Church of India

Sir, - This refers to the article ``Church of India'' by Mr. P.B. Menon (TheHindu, Nov. 14). As a commoner I see in the article half truths, distortions and quotes referred out of context. Even with limited reference material in my possession I can blow holes in many of the points he makes in support of RSS chief Sudarshan's call to Christians and Muslims to ``Indianise'', particularly the churches of the former. I shall comment only on a few.

Mr. Sudarshan speaks of ``Indigenous churches like the Syrian Orthodox and Mar Thoma Churches.'' The Syrian Orthodox is one of the earliest churches in India affiliated with the church in East Syria (indigenous?) but Mr. Menon only refers to the Mar Thoma Church and claims it was established in 52 AD; for the information of Mr. Menon, the Mar Thoma Church was a reformist offshoot of the Syrian Orthodox Church that came into being around 1840 (Introduction to Indian Church History - CB Firth). Mr. Menon also implies that Papacy came into being in the Fifth century AD under Pope Leo the Great. The Church was established by Lord Jesus himself with his Apostle Peter as the first Pope; I agree he was not a Pope with the paraphernalia and power of later Popes which is the dark period in the history of the Catholic Church. The present Pope John Paul II is the 266th Pope in an unbroken chain.

It is amusing to read how King Henry VIII founded the Church of England. It was on the issue of his divorcing his first wife to marry Anne Boleyn - a matter against the Catholic faith and not according to the Pope's fancy. Mr. Menon will do well to read the Life of Sir Thomas More, Henry's Chancellor, which was made into a beautiful film A Man For All Seasons. Finally Mr. Menon quotes from Justice Chagla's autobiography for a purpose I cannot comprehend. Justice Krishna Iyer in an article in your paper, paying tribute to a ``Personality par excellence'' had quoted Justice Chagla's idea of true secularism; I think the passage should better be read and digested by Mr. Sudarshan and his Parivar.

Harry D'Silva

Chennai

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