At a time when the Indian Catholic Church is making hectic efforts to keep its believers’ base intact with initiatives like the recently-launched Syro-Malabar matrimony website, a Catholic Bishop in Kerala has asked the faithful to be cautious about the possibility of Christian girls being ‘abducted’ into other religions through the system of inter-faith marriages.
Mar Mathew Anikuzhikkattil, Bishop of the Catholic Church in Kerala’s Idukki Diocese, on Saturday warned the Christian community about an effort to “abduct our girls” into other religions by the proponents of love Jihad and through the “secret agenda” of Hindu outfit Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam.
He said young men of other religions were taking away Christian girls into their faiths by pretending love and through mixed marriages. “Girls, who have grown up in our faith for over 18 years, who have studied the Holy Book for 14 years, are going away from their families with men of other religions,” he said.
Mar Anikuzhikkattil, who did not explain what the ‘secret agenda’ of the SNDP Yogam was, said that governments might encourage mixed marriages but Christians should oppose it. Six out of every hundred marriages that were taking place these days were mixed marriages, he said, adding that inter-faith marriages could erode the identity of Christianity.
Muslim scholars and SNDP Yogam leaders registered protests against the Bishop’s remarks. “Stories about love Jihad had already been discussed and settled. Muslims don’t have to abduct girls from other religions. They have enough girls for young men to marry in their religion itself. I don’t know what the Bishop is trying to say,” said a Kozhikode-based Muslim scholar.
“We all have heard about love Jihad but this is the first time I am hearing a complaint about a “secret agenda” of the SNDP to abduct Christian girls. Mixed marriages are a sign of a healthy, progressive society. Still there are conservatives who don’t agree with this. But making baseless allegations is not a good trend,” said a top SNDP leader.
Sources in the Catholic Church say that priests these days are very much concerned about the problems in Christian families and the tendency of both men and women of the new generation to choose their life partners themselves without regard for religious belief. Mar Anikuzhikkattil also had made a reference to the increasing number of legal separation of couples.
“The Syro-Malabar Church had recently launched own matrimony website in an effort to encourage young men and women to marry from Christian faith itself. The Church had also issued a pastoral letter in this regard. Indeed, there is an effort to keep the community’s strength intact,” said a Thrissur-based Church committee functionary.