Archbishop rejects call to make his letters public
Correspondence was private, he says, after group seeks its release
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The head of the Catholic Church whose letters to a civil activist group are at the centre of an altercation maintained on Friday that he will not make his correspondence public.
Rejecting a call by the group, Function8, to do so, Archbishop Nicholas Chia said the correspondence was "private communication" that was never intended for release.
Separately, Function8 on Friday refuted the Government's charge that it was disrespectful towards the Archbishop and accused the Government of trying "to set F8 against the church".
The activist group, the church and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) have been embroiled in verbal sparring following a post by blogger Alex Au on Tuesday.
Background story
NO PERMISSION SOUGHT
His letter to this group was intended as a private communication. If the group was going to publicise it at a political event, something which he did not intend, then they should and could easily have asked for permission first. They did not do so.
Communications office of the Catholic Church in Singapore, in response to Function 8's call for the letters to be released
'UNJUSTIFIED ALLEGATIONS'
At no time will we allow ourselves to be set against the Church by inappropriate and unjustified allegations by any party.
Activist group Function 8's response to the Ministry of Home Affairs, which said on Thursday the group had been disrespectful to Catholic Archbishop Nicholas Chia
