We wish to categorically state hereby that the Church authorities in Goa are in no way involved in the selection process of any candidate of any political party or in the drawing up of party strategies
Photo Credits: CHURCH
- Church statement
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COUNTERING SOCIAL MEDIA ALLEGATION
* The church strongly denounced the allegations on social media that the Archbishop had convoked a meeting of some highly placed political leaders
* The reported date of the alleged meeting cum dinner was 20th November, 2016, when the Archbishop was actually out of Goa, said the church statement said
* The Church also clarified that its Catholic priests have been always been advised not to use the church platform to promote a given candidate or party
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The Archdiocese of Goa has hit out at news reports that the Church is supporting or involved in the process of selecting candidates of political parties calling the reports as “misleading and mischievous”.
“We wish to categorically state hereby that the Church authorities in Goa are in no way involved in the selection process of any candidate of any political party or in the drawing up of party strategies, as it is being made to appear,” a statement by the Diocesan Centre for Social Communications media
Referring to a report where a “well-known politician” publicly accused the Church authorities of opposing his nomination “tooth and nail”, the Church has said that they are not promoting any particular candidate or political party
“A similar and rather wild and malicious accusation had been made some weeks ago on the social media that the Archbishop had convoked a meeting of some highly placed political leaders (followed by a “lavish dinner”) in order to plan out strategies against the leader of a certain recently formed political party. The reported date of the alleged meeting cum dinner was 20th November, 2016, when the Archbishop was actually out of Goa, on an official engagement in Kerala,” the statement said.
The Church has also clarified that its Catholic priests “have been always been advised not to use the church platform to promote a given candidate or party.”
“Nothing, however, impedes them from revealing to others whom they are personally going to vote for and why. Such disclosures will always remain personal and are not to be taken as the official position of the Church,” the statement reads.
“We wish to reiterate that the Catholic Church authorities in Goa are deeply concerned about the well-being of the population of this State and the various dimensions of its life, including the socio-political dimension. In this connection, they have once again taken up their duty-bound task of guiding Catholics and people of good will on how to exercise their franchise according to their conscience during the forthcoming elections to the legislative assembly, without, however, promoting any particular candidate or political party,” the statement reads.
