'Christ will rejoice seeing removal of cross': Catholic bishop hails eviction drive

While most members of the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council (KCBC) expressed their displeasure and anger at the demolition of a cross in Munnar as part of the much-debated eviction drive, a bishop attached to the council has hailed the move.

An official team led by Idukki district collector GR Gokul and Devikulam sub-collector V Sriram removed the cross from the illegally occupied land in Pappathichola near Munnar on Thursday, in a move which caused an uproar across the state.

However, Geevarghese Mar Coorilos, Metropolitan of the Niranom diocese of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, has backed the eviction, by saying that even Jesus Christ would be happy with the removal of the cross, and also praised the district administration for their courage.

"The cross in Munnar was one of the most recent symbols of invasion," Mar Coorilos said via a Facebook post, enumerating instances of misuse of the Bible and the cross for invasion. 

"Jesus Christ would have rejoiced when the cross was removed. Hats off to the Munnar eviction drive. We finally have a revenue minister," he pointed out.

• Munnar
• eviction drive
• cross removal
• Catholic bishop