Why in the first place an American activist and so called influencer Kirk be given importance by Catholics in India ?

Christians in India and more a few Catholic organisations have developed an appetite to hit headlines. In most cases - the instances may be unwarranted controversies.

Web readers and others reportedly questioned "Bombay Archdiocese’s" 175-year-old weekly publication, 'The Examiner', for placing right-wing political activist and influencer Charlie Kirk alongside Catholic luminaries like Saint Mother Teresa and tribal rights activist Father Stan Swamy, among others.

Stan was also highly controversial. He died in jail. He was the oldest person to be accused of terrorism in India. 

Swamy was implicated in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence. He faced charge of being being a Maoist "sympathiser". It was alleged that the Persecuted Prisoners Solidarity Committee (PPSC) founded by him and Sudha Bharadwaj, "to fight for the release of around 3,000 men and women who have been labelled as Maoists and imprisoned", was actually a front for Maoist fundraising.

The magazine, taking note of the concerns of its readers on Kirk  published an apology in its Sept. 28-Oct. 3 edition.

“The Examiner has received several letters of protest decrying the inclusion of Charlie Kirk’s picture alongside other Catholic personalities of note that appeared on the cover of the Sept. 20-26 edition,” said Father Joshan Leslie Rodrigues, the weekly's editor.

“We agree with this view, and we apologize to all our regular and faithful readers for the distress it may have caused them,” he added.

Kirk was shot dead on Sept. 10 while addressing students on the campus of Utah Valley University in the United States.

He courted controversy when explaining his positions on issues including Islam, gender and abortion by citing his evangelical Christian faith, and was also accused of anti-Semitism.

In fact, the magazine carried a critical article on him, titled “Charlie Kirk – a polarizing figure – in life and death divided opinion,” which scrutinized his legacy and noted how some of his methods may have lacked compassion.

“It only sought to highlight some of the action he took to advocate for conservative Christian moral values,” Rodrigues explained.

Father Cedric Prakash, a Jesuit priest and rights activist based in western Gujarat state, said that “carrying Kirk’s picture on the cover with equal prominence alongside great personalities like Saint Mother Teresa and Stan Swamy and others was unacceptable.”

He said Kirk’s assassination was shocking and sad, but he cannot be put on the same pedestal as Saint Mother Teresa, who dedicated her life to serving and caring for destitute people.

Kirk 

“We do not know exactly who is a saint and who is in heaven, but we do not put Judas on the altars,” Prakash told UCA News on Sept. 29. Left to him staying close to journalists and to news is Cedric Prakash's favourite past time since 2002 riots in Gujarat.

The Catholic magazine has apologized after being criticized by its readers for featuring the late American right-wing political activist on its cover as one of the “Luminaries of Love & Leadership.”  

Father Joshan Leslie Rodrigues, the weekly's editor. claimed that they did not intend to eulogize Kirk “in death or to prop him up as a model of holiness.”  In fact, the magazine carried a critical article on him, titled “Charlie Kirk – a polarizing figure – in life and death divided opinion,” which scrutinized his legacy and noted how some of his methods may have lacked compassion.

“It only sought to highlight some of the action he took to advocate for conservative Christian moral values,” Rodrigues explained.

A Catholic priest from the Eastern Rite Syro-Malabar Church has announced his decision to resign from parish ministries, refusing to celebrate a liturgy, which requires him to face the altar in part.

Father Augustine Vattoly of the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly announced he “has decided to discontinue active parish ministries” starting Sept. 14 because he cannot celebrate the Church’s synod-approved liturgy.

The priest’s resignation comes two months after a protracted liturgy dispute was resolved when priests of the archdiocese, who persistently refused to accept the synod-approved liturgy, agreed to celebrate one synod-approved Mass on every Sunday and on major feast days from July 3.