Seventeen years ago, when Felix Pulludan was “healthier in his mind and body” as he’d like to put it, a sequence of incidents – beginning with a meeting of bishops, priests and the laity – led to his exit from the Catholic Church in Kerala. They were discussing a Bill moved by the then education minister of Kerala, MA Baby – the Kerala Professional Colleges or Institutions Act, 2006. The law could identify minority institutions and included provisions for reservation in self-financing colleges.
Felix made a speech about how it could be beneficial to the minorities, and everyone had agreed to his suggestion that they accept it. But in the newspapers the next day, Felix found that the bishops issued a statement opposite to what was agreed at the meeting.
