Kerala Church Gathers Big Families

October 04, 2011: The Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC), in Southern India, has announced to honor big families consisting of four or more children, days after a state government committee recommended steps to control the population.
“We are planning a very big get together of large Catholic families in Kerala on November 14 in Kochi,” said a KCBC spokesman, Sabu Jose Chekkontheyil.
“The main aim of the event is to spread the message of life and that a big family is a happy one,” he said.
Couples married for over 40 years and who have at least five children and those married after 1990 and who have four children will be honored.
“Over 5,000 large families from dioceses across the state and from the three different rites will take part in the event,” the spokesperson said.
Salu Michael, from Mananthavady diocese, said the gathering will send a strong and timely message to those who condemn big families.
Over the past few decades, the Church has kept quiet on family planning, which sent the wrong message to Catholics, said Vinod John Kuthukallel, a parishioner from Kozhikode.
“Now they understand the value of big families and are ready to honor them in public,” he added.
Chekkontheyil said a few dioceses had honored large families in the past, “but this will be the first time that we are organizing an event on this scale to convey the message that a large family is bliss and not a burden.”
Last month, a government committee presented a draft bill on population control which recommended punitive measures, including fining couples, who have more than two children.
The KCBC called the draft bill “anti-democratic and an infringement on the parental rights of the people.”