The Catholic church and Tamil Nadu Bishops’ Council are reported to have been planning a protest against the action being taken against various Christian hospices including the infamous St. Joseph’s Hospice which has been accused of harvesting the bones and organs of the elderly.
As reported by us, it was alleged that the NGO allegedly used to beat its sick inmates and used their dead bodies for harvesting bones. It was also alleged that it was involved in harvesting organs of its inmates and selling it to other countries.
After the allegations came out, the process was initiated to shift senior citizens “sheltered” there and it was claimed that the hospice would be shut down. The main reason given for the same was that the Hospice was operating without a licence.
As reported in The Hindu, The Catholic Church and Tamil Nadu Bishops’ Council have decided to stand by the Christian NGO St. Joseph’s Hospice and its founder Father R. V. Thomas, days after the NGO was reported to be on the verge of closing. During the process of backing the Hospice, Rev. Fr. S.J. Anthonysamy who is the vicar general Madras Mylapore’s Archdiocese requested priests to inform their parishes during Sunday march regarding the protest. This included asking the priests to encourage their parishioners to participate in the protest.
This protest was supposed to be held on Monday near the State Guest House at Chepauk, Chennai, and was being jointly organised with the Diocese of Chingleput. The deputy secretary of general of Tamil Nadu Bishops council claimed that Father R. V. Thomas was doing humanitarian work and there was a need for the “truth” to come out.
A Pioneer report which has also reported regarding the matter has claimed that the Tamil Nadu government has cracked down on other such unauthorised institutions, which has resulted in the Catholic church and Tamil Nadu Bishops’ Council taking objection. This as per the report, was the Church’s first protest march since 2002, when they had opposed an anti-religious conversion law.
