Bank accounts frozen after protest against port: Kerala Latin church

Bank accounts frozen after protest against port: Kerala Latin church

Days ahead of Lok Sabha elections in Kerala, the archdiocese of Latin Catholic Church in Thiruvananthapuram has revealed that their bank account was frozen by the Union Government.

The move came after the fishermen’s protest against Adani group’s under construction seaport at Vizhinjam near Thiruvananthapuram, a pastoral letter said Sunday.

Vizhinjam witnessed strong protests against the seaport, which also resulted in violence in November 2022.

The community is one of the prominent vote banks in the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat, where union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar is contesting.

Archbishop Thomas J Netto, in a pastoral letter read out in all churches on Sunday said the archdiocese is struggling to meet its routine expenses and cost of training seminarians after the accounts were frozen in the wake of protest against the seaport in 2022.

“As the accounts were frozen, the archdiocese is facing difficulty to receive even ordinary aids for mission work. The situation remains unchanged,’’ he said, in the letter urging people to contribute to meet the expenses of the diocese.

In 2022, during the Vizhinjam protest of fishermen, demanding implementation of rehabilitation package facilities for the coastal community, the archdiocese had also locked horns with local BJP leadership.

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