KOCHI: The ongoing tussle within the Syro Malabar Church over reinstating Cardinal Alencherry at the helm of the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese saw a new turn of events with Bishop of Palakkad Mar Jacob Manathodath, who stepped down from the post of Apostolic Administrator of the archdiocese, stating that the present actions taken by the Vatican were not based on the reports of the land deals submitted by the commission set up by the Church. According to him, the Vatican is yet to give directives to the Permanent Synod after a detailed study of the report, which the synod has to abide.
As per the provisions of Canon law, an Apostolic Administrator is appointed when any crisis occurs in any archdiocese. Administrators thus appointed as per Canon law only serve till a newly chosen bishop takes charge of the diocese. “Mar Jacob Manathodath was appointed as per sede plena, and it is only a temporary post. Since Manathodath has completed his job, the archdiocese is to be brought under a regular archbishop. Otherwise, the authority of Bishop Manathodath representing the archdiocese will be questionable. Therefore, this order was necessary for regularisation,” said Presbyterial Council secretary Fr Kuriakose Mundadan.
However, the suspension of two auxiliary bishops, Mar Sebastian Adayanthrath and Mar Jose Puthenveetil, still remains a matter of controversy. “The suspension of the auxiliary bishops is still unexplained. Generally, when the Vatican suspends bishops, they publish it on their website. But in this case, there was no such mention. The Vatican website only announced the termination of the Apostolic Administrator,” said Fr Mundadan.
Meanwhile, some priests of the archdiocese criticised the Media Commission of the Syro Malabar Church for misleading the laity and the public through their release portraying the decision as a final diktat from the Vatican.