Seeking a law to govern the Church property in Goa
Mumbai (AsiaNews) - India is a confederation of states that have different laws for governing the properties of religious bodies. For the Hindu temples there is a Hindu Endowments Act, for the Muslims there is a Wafk Board Act and for the Sikhs a Sikh Gurudwara Act. Nothing like this exists for the Christians but for them both the parishes and the congregations are registered and controlled by the Charity Commissioners that are ruled by the local states governments that are different, more or less demanding, from state to state.
Goa, that has been under the Portuguese rule for four centuries had always been ruled by the Padroado system, a special concession by the Pope to the King of Portugal. After Goa was annexed by India, the central government respected the local traditions of administration of the parishes. But recently a section of the Catholic laity, including intellectuals, have demanded a government-enacted legislation to govern properties owned an managed by the Roman Catholic Church.
The present law which regulates relations between the Church an the state as well as administration of the Church was created by the concordat or a treaty signed between the Vatican and the Portuguese Government in 1940. This law was passed during the Salazar dictatorship and had been repealed in Portugal on the ground that it was unconstitutional. The demand for a change basically stems from an apprehension among the Christians of the lack of transparency in the management of assets owned by the Church.
Delivering a lecture in Panaji (Goa) on “Should There Be a Law to Protect the Properties of the Church?” organized on July 29 by the All India Catholic Union (AICU), former Supreme Court Justice, KT Thomas, said the Catholic Church hesitation to accept enactment of a law for administering their properties was due to the fear that a provision for judicial scrutiny would likely expose its expenses and the magnitude of wealth it possesses. “I would say that those who resist any such law could have a sinister motive of misusing the funds and wealth of the religious denominations” he said requesting the different churches to accept such a law.
Also Eduardo Faleiro, former Union minister of State for External Affairs intervened in the debate and said 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. He added that the new law could draft in consultation with the Catholic Church in Goa.
Remy Denis, president of the AICU, which represents the Catholic laity of India, said that questions were being raised about Church’s management of its properties. “We all revere the bishops as our guide in matters of faith and morals, but not in matters of property” he said. “The Roman Catholic Church in India as a budget equivalent to that of the Indian Navy and it is the second largest employer after the Government of India”. But he also said that these are his personal views and not necessarily those of the AICU.
In fact many other people are against such a proposal because they fear political interference on the part of less sympathetic government. The central government has already the power to control the donations coming from abroad and also to stop them if it feels that they are not used properly. Some dioceses have already experience such a restriction in case of conversion movement. Further interference from the local government may not be wanted.
.png)
04/03/2019 09:38
