Hours after a Catholic priest in Kerala joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday, October 2, he was temporarily removed from the position of the vicar of the St Thomas Catholic Church in Idukki district. Earlier in the day, the Kerala unit of the BJP got a prize catch after 62-year-old Catholic priest Fr Kuriakose Mattem joined the saffron party. BJP sources said that this is the first time a Catholic priest in Kerala has joined the saffron party. 

Speaking to IANS, BJP's Idukki district president KS Aji said that the party is presently running a membership campaign. “After we came to know that Fr Kuriakose Mattem was interested in joining our party, we went and met him. He agreed that he will take party membership, which has been given. Fr Kuriakose Mattem is of the opinion that there is a wrong impression about the BJP, as many things are not correctly presented,” Aji said. 

“I don’t agree with the common belief that the BJP is not the party for Christians,” said Kuriakose.

The order for Kuriakose’s temporary removal as vicar was issued by the Idukki diocese of the Roman Catholic Syrian Church to which he is attached. The order was issued an hour after news surfaced that he has taken the saffron party membership.

Idukki diocese spokesperson Fr Jins Karakattil said that the Church premises cannot be used for party work and the case will now be heard by the higher ups. “At the moment, he has been moved out as the vicar and we will form a Commission to look into it. He will be asked to appear before the Commission as the Church wishes to know about it and then a decision will be arrived,” said Jins.

(With IANS inputs)