<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Kerala Church Calls For Baby Boom</b>
CNN-IBN
New Delhi: The Catholic Church in Kerala has called upon its followers to have more babies, if they are economically well off.
The advice comes in a pastoral letter, read out in some 2,000 parishes on Sunday. Now, what prompted this move is the reportedly sharp decline in the community's size.
The pastoral letter written by Cardinal Mar Varkey Vithayathil tells Christians to have more children, in order to save the reportedly dwindling community. According to Cardinal Vithayathil of the Syro-Malabar Church, abortion and preference for small families are the major reasons for the decline in the Christian
population.
Syro-Malabar Church Archbishop Mar Varkey Vithayathil says, âWe feel that there is lot of selfishness growing in families. There is a pro-death mentality, a mentality against life.â
In pursuit of their selfish joys, even those who can afford to bring up children don't want them. Those who have the means should come forward to have more children. The impact of market mentality on human relationship is visible in all levels of society.
The Cardinal feels there is no reason to worry about increasing population, and the state should not try to restrict the family size.
âThe state has no right to tell couples how many children they should have nor the church has the right to tell them. Its the couple themselves who have to decided how many children they should have in a responsible way,â says Vithayathil.
The Christian community is powerful in the state and contributes to 20 per cent of the vote bank. Not surprisingly, there is a huge political angle to the Bishop's call and Church goers are aware of it.
A Church goer Mathew C Jose says, âAfter demarcation constituencies in Christian dominated Central Travancore merged while North Malabar got more constituencies because of increase in population.â
When RSS Chief KS Sudarshan had called upon Hindus to have at least three children, last year, it lead to a huge uproar across the country. Cardinal Vithayathil's statements is also likely to spark off a debate.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I hope the progressives come out of their hiding places and say something now like they did when Sudarshan asked Hindus to have more kids.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Kerala Catholics lap up Church fiat </b>
Naveen Nair
CNN-IBN Posted Monday , August 14, 2006 at 20:50
Updated Monday , August 14, 2006 at 22:27
Ernakulam: Rani Joseph, a professor of economics at a local college, belongs to a typical middle-class Catholic Christian family in Kerala. How does Rani react to Cardinal Mar Varkey Vidayathil's call on Sunday to the Catholic community to have more babies?
Cardinal Mar Varkey Vidayathil, the archbishop of the Catholic Church in Kerala, has asked Catholic families to have more children because the population of Christians is declining. A market mentality is dominating relationships, the archbishop said, and the very future and sanctity of the family is in danger.
So affluent Christians must have more children, he said. This advice comes in a pastoral letter, read out in some 2,000 parishes on Sunday.
"What the Church said is relevant today. The Church is our mother and she has all rights to direct us. Especially, they can instruct us on certain issues," Dr Joseph says.
A comparison between Indian and European lifestyles are soon drawn. Rani feels that the Cardinal's call will help preserve family values.
"If you travel to European countries, one thing that touches you is that they don't have the concept of family. For them, children are also a burden. But coming to Kerala or the Indian context, we cherish the concept of family a lot," she adds.
Others though found different reasons to justify the Church's directions. Thomas Dominic, 21, is happy about the Church's decision.
"I have two brothers. So I have learnt in my life how to adjust, how to cope with people. The people who are the only child of their parents, no matter where they go, they will have a problem in adjusting with people," says Dominic.
The Christian community is powerful in the state and contributes to 20per cent of the vote bank. Not surprisingly, there is a huge political angle to the bishop's call. And Church-goers are aware of it.
But the Catholic Church doesn't want to create an unnecessary controversy. The bishop says couples are free to decide on their family size, but those who have the means to raise more children should have more babies.
"The state has no right to tell couples how many children they should have. Nor does the Church have any right to tell them. They couples themselves will have to decide how many children they should have, but in a responsible way," says Cardinal Varkey Vidayathil.
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