KOCHI: Fr Paul Thelakkat will on Friday step down as editor of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church-run English bi-weekly, ‘Light of Truth’. He had helmed ‘Sathyadeepam’, another publication brought out by the Church, from 1986 to 2004.
Fr Thelakkat’s tenure as editor of the two publications was marked by several controversies, which he details in his autobiography ‘Kathashesham’, which was released in Kochi on Wednesday.
One of the episodes relates to the publication of an article by Fr George Nedungatt S J, a Malayali who was also professor at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome.
The Light of Truth article followed a talk by Pope Benedict XVI on September 27, 2006, where he said, “Apostle Thomas came to western India from where Christianity spread to the south of India”.
Fr Nedungatt’s piece interpreted Pope Benedict’s speech to say that St Thomas did not come to the south of India, creating big news at the time. “Many popes have acknowledged the origin of St Thomas Christians to the Apostle Thomas,” Fr Thelakatt told TNIE.
Archbishop Joseph Powathil issued a press release saying Pope Benedict had not denied the coming of St Thomas to the south of the country.
After Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil sent a letter to the Vatican, the Pope amended his words and affirmed that St Thomas had indeed come to the south of India. “Whether St Thomas had come to India is not determined by the Pope’s statement,” wrote Fr Thelakkat in his autobiography. Fr Thelakkat was also vocal in his view that the church should settle the dispute relating Franco Mulakkal, when five nuns confronted to Jalandhar bishop with allegations of sexual abuse.
“All that I wanted was for church authorities to settle the dispute in an honourable and just manner, to prevent it from becoming a major scandal out in the public. Church authorities failed to settle the matter internally,” Fr Thelakkat said.