RSSThe Catholic Lawyers´ Society has lodged a complaint with the Home Ministry over an alleged act, deemed offensive to Catholics, by journalists from an Islamic magazine.
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From left: Jesuit Father O.C. Lim, |
On Aug. 27, four lawyers from society met for an hour with three senior ministry officials in Putrajaya, the administrative capital south of Kuala Lumpur.
They and other Catholics in Malaysia were outraged by a story in the May issue of the Malay-language “Al-Islam” magazine. In the story, two Muslim journalists described how they went into Catholic churches in Kuala Lumpur, received Holy Communion and then spat out the host.
Mabel Sebastian, president of the Catholic Lawyers´ Society (CLS), told UCA News that ministry officials welcomed the Catholic lawyers, accepted their memorandum on the issue and listened to their views. She described the dialogue as “positive.”
A CLS statement said deputy home minister Abu Seman Yusof and two other senior officials received the memorandum. The three officials then spoke for an hour with Sebastian; CLS vice president Joy Appukutan; Francis Pereira, a former president; and CLS spiritual adviser Jesuit Father O.C. Lim.
The CLS representatives urged the ministry to “complete its investigation and bring to book the persons responsible for violating the sacredness of the Holy Communion.”
They pointed to the “sacrilegious act of the journalists” and the “blatant disrespect shown by the editor and publisher of Al Islam” in publishing the article.
They warned that such a “callous act” has “added fuel to the racial and religious polarization that have besieged this nation.”
The Catholic lawyers are demanding that the Home Minister “rely on the provisions of the law to deter those who incite religious disharmony.”
The CLS had originally planned to deliver their complaint to the Home Minister himself on Aug. 17, but postponed the action after learning that many Christians from across the country intended to support the move by organizing trips to Putrajaya.
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