Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala’s Catholic Church is facing an unprecedented crisis of confidence, with a major section of the believers expressing a lack of faith in the spiritual leadership of its head, Major Archbishop Cardinal Alancherry, who has just been reinstated by the Pope, after the cardinal was cleared of wrong-doing in controversial land deeds.
Over a thousand ordinary members of the Church, including members of Kerala Catholic Youth Movement (KCYM) and the Pastoral Council of Eranakulam-Angamaly Syrian Catholic Archdiocese, have demanded that Alancherry be replaced by an administrative archbishop to manage day-to-day activities of the archdiocese.
They are also demanding that an internal report on the controversial land deals in the archdiocese be made public. The laity is warning that the church members must not be forced to take the issue to the street, which would be most embarrassing for the spiritual leadership of the Church, right down from the Pope.
In fact, a meeting of over 250 priests of the Eranakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese have nearly revolted against the decision of the Vatican to reinstate the Cardinal as their administrative head.
The Father had earlier been divested of all administrative responsibilities following allegations of improper land deals on behalf of the archdiocese, in which he is supposed to have made financial windfalls.
The Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) has, however, thrown its weight behind Alancherry and pledged full support for the Vatican decision to reinstate the controversial Cardinal. The bishops have cautioned against “vested interests trying to foment trouble within the church”.
Last month Vatican ordered the reinstatement of Cardinal Alancherry a year after he was removed from the administration of his southern Indian archdiocese following allegations of irregular land dealings, which are believed to have caused huge loss to his church dispensation.
Pope Francis had removed the Cardinal from administration of the archdiocese on June 22, 2018, after a group of priests claimed that his selling of church land cost the archdiocese about US$10 million.
The Pope also instituted an enquiry into the allegations. The reinstatement of the father means that the enquiry found the allegations unsustainable.
Along with Alancherry’s reinstatement, Vatican also removed two bishops who had been appointed auxiliary bishops of the Eranakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese in the wake of the action against the Cardinal.
By K RAVEENDRAN
