In Kerala's Syro-Malabar Church, dissent grows into open revolt
KOCHI: In an open revolt against Syro-Malabar Church head Cardinal Mar George Alencherry, 251 priests of the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese have expressed their dissent in public against the decision of the Vatican to reinstate the Cardinal as their administrative head.
The differences in the Church snowballed into an unprecedented rebellion as the priests convened a meeting in Kochi on Tuesday and vociferously demanded the appointment of a new administrative archbishop.
The priests claimed that of the 400 priests in the archdiocese, 251 attended the meeting which was held at Kaloor Renewal Centre. A 25-member steering committee comprising members of the laity was also constituted to express their dissent in an organised way.
Dismissing the allegations against Cardinal Mar Alencherry, Syro Malabar Church Media Commission chairman Mar Joseph Pamplany said Pope Francis took the decision based on the inquiry report submitted by the apostolic administrator. He said the Cardinal was never removed from the post of major archbishop and Bishop Jacob Manathodath was appointed apostolic administrator with the permission of the Cardinal.
Fr Sebastian Thaliyan, convener of the steering committee, said: “The reinstatement of Cardinal Mar Alencherry, who was removed from the post of the Archdiocese head a year ago, has caused concern among the faithful. He was removed for his alleged role in the dubious land deals and flouting the canonical law and civil laws. The Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church should intervene to alleviate the concern.” He demanded to publish the internal inquiry report on the controversial land deal in which Cardinal Mar Alencherry was involved. The decision of the meeting would be soon communicated to the Vatican, said Fr Sebastian.
The priests expressed their disagreement on the removal of two auxiliary bishops, Sebastian Adayantrath and Jose Puthenveetil, and warned that the priests will launch an agitation if the auxiliary bishops or any priest are falsely implicated in criminal cases for raising allegations against the controversial land deals.
“We will pass a resolution in all parishes under the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese against the re-entry of Mar Alencherry as the administrative head of the archdiocese and suspension of two auxiliary bishops. The reason behind the removal of the two auxiliary bishops, who have no legislative, judicial and executive powers, is still mysterious,” said Fr Sebastian.
As Apostolic Administrator Bishop Mar Jacob Manathodath said, a judicial or CBI inquiry should be conducted in the controversial land deal case as the ongoing police investigation is not heading in the right direction, he added.