Election seasons in Goa over the years have seen the archdiocese of Goa, the Catholic church and clergy come under scrutiny for political activism and “interference”﹘as accused by opponents, especially the RSS, BJP and its affiliates.
In 2018, in the run-up to the general election a year later, archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao’s annual pastoral letter saying the Constitution was in danger predictably raised the hackles of Hindutva groups, but that has not deterred the church from issuing an advisory to the laity. It is the council for social justice and peace, the social wing of the Archdiocese of Goa, that now issues the advisory, and the communiqué is direct in raising social, political and humane issues, nudging followers at the time of voting.
