Latin Rite Catholics in Kerala will protest for their rights in the face of new legislation, church officials warned yesterday. Father Paul Andrews, the Calicut diocesan director of the Kerala Latin Catholic Association (KLCA), a lay forum, said a government order denying post-1947 Latin Catholics a community certificate was now in force. Association general secretary Naiju Arackal said that the order denies reservation and other privileges to newly-converted members. “It is an injustice and we will raise our voices against it.” Fr Andrews said denial of a caste certificate will deal a death blow to students as it is needed for higher education and employment. He said it is very difficult to prove that one’s forefathers were members of the rite. He said that previously a diocese certificate was enough to get a caste certificate from the village office. But now certificates will be issued by the village officer after finding out whether the applicant’s ancestors were Latin Catholics before 1947. Members of the rite in the Malabar region will be most affected as the order has a clause that “excludes Latin communities in coastal regions of Kerala”, Fr Andrews added. Latin Catholics are mainly concentrated in the coastal areas of Kerala and majority of the converts are from the low-caste fishing community. K.A. Edward Kutialakal, KLCA’s Calicut region president, said “we are planning to step up protests for our rights.” Antony Ambattu, an executive member of Kerala Region Latin Catholic Council, said that a memorandum has been submitted to the government asking it to repeal or amend the new order since it denies Latin Catholics reservation benefits. However, he said there has been no positive step from the authorities.