It was an amicable outcome for the meeting called by Forest Minister K.Raju on Tuesday with church representatives and forest officials to resolve the issue of the destruction of a cross and an altar that were installed as part of the Kurishumala pilgrimage at Bonacaud.
The Minister agreed to the request of the church representatives to retain one wooden cross at the spot. The believers would also be allowed to conduct pilgrimage and prayers at Kurishumala, which took place twice a year. The Minister said no other construction activity, including concrete structures, would be allowed in the vicinity of the cross in the forest land. It was also agreed to remove the remaining debris of previous construction activities at the spot.
Action would be taken against those found to have demolished the cross. The cases against priests and believers as well as against forest officials would be withdrawn.
The Minister said that there would not be any restriction for the believers to offer their prayers at the Boncaud church.
“The government is not against any kind of religious beliefs. Our policy is to equally protect the freedom of religious belief of those belonging to all religions,” said Mr.Raju.
Those who participated in the meeting representing the church include Cardinal Mar Baselios Cleemis Catholicos, Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council president and Latin Diocese Archbishop M. Soosa Pakiam, other Bishops, and representatives of the Neyyatinkara Latin Diocese.
With the meeting arriving at a successful settlement in the morning, the day-long protest that the Neyyatinkara diocese had planned in front of the Secretariat was called off. The Cardinal, Archbishop and Bishops later gathered at the St.Joseph’s Metropolitan Cathedral at Palayam and addressed the believers to convey the messages from the meeting.
“We are glad that we could peacefully arrive at a settlement to this issue,” said Soosa Pakiam in his addres. On Tuesday evening, believers held celebrations in Vithura.
It was on August 18 that the cross and the altar at the Kurishumala in Bonacaud was found to be destroyed. The believers here accused the officials of the Paruthippally forest range of destroying the cross. The Forest officials, meanwhile, denied the allegations. The diocese had claimed that the cross was installed there more than 60 years ago. The past few days witnessed several rounds of protests and attempts by the believers to march to the top of the hill and reinstall a cross there.