose their anti-people policies. Their own lives have become such that they no longer have the authority to impose discipline or to ask for accountability.
So we have priests who are more like dishonest contractors and builders, priests who rob the funds of the Church and priests who in contravention of Church law have sold Church properties on the sly. (There is a law in the Church which stipulates demotion for a priest and Bishop who are party to any sale of Church property and casts a generational curse on anyone who buys Church properties. To be free of this curse, one is obliged to return the property without refund of money and to burn the sale deed!)
Despite awareness of all this, I still say: no, there should be no such law. For such a law will open the doors to secular interference in the internal matters of the Church. Tainted though it is, the Church still stands as a beacon of light and hope and freedom. This is possible because of its autonomy which is guaranteed by its landed properties. If the properties are taken out of its control, then the Church loses its autonomy, loses its ability to say “no” to the Govt. then the door will open to Governmental interference in the appointments or transfers of priests and bishops. Then the door will open to the Govt. dictating perhaps, even the doctrine to be taught in the Churches. And on that day – should , God forbid, such a day come – the Roman Catholic Church will cease to exist. Remember the words of Jesus: “When the Govt. and Church become one, know that the end is near!”
So I call upon all Catholics to rise up and oppose this satanic proposal. By the way, after the “conference”, I overheard Eduardo whispering to one of his friends: “we must do it!”
August 7th, 2009 at 12:41 am
Could Miguel Vas tell us which apocryphal gospel is he citing when he asks us to “Remember the words of Jesus: When the Govt. and Church become one, know that the end is near!”
August 7th, 2009 at 11:46 pm
It is immediately obvious to me that the person who has asked this question is well versed in the four Gospels (if not the whole Bible), for he knows that these words of Jesus are not recorded in these Gospels. But I would humbly like to point out that the words of Jesus are not only to be found in the Gospels and the Apcryphal gospels. They are also to be found in the Revelation of the Sacred Heart to St Margaret Mary Alacoque at Paray le Monial, France, in the Revelation of the Divine Mercy to St Faustina Kowalska, Poland, and also in the writings of late Sr Lucia, the visionary of Fatima. In the instant case, the above words are recorded in the visions of the Bayside seer, Veronica Leuken. For more information go to http://www.tldm.org/directives.
respectfully,
Miguel Vas