There appears to be no imminent finale to the corruption scandal that has dogged the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church and its head, Cardinal George Alencherry.
In a dramatic move earlier this week, the Vatican stripped the cardinal of his administrative powers just three months after he was controversially reinstated (after being earlier suspended) – to the chagrin of many priests and members of the laity in the southern state of Kerala.
The Holy See has now entrusted Bishop Antony Kariyil of Mandya with all administrative, financial and pastoral duties in Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese.
Cardinal Alencherry is accused of participating in a land scam in which Church real estate was allegedly sold off at a knockdown price in exchange for kickbacks. He vigorously rejects the charges.
In the past year priests have gone on hunger strike over the official response to the scandal and lay people have held mass protests, in one of the deepest fissures that the Church has faced in its nearly 2,000-year history.
The Indian media have been actively following the saga, which has taken on the narrative of a Church leadership repeatedly glossing over a revolt by its rank-and-file members.
Statements by senior bishops have played down the accusations, saying that the cardinal acted in good faith during the land deal, and going as far as accusing those asking for transparency of damaging the Church’s reputation.
Last Sunday, a pastoral letter by Cardinal Alencherry was read out in all churches during Mass. It is the first such letter to be issued in all the churches since the land scam emerged, reported the Kerala-based website The News Minute.
Cardinal Alencherry stands accused of losing around £8 million ($10 million) in the 2017 land deal, and the case is currently going through the notoriously slow Indian court system.
Last year, Pope Francis named a temporary administrator to resolve the archdiocese’s financial problems and to try to heal the conflict it created within its presbyterate. However in June, the Pope reinstated Cardinal Alencherry, prompting the hunger strike.
In a press release this week, the Church acknowledged the land scam but blamed it on “brokers and middlemen”. It also claimed that its protesting flock were to blame for the Church’s plummeting reputation.
“Some of the protests against the land deal broke all the barriers of discipline,” it said. “The act of burning the effigy of Major Archbishop has created lasting taint for the Church.”
Meanwhile, the public and media remain hooked.
