An Indian bishop has urged Christians to respond to a new Bollywood film denigrating the Christian faith with peaceful words and not violent protest.
“We express with firm and unequivocal words, the disappointment of the Indian Church for this film considered offensive towards the Christian faith, but with peaceful words,” Bishop of Vasai, Mgr Felix Machado, the President for the Episcopal Commission for Ecumenism told Fides.
“We do not want Catholics to follow the path of violent protests; one should always follow the path of the Gospel, of gentleness and dialogue.”
The Bollywood film Kamaal Dhamaal Malamaal (“Laugh, be happy”), released today, has been described by Fr Domic D’Abrio, spokesman for the Catholic Episcopal Conference of India, as “blasphemous, an offense against Christian faith and the faithful’s feelings.”
According to Fr D’Abrio, the comedy/satire contains scenes in which priests are ridiculed and symbols of faith are insulted:
A priest is portrayed as a lottery manic; in another scene, a priest is adorned with a garland of banknotes; elsewhere the Rosary is “offended”; in another passage the priest makes improper use of the holy water.
“We have seen the consequences of the blasphemous film The Innocence of Muslims. Muslims in India are also very struck and feel anger. Now Christians are deeply offended. Such irresponsible acts should not happen. Freedom requires respect for all,” Fr D’Abrio said.
Bishop Machado called for the sacred symbols and religious identity of all religious communities to be respected:
“”Sometimes minority groups are those who mock religious communities, or carry out actions lightly. I do not think there is hatred towards the Christian faith. But freedom of expression must always be combined with respect for human life, which is sacred. In India we Christians are a small minority, and sometimes this penalizes us. Episodes like this are not good for humanity and religious harmony in the world.”
Some Catholic organisations, such as the Cathoilic Secular Forum (CSF), held a protest in Bombay on September 26, marching from the church of St Peter to the regional Parliament.
A delegation of Catholic groups and Fr Rueben Tellis, a representative of the Archdiocese of Bombay, met and submitted a memorandum to Leela Samson, President of the “Central Board of Film Certification”, demanding the removal of the blasphemous scenes and also informed the Federal Minister for Information and Telecommunications, Ambika Soni.
“With this film, Bollywood has hit rock bottom,” the CSF’s Joseph Dias told Fides, remembering the other film, Kya Superkool Hum Hai (“We are super cool”), which in the past had offended Christians.
The protesting groups called for a permanent representative of the Christian community in the Audit Committee to “prevent those relapsing forms of cinematic liberty.”
In recent times, the Christian community in India was shocked by the desecration of the church of Santa Maria de Lourdes, in Tamil Nadu (southern India), by unidentified groups. The faithful called convened a day of collective fasting on September 19, which was attended by an assembly of 5,000 people, including Bishops and Christian leaders, calling on the government to protect minorities and religious symbols.
– with Fides