Catholic Secular Forum (CSF) is a

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

-based Catholic institution. As of 2008 the General Secretary was Joseph Dias, who believes that “India is not yet culturally or socially ready for such freedoms that West or Americas have ic” https://scroll.in/article/759299/joseph-dias-claims-to-be-offended-on-behalf-of-mumbais-christians-but-he-doesnt-speak-for-me The organization has been outspoken on a range of issues, with a particular focus on arts and media. For example, the CSF said that "''

The Da Vinci Code ''The Da Vinci Code'' is a 2003 mystery thriller novel by Dan Brown. It is “the best-selling American novel of all time.” Brown's second novel to include the character Robert Langdon—the first was his 2000 novel '' Angels & Demons''� ...

'' is offensive as it hit certain basic foundations of the religion." In 2006, the group opposed the cover artwork of the American

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...

band

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's album, ''

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''. In 2012, the group opposed the

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

film Kyaa Super Kool Hain Hum over the use of the name "Rosemary Maarlo", which translates from the Hindi "रोज़ मेरी मार लो" to "screw me every day please". In 2015, the group opposed a play called

Agnes of God ''Agnes of God'' is a 1979 play by American playwright John Pielmeier which tells the story of a novice nun who gives birth but does not believe she has. After the child is found dead, a psychiatrist and the mother superior of the convent clash ...

in Mumbai. The play is a story of a novice nun called Agnes who gives birth and then insists the child is the result of a virgin conception. It was written by American playwright

John Pielmeier John Pielmeier (born February 23, 1949) is an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. Life and career Pielmeier was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, the son of Louise (Blackburn) and Len Pielmeier. He was raised Catholic. He earned a Bachelo ...

in 1979. A letter signed by 70 prominent Indian citizens, including Christians, condemned the CSF's call for a ban.

Controversies

FIRs against Sanal Edamaruku

During the Weeping crucifix in Mumbai,

Sanal Edamaruku Sanal Edamaruku (born 26 May 1955) is an Indian author and rationalist. He is the founder-president and editor of '' Rationalist International'', the president of the Indian Rationalist Association and the author of 36 books and other articles ...

provided evidence that the water stemmed from a faulty sewage system and accused

Latin Christian The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 ''sui iuris'' churches in full communion wi ...

priests of regularly scamming devotees and defrauding miracles to make money in order to build bigger and newer churches or convents, and mocked the Pope as "anti-science". In response to these statements, the Catholic Secular Forum filed 17 first information reports (FIRs) against Edamaruku under

IPC IPC may refer to: Businesses and organizations Arts and media * Intellectual Property Committee, a coalition of US corporations with intellectual property interests * International Panorama Council, an international network of specialists in ...

section 295-A, a

blasphemy law A blasphemy law is a law prohibiting blasphemy, which is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of Reverence (attitude), reverence to a deity, or sacred objects, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. According to Pew Re ...

of India. Other Christian organizations in India disagreed with the Catholic Secular Forum's actions. The

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay is a particular church celebrating the Latin Church, Latin Rite of worship, centred in the Bombay (Mumbai) city of the northern Konkan division of Maharashtra, India. The archdiocese has been a Metropolit ...

asked for the prosecution to drop the charges. The

All India Catholic Union The All India Catholic Union (AICU) represents almost 16 million Catholics in India: followers of the Latin Church, the Syro-Malabar Catholics and the Syro-Malankara Catholics. It has 120 diocese and district units. The AICU was established i ...

said the law was being applied incorrectly. Colin Gonsalves, the founder of the India Center for Human Rights and Law, stated that in his opinion no criminal offence had been committed. As of 2014, the Catholic Secular Forum still held the position that they would call for Edamaruku's prosecution if he ever returned to India.

Misuse of donor funds

In 2014, Joseph Dias was charged by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai police for misusing INR 2.2

crore Crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes the quantity ten million (107) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. In many international contexts, the decimal quantity is formatted as 10,000,000, but when used in the context of the India ...

of funds that were donated to build an old age home.https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/rs2-2-crore-fraud-ngo-founder-5-others-chargesheeted/story-RJMgyYT3o2NRBqR7kS18SP.html

References

External links

* Christian organisations based in India {{RC-org-stub