THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India (UCAN) -- Catholics in Kerala plan to observe June 29 as a "Black Sunday" to protest against a textbook through which they say the state's communist government is spreading its atheist ideology.

The Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council decided Church-run schools would boycott a grade-seven social-science textbook, council spokesperson Father Stephen Alathara told UCA News June 23. He said Catholics would attend Sunday Masses on June 29 wearing black badges as a token of protest. "We demand an immediate withdrawal" of the disputed book, he said.

Church people say the book, which the government introduced in the new academic year that began on June 2, tells about little-known communist leaders and glorifies isolated communist-led peasant uprisings of 1940s.

A chapter in that book also questions the relevance of religion in society, Father Alathara said, stressing that these are attempts to inculcate atheist ideology in young minds. According to the spokesperson, the bishops' council will organize a protest march on June 30 in Kochi, Kerala's commercial capital, 2,965 kilometers south of New Delhi.

The state's opposition Congress party and Muslim groups are also protesting the textbook. Congress activists have initiated a series of protests demanding withdrawal of the textbook. Several demonstrations launched by the party's student wing, Kerala Students' Union (KSU), turned violent when police used force to disperse protesters. Several student leaders sustained injuries.

The communist government is trying to "pollute the minds of children," KSU president Ebby Eden told UCA News. "We will resist any move to spread communist ideals through schools."

According to Eden, a Catholic, the government move is "a preplanned conspiracy" to win communist sympathizers among schoolchildren.

On June 22, Archbishop Daniel Acharuparambil of Verapoly launched an awareness campaign in his Kerala archdiocese against communists infiltrating education institutions. Addressing hundreds of parish leaders that day, he urged them to safeguard and pass on the Catholic faith they inherited. "The faith has been handed down from generation to generation through suffering and sacrifice, and the Church is duty-bound to protect this faith," the prelate said.

His archdiocese also issued a note on the controversial textbook, read in all parishes during Masses on June 22, explaining the need to protest. Parishes also offered special prayers that Sunday for protection of the faith.

Kerala's Education Minister, M.A. Baby, told UCA News that Church and opposition leaders are making a "hue and cry about the textbook" without analyzing its content.

"I'm ready to discuss with anybody and clear their doubts if they point out objectionable parts in the textbook. But this protest is biased and politically motivated," said Baby, defending his government. Baby, born a Catholic, has declared himself an atheist.

Since the present communist-led government came to power in May 2006, Church leaders have alleged it is trying not only to control appointments and admissions in Church-managed schools, but also to propagate its ideology through curriculum reforms.

Through pastoral letters many bishops have urged students and teachers to cooperate with others in the struggle against politicizing educational institutions and promoting atheism among students. Kerala has witnessed several Church-communist tussles since 1957, when communists formed the world's first democratically elected communist government in the state. A Church-led stir led to that government's dismissal in 1959.

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