Cardinal of Syro Malabar Church Mar George Alencherry on Wednesday clarified that he did not offer to mediate between Italy and India in the firing case involving Italian merchant ship Enrica Lexie. In a statement issued here, Cardinal Alencherry, who was elevated as a cardinal on Saturday by the Vatican, said he did he talk to any Kerala minister regarding the matter.
The clarification came after an interview given by the cardinal, who is now in Rome, to Vatican new agency Fides News Service on Tuesday raised a controversy back in his home state. Opposition leader V.S. Achuthanandan was quick to condemn the cardinal’s alleged mediatory role. A few BJP workers organised a march to cardinal’s official residence in Kochi on Wednesday, alleging that he was trying to protect the Italian Navy men who fired on the fishermen.
“The news carried by Fides News Service was not true. The agency has since withdrawn the report and apologised to me. What I said was that two valuable lives were lost (in the firing) and that all legal steps should be followed in the case,” the cardinal clarified.
“Truth and justice need to be upheld always,” he said.