Bishop urges Kerala Christians to have more children, fearing decrease

Fearing decrease of Christian population in Kerala, a Catholic prelate in the southern Indian state encouraged Christian families to have more babies, in order to increase Christian population and stabilize Christianity in the state.

Archbishop Andrews Thazhath of Trichur said Kerala Christians recorded zero growth in terms of percentage of population during the decade between the last two national censuses. The prelate has also called for a parish poster campaign against birth control.

"It's a dangerous trend. Our community is shrinking day by day. Other communities are growing steadily and the trend should open our eyes," said Archbishop Thazhath to Union of Catholic Asian News (UCA) Sept 10.

"The only way to overcome this crisis is to have more babies and honor the sanctity of life," he added.

The prelate urged all parishes in his archdiocese, to uphold Christian morality and to bring awareness among people about the sanctity of life and the threat abortion and contraception pose to this, quoted UCA news.

According to the Archbishop, his Syro–Malabar Church is growing the slowest, due to young parents opting for small families and the educated and economically better off, migrating to abroad countries and choosing to have one child to ensure social security.

The churches to bring awareness among people have devised ways to educate young parents about responsible parenthood and to give educational scholarships to children from big families.

Christians accounted 19.5 percent of Kerala's 29.09 million people in 1991. The state's population increased to 31.84 million in 2001, but the percentage of Christians dropped to 19 percent.