Former High Court judge Abraham Mathew said here on Monday that there must be strong and discerning reactions to the draft of the proposed Kerala Church (Properties and Institution) Bill, 2019 .
Speaking at a protest meeting organised by the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese of the Syro-Malabar Church against the Bill, he said the argument that there was no law guiding Christian Church activities was surprising. All religions had the right to acquire and handle property. It was a right originating in the Constitution and not a concession granted by anybody, he said.
Jacob Manathodath, apostolic administrator of the archdiocese, was among those who spoke at the meeting.
Earlier, the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC), in a circular read out in Catholic churches across the State, had said that there was no justification for the proposed Bill because the reasons listed for it are “not based on facts and could be misleading’’.