A spokesperson of the Kerala-based Syro-Malabar Church on Tuesday night said the statement of the newly-appointed Indian cardinal Mar George Alancherry on the killing of two Indian fishermen was 'distorted' by media and he had not said anything that went against India's position on the issue.
"I have spoken to the Cardinal as soon the news in this regard came to my notice and what I could know from him was that he had not said anything that went against the position of India on the issue," Fr Paul Thelakkat, official spokesperson of the SMC told a Malayalam channel.
He was reacting to the report by Catholic news agency 'Fides' in which Alancherry quoted as having appealed to the state authorities not to resort to 'precipitate action' and warned the opposition against trying to 'exploit the situation'.
"Whatever the Cardinal said have been distorted by news media. I know, he will never take a stand against the interest of the country and its people", Fr Thelakkat said.
Major Arch Bishop of the four million strong Syro-Malabar Church, Alancherry was appointed as Cardian by Pope Benedict XIV on Saturday.
In the 'Fides' report, Alancherry was quoted as saying, "In the episode, of course, there were errors, since the fishermen were mistaken for pirates. But ... it seems that the opposition party wants to take advantage of the situation and exploit the case for electoral reasons, speaking of 'Western powers' or the 'will of American dominance'".