Cardinal Alencherry should break his silence on land deal: Ex-MP Sebastian Paul

The land scam kicked up a furore, with a section of priests demanding the resignation of  Alencherry as head of the Syro-Malabar Church.
Cardinal George Alencherry of the Syro-Malabar Church (File | Melton Antony
Cardinal George Alencherry of the Syro-Malabar Church (File | Melton Antony

KOCHI: With the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly Syro-Malabar Church under a cloud over a controversial land deal, a section of the laity as well as members of the general society have called upon Cardinal Mar George Alencherry, the appellate authority of the Church, to break his silence on the issue. 

“We know the Cardinal is indeed a pious and dignified person who leads an austere life. However, the reports which emerged are of a grave nature and should not be hushed up. Hence the onus is on the Cardinal and he should break his silence on the issue,” said former Ernakulam MP Sebastian Paul.
The issue was not merely an aberration in the Church since the land deal involves the breach of state laws too, he said. 

“As per the reports, the deal has undervaluation and tax evasion which have to to be dealt with by the laws of the state. The Cardinal can take a cue from Pope Francis on how to deal with this.  When a financial allegation was raised against the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires (Argentina), the Pope, who was then a  Cardinal, was quick to order an audit by a Chartered Accountant and took stern action based on the report. Here also, such a proper investigation and  stern action is the need of the hour to clear the air,” he said. 
It has been alleged prime real estate owned by the Archdiocese in and around Kochi were sold at throwaway prices.

The land scam kicked up a furore, with a section of priests demanding the resignation of  Alencherry as head of the Syro-Malabar Church. A crucial meeting of the Presbyterial Council of the Archdiocese scheduled for Thursday by the Cardinal was postponed due to ‘unforeseen’ circumstances. The council is of immense importance as per the Canonical norms and has 57 members as representatives of 458 priests of the Archdiocese.The Archdiocese on December 28 had issued a circular, in which diocesan authorities admitted that there was lack of probity in the real estate deals.

Row being used to damage Church, says Laity Forum

 Kottayam: Even as the land deal row has been rocking the Ernakulam-Angamaly diocese of the Syro-Malabar Church, more laity forums have come out in support of Cardinal Mar George Alencherry, who is at the receiving end of criticism in the controversy.Addressing the media here on Friday, functionaries of the All India Catholic Laity Forum called upon a section of clergy to desist from creating unnecessary controversies in the public domain over the land deal. The forum also extended its support to Cardinal Alencherry and said the allegations over the land deal should be discussed in the Synod, instead of convening the Presbytery Council.

“A small group of clergies who are engaged in false campaigning against the Church head should end such activities. The priests, who take an oath of abiding by the words of their higher clergies, are acting against it, which is unethical and is against canon laws. They have become part of some dubious agenda,” they alleged.The laities said the Church has its own system to question activities within the organisation, and also to register complaints.

“However, the ongoing activities of a certain section are against such a system of rules,” they said.They alleged that certain quarters were trying to destroy the Syro-Malabar Church in the name of the land deal issue, which is a localised matter that can be addressed locally.The Laity Forum also decided to build up a unity of laities and followers of the Church against such attempts.

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