Mumbai's Catholics to file writ even if BMC restores desecrated Cross in Bandra

The Catholic Church in Mumbai will continue with its writ petition even if the BMC restores the Holy Cross that was vandalised in the city’s Bandra area on April 29.

A sound bite by a spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Bombay that is doing the rounds within the city’s Catholic community confirmed the statement, saying that they were going ahead with the petition so that the fate of the other vandalised crosses would be decided once and for all.

Fr. Nigel Barrett, spokesperson of Archdiocese of Bombay, said the sound bite, where he said that the demolition of the Cross was deeply disturbing, was his personal opinion, but members of the community have stood by his statement.

“Even if the BMC agreed to restore the Cross, it is our opinion that the Bombay Catholic Sabha (BCS) should persist with the writ petition as it sets the precedence for the defence of almost 40 other Crosses in and around Bandra," added Barrett. 

Speaking to DNA, Rita D’Sa, the chairperson of BCS said that it made sense for the petition to go on. “Even if the Crosses are restored, the offenders need to be punished as they can’t take law into their hands.

The BCS will be filing the writ along with some organisations.