KOZHIKODE: The CSI North Kerala Laity Fellowship (CSINKLF) has demanded Bishop K P Kuruvilla to step down from his post and convene a diocesan council as directed the Synod.
CSINKLF has warned that if its demand was not met they would be forced to launch agitations and take over the Bishop House at Shoranur. At a press conference here on Saturday, CSINKLF members urged the moderator appointed by the Church to force the Bishop's resignation.
The laity also alleged the Bishop of using muscle power to prevent a committee appointed by the moderator from taking charge of the Church's administration.
"The Bishop used goons to prevent the committee members, including two retired IAS officers, from entering the Bishop House," said T J John, general secretary of CSINKLF.
Meanwhile, the Bishop has brushed aside all the allegations levelled against him. "The socalled laity were no longer members of the Church and they were trying to tarnish the Church's reputation by boasting about taking over the Bishop House," the Bishop said. "There were contradictions about appointing the members of the committee. The Synod has now decided to reconstitute a fivemember committee with a priest and a woman as its members," clarified the Bishop. Kuruvilla also said that the moderator has been asked to present an amended list of the committee members that will involve in the administration of the Church.
However, the laity has decided to stand firm on its demand seeking the Bishop's resignation. The general secretary said that at least four criminal cases exist in the name of the Bishop and that he does not have the right to head the church of North Kerala.
"There are about 55,000 members of the laity in North Kerala and nearly 80 priests, of whom we have the support of at least 90 per cent,'' said Reginald Walter, another member of the laity.