Panaji:
Christians want state laws to govern assets of churches
Christians are a mere 2.5 percent of the country’s population. But, the Church in India suffers from a case of plenty, says Remy Denis, All India Catholic Union President.
Church authorities control funds equivalent to the Indian
Navy’s annual budget. The Church is also the second largest employer after the
government, he said.
Eduardo Faleiro, a former Union minister and Goa NRI Commissioner, is among the
growing number of Catholics like Prof Denis, who support a law to govern Church
properties and a far greater degree of transparency in the way the Church
manages its earthly assets.
“The Church is not a symbol of power but service, and democratic laws must
apply to it equally. All religions must be kept on the same footing,” Faleiro
said at a conference called to debate the matter of bringing Church properties
under state laws.
The laws that govern Church properties in Goa
were enacted during the Portuguese regime. The same laws have long since been
repealed in Portugal,
Faleiro said.
Almost all other religions in India
have laws enacted to administer their properties, K T Thomas, former Supreme
Court judge, said. Hindu temples are governed by laws specifically enacted for
each trust and their accounts are subject to judicial review. The Sikhs, one of
the smallest religious groups in the country, have the Sikh Gurudwara Act.
Muslim trust properties comes under the Wakf Act.
“I feel the opposition from the Christians is on account of a fear that a
provision for judicial scrutiny is likely to expose the expenses and magnitude
of wealth of the denomination,” Thomas said. The head of the Believers Church
had recently acquired a huge plantation in Kerala for Rs 123 crore. This was
apart from the vast assets already held by the denomination, he said. The
Church in Kerala also runs its own media network.
Thomas said there was a misplaced apprehension that the Parliament, through
legislation, would grab the properties of the churches. No such law could be
passed by Parliament or State legislatures, he said. All religious
denominations have the right to own and acquire properties, establish and
maintain religious institutions. “But, in matters of administration of your
properties you have to abide by the law,” he said