CHENNAI, India (UCAN) -- Local Church leaders say "biased" media coverage of priests and nuns is harming the Church's image in Tamil Nadu.

Recent weeks saw mainstream media in the southern state giving wide coverage to an incident in which Catholics of a parish in Thanjavur diocese prevented their parish priest from entering the church.

On Oct. 14, parishioners of Our Lady of Lourdes in Madhakottai stopped Salesian Father Vincent Sebastian, 51, from entering the building. They accused the priest of sexual misconduct with women of a self-help group affiliated with the parish. One Tamil-language daily newspaper even published a front-page story on the incident.

"Such biased coverage will harm the Christian community's image and damage our goodwill among the public," says Father Vincent Chinnadurai, chairperson of the Tamil Nadu's minority commission.

Father Chinnadurai spoke with UCA News on Oct. 17 in Chennai, the state capital, 2,095 kilometers south of New Delhi.

Archbishop Peter Fernando of Madurai, who heads the Catholic Church in Tamil Nadu, agrees such incidents and "biased" reports pose an image problem for Christians in the state.

The prelate also cited a 2006 incident in which two "self-declared bishops" were arrested on charges of money laundering. Local media sensationalized the arrests and published stories about the "lavish lifestyle" the two led, which generated immense interest.

The archbishop said he regrets that mainstream media are ignorant about the variety of Christian denominations and tend to confuse "self-appointed Church leaders," who are in the "news for wrong reasons," with leaders of mainline Churches. He insisted this creates confusion among the general public.

To counter the "negative publicity," Archbishop Malayappan Chinnappa of Madras-Mylapore issued a press statement cautioning the public not to give credence to such "self-declared bishops."

In another incident, also in 2006, the media accused some nuns of the death of a 12th-grader in Omalur, near Salem, about 280 kilometers southwest of Chennai. The Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary nuns who ran the school maintained the girl committed suicide. But the girl's relatives attacked the school, alleging the girl was "sexually abused and murdered."

Press reports highlighted their allegations and published photographs of used condoms and liquor bottles reportedly found on the school campus. The reports also claimed priests used to visit the girls' hostel at night.

The nuns said some people threw the condoms and bottles onto the campus after the girl's death.

This incident was widely covered by the media and Catholics later protested the attack on the school and negative media coverage.

Earlier this year, mainstream media widely reported on a nun working in prison ministry who was arrested for allegedly trying to smuggle marijuana into a prison. She was later released on bail.

Father Chinnadurai said such reports "will set a bad precedent and encourage anti-Christian elements."

Meanwhile, a Salesian press release contended that a group opposed to the Madhakottai priest's development work "orchestrated" the incident there. According to the statement, the group informed local media, some of which sent television crews, beforehand.

The parishioners reportedly locked the church and refused to allow the priest to celebrate Sunday Mass. The newspapers reported that Catholics, along with local political leaders, demanded the priest's removal. Parishioners reportedly called off their protest after the Salesians replaced Father Sebastian with another priest.

END