Latin Catholic Church to maintain equidistance

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A mass rally organised by the Latin Catholic community in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday. Photo: S. Mahinsha

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, March 1, 2014

The Latin Catholic Church will maintain a policy of issue and value-based equidistance from all political parties, and analyse each situation that comes up separately, M. Susaipakiam, Archbishop, Thiruvananthapuram Archdiocese, has said.

Inaugurating a mass gathering of the Latin Catholic community organised by the Kerala Region Latin Catholic Council, the Archbishop, also the president of the council, said political parties had always tried to ‘divide and rule’ the Latin Catholic community, with the demarcation of Parliament and Assembly constituencies being done in such a way that the community would not have a majority anywhere.

Response of leaders

Stating that several Latin Catholic leaders maintained a certain distance from the community after reaching top social or political positions with the community’s help, the Archbishop said these leaders were ‘afraid’ of the political parties to which they were affiliated and also feared that they would lose the support of other communities if they showed any commitment to their own community.

The community, on the other hand, never wanted anything it did not deserve, he said.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Thiruvananthapuram/latin-catholic-church-to-maintain-equidistance/article5739398.ece