Indian Catholics in New York protest outside Marian shrine

Several families from the community agreed to the relocation but others have refused to budge.

UCAN – Posted on February 22, 2016, 11:57 AM

United States: More than 100 members of the Indian Knanaya Catholic Community in the United States on Feb 21 staged a peaceful protest outside a Marian shrine in New York to oppose a decision to move them from the community center where they’ve worshiped for the past 15 years.
Holding signs that read “We Shall Overcome” and “Who is Next? Our Kids,” they stood in silent protest or sang religious spirituals outside the doors of the Mary Help of Christians chapel on the grounds of the Marian Shrine in Stony Point.
They have come to the same spot for the last three Sundays to protest what they say is a decision by Father Joseph Mathew Adoppillil to relocate religious services and their children's Catholic education classes to a building on the grounds of the shrine, a Salesian retreat overlooking the Hudson River a mile up from their community center.
The Indian community, made up of some 125 families from the Lower Hudson Valley, pooled their resources to purchase the community center's property on Willow Grove Road for $300,000 in 2001 and added nearly $1 million in renovations, community leaders say.

Several families from the community agreed to the relocation but others have refused to budge.
“We have our own beautiful 7-and-a-half-acre property right here,” said Anne Jose of Nanuet. “They want to demolish it. They say it’s not a church.”
The community’s roots trace to Catholics of the Syro-Malabar rite based in Kerala. They say the priest’s decision to force the relocation was backed by the St. Thomas Syro-Malabar Catholic Diocese of Chicago.
On Sunday, Bishop Jacob Angadiath of Chicagosaid Fr. Adoppillil was following his directions by relocating the church to the shrine's grounds. "Once the priest came in, they were not very welcoming," Bishop Angadiath said. "He has not done anything wrong or bad. I support the priest. They have to listen to the priest and the church."
Bishop Angadiath said that Fr. Adoppillil had little choice but to relocate because he was not accepted by the Knanaya community.
Over the past three Sundays, members have been joined in protest by the faithful from Indian Catholic communities in New Jersey and Long Island.
Some 86 children who attended religious education services at the community center have been taken in by local parishes across Rockland County, leaders say.
“The people have an emotional attachment to the building,” said Aby Mathew, a community leader and spokesman. “This was like a second home.”

Source: The Journal News/ USA Today

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