The Syro-Malabar Catholic Church fell into an unprecedented crisis on Tuesday with the Kerala High Court ordering a probe against its head, Major Archbishop Cardinal Mar George Alencherry, in connection with a controversial sale of land belonging to the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese which brought huge financial losses to the diocese.
Justice B Kemal Pasha of the High Court ordered that a probe be held against the Cardinal, two senior priests of the Archdiocese and the middleman of the deal by registering an FIR over allegations of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and financial irregularities involved in the land sale carried out under the direct supervision of Mar Alencherry.
As per the court order issued on a petition filed by one Shine Varghese of Cherthala, Alappuzha, the Ernakulam Central Police in Kochi will be registering an FIR against the Cardinal, Archdiocese’s finance officer Father Joshi Puthuva, Vicar General Monsignor Sebastian Vadakkumpadam and Saju Varghese, the middleman who facilitated the land sale.
Unconfirmed reports on Tuesday evening said that Mar Alencherry had expressed his readiness to step down to the bishops of the Church in the context of the embarrassing court order even as the Church called an emergency Synod to discuss the order and its possible fallout and to decide on damage-controlling strategies.
Justice Kemal Pasha passed the order for investigation by rejecting all arguments put forward by the counsel of the Cardinal to avoid it and with some extremely harsh observations directly against Mar Alencherry like “The Cardinal is not king”. This is the first time the Syro-Malabar Church is facing such a critical situation in its entire history.
The issue pertains to the sale of over three acres of prime land belonging to the Archdiocese for mobilising funds to repay a hefty bank loan availed for a now-aborted medical college project. The prime land was sold through middleman Saju Varghese allegedly for less than one-thirds of the price it could fetch, causing losses to the tune of crores of rupees to the diocese.
All the sale documents were signed by the Cardinal and the charge against him is that he had carried out the deal without proper discussions in concerned Church forums. The scam has been rocking the Syro-Malabar Church for the past three months with a section of the clergy and laity raising stiff protests and even petitioning the Pope seeking action against the Cardinal.
Several senior members of the clergy admitted that the land scam and the court order had brought shame to the Church. “It’s a heartbreaking development. This happened because the responsible Church authorities failed to settle the issue using its systems,” said former Syro-Malabar Catholic Church spokesman Fr Paul Thelekkat.
The court order triggered an explosion of anger from the laity against the Cardinal. “Nobody has ever brought such shame to the Syro-Malabar Church. The Cardinal has no right to continue in the position. We will not allow him to attend any Church programme in the diocese,” said a representative of laity forum Archdiocesan Movement for Transparency.
Justice Pasha ordered the investigation on Tuesday by observing that the land deal was shrouded in a cloud which had to be removed. Stating that the land deal seemed to be mysterious, the judge said there was enough reason to believe that there was a conspiracy behind the deal and involvement of money to the tune of crores of rupees in it.
When Mar Alencherry’s counsel argued that he was the Church’s supreme authority as per Canon law, a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority, the court hit back saying that the Cardinal was no king, that nobody was above the law of the land and that Canon law was irrelevant in matters pertaining to crimes committed within the country.