Catholic Church open to vote non-Cong parties in

‘‘The Church has woken up to the fast-changing political patterns in the this vast, pluralistic country,’’ said Dr Babu Joseph, spokesperson of the CBCI. While the Church took note of the secular and democratic track record of the Congress and has been appreciative of its support to the minority rights, it also wanted to pronounce that it was appreciative of the similar stand by other parties like the DMK, RJD, LF, JMM or the TDP, he said. ‘‘So, we leave the choice to the ordinary community member to vote for any such party,’’ said Dr Babu.

Asked about the Church’s stand towards the NDA and the BJP, Dr Babu said: ‘‘As a principle, the CBCI is not against any political party which believes in Indian Constitution and democratic and human values. But on the ground, our people find it difficult to support a party which led communal riots against Christians and other minorities in Gujarat. The harassment of Christians and attacks against community institutions have increased after the recent takeover of BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The incidents in Jhabua and Satna are telling examples.’’

As a guideline to the electorate, the CBCI has issued an appeal to vote for those ‘‘who stand for and is led by values that promote human dignity, social equality, religious harmony and national integrity.’’ The candidate would ‘‘work for the development of the poor and marginalised, and will address the social problems such as unemployment, discrimination against certain sections of society and religious fundamentalism.’’

Rev Fernandez said the appeal is being incorporated in the pastoral letters to be read in a Sunday Mass in all the Catholic churches in India. Asked whether the party of choice would be mentioned in the sermon, Dr Babu said: ‘‘It is upto the priests. They may or may not. The CBCI has exhorted every Christian to fast and pray for peaceful, free and fair polls.’’