Madrid: A Catholic priest in Spain was forced to resign on Monday, a day after he welcomed a Hindu procession into the cathedral.
As per reports, local Hindus, carrying out a Ganesh Chaturthi procession, originally wanted to leave some floral offerings at the entrance of the church as a gesture of respect to Christians. However, Vicar General Father Juan Jose Mateos Castro opened the doors of the church for the idol Ganesha and the procession.
The video of the incident has gone viral on social media.
However, it did not go down well with the power holders. In a statement on Monday from the diocese, Bishop Rafael Zornoza Boy apologized and expressed “deep sorrow for this unfortunate fact that has caused damage, confusion or scandal in the Christian community.”
The statement added that Castro “recognizes that it has been a mistake to allow the entrance of these images and that it has never intended to venerate anything (but) our true and only God, since (his) intention was only to accept the show of respect that the Hindu community wanted to do to the Christian community and the Patroness of Ceuta, making a floral offering outside the temple, and not to celebrate any kind of religious act together.”
The statement, however, thanked the local Hindu community for its intention. “We thank them for their respect and reiterate our satisfaction with the cordial relationship with them and the other religious confessions of Ceuta, which forces us to be more and more faithful to our Christian tradition,” the statement said.
