Why is this happening? What is going on? How can anyone FORCIBLY take over a property, unless it was left unattended for years (is this true?). I am trying to imagine 250 priests running back and forth with Bishops in tow, to stop people taking over their buildings. Where were these 250 priests et al, when the properties were taken over, on holiday for goodness sake. Seems to me that someone is trying to shut the stable door AFTER the horse has bolted. The only thing I can see from my observation on this is the property has been taken over to open a HOSPITAL, another taken over to open a SCHOOL. The last property was taken over by a businessman to open up a petrol station. Cars need petrol! Two out of three aint bad! At a stretch even the businessman had a good idea...... My questions are simple really... Who gave these people the authority to come in and take over church property and land? Nobody is my guess, cause there was nobody about, the place was left unattended, possibly for weeks, months, or even years. If it can be proved that this was done charitably, then surely the church, with all the land that belongs to it all over this globe, and its quite a lot....... (lets not go temptingly and say it belongs to Indians, since the Catholic Church came to India and took the land away from their original owners and now they are not looking after it etc, etc, that would be silly............) WAS the property just left in unattended, the report does not say, maybe even near-ruin, or was it abandoned? What about the HOSPITAL and the SCHOOL that was built? How can someone take possession of MY HOUSE by force & then turn it into a HOSPITAL or a SCHOOL without me being seen to protest about this, call the police, the newspapers, anyone, to stop the new occupiers/squatters from taking over. These things dont happen overnight, someone must have known of the NEED for a HOSPITAL and a NEED for a SCHOOL there, so it was turned into something USEFUL. I dont see a problem. Let the Church give the permission for the HOSPITAL and the SCHOOL to remain, perhaps let them have it on a lease for a period of years, with a view to renewing it at some time later..........Charity begins at home, lets see the Church practice what it preaches or is Indian land much more of a valuable commodity, so the LOVE of money takes over where Charity finished.......... let the school and hospital continue helping the people, no point in turfing sick people out of the beds and school kids from their desks after all this time is there? What excuse (oops, sorry I meant REASON) does the Church have for not keeping a tight hold on its property, did they leave it fallow because they needed only the equity on the land? The Church is rich enough back in Rome & maybe they could be seen as BENEFACTORS to the poor who need medical treatment & the children need schooling and let them remain. As for the Business man, well he has already set up shop, which must have cost him a lot of money to do, so charge him RENT !! John Monteiro 05.11.07.........16.30hrs ------------------------------------------
Sanny de Quepem <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Church authorities today demanded immediate steps for the return of their properties that have been forcibly occupied by government and private organisations. They said they would compelled to launch a state-wide movement in February if the government did not meet their demand by January-end. The statement came at a conference attended by more than 250 priests and heads of Christian missionary institutions. Government and private organisations are forcibly occupying huge properties owned by churches in Calcutta and the districts. The priests and bishops are running from pillar to post to get them back. But nothing is being done by the government,â said Bishop Brojen Malakar, who heads the Barrackpore diocese of the Church of North India (CNI). A portion of a 17-acre plot owned by the Baptist Church in West Midnapore has been taken over by a local group to run a school, the church authorities alleged. In Murshidabadâs Jiaganj, the health department has turned a building owned by the CNI into a government hospital. The CNI says it has also lost a plot attached to a school in Dum Dum to a businessman, who has set up a petrol pump there. ------------------------------------------
