Mumbai, June 5 2019: Police have filed an FIR against the archbishop of Mumbai and two bishops for allegedly not acting against a priest accused of child molestation, nor informing the police about the matter, despite complaints by the boy’s father. The move came after a special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Posco) court directed the police to investigate the accusations.

Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Bishop Dominic Savio Fernandes and Bishop John Rodrigues allegedly failed to take action when the incident took place, on November 27, 2015. Father Lawrence Johnson, 52, is on trial for allegedly abusing the teenage boy.

The father stated in the FIR: “On 1/12/2015 I registered my first complaint. In it I had issued a statement. My two sons had visited the church from 8.15 pm to 8.30 pm. After the prayers, the priest from the church, under the pretext of removing the decoration, held them back. He handed over a box to one of my sons and followed him inside the office and shut the door.

He removed stripped the boy naked and sexually abused him. On December 1, 2015, we lodged a complaint under the Posco Act and he was arrested after two days. I met another father along with my son who directly confronted the priest for this act of misdeed and he apologised, saying that he won’t repeat it. After we left the premises, he called up one of my acquaintances and admitted to his crime and apologised.

“On November 28, 2015, at 10am, I called my acquaintance to take official action against the parish priest and wanted to meet Bishop Dominic Savio Fernandes from the Salvation Centre in Dadar (West), but we were informed that he was not present in office. He was called thrice but was unavailable all three times. So my acquaintance told the secretary about the seriousness of our case and asked for the Bishop Savio Fernandes’ contact numbers. His office didn’t get back at all.

On November 29, the father and his acquaintance decided to approach the Bishop House in Colaba to meet Cardinal Oswald Gracias, but it was the Sunday and they couldn’t meet him.

On November 30, when the acquaintance called the cardinal, his personal assistant at first said he was headed for Rome and wouldn’t be able to come on the phone. The cardinal later agreed to meet the father.

The FIR said: “I along with my wife, son and acquaintance reached Bishop House and went to his cabin. My wife narrated the incident to Cardinal Gracias and told him how the parish priest sexually abused our son even on August 20, 2015. He said it was his responsibility to hand over the priest to the police but did nothing.

We also told him how we had communicated this to Bishop Dominic Savio Fernandes but got no help in return and were forced to approach the Bishop House. Cardinal Gracias said that a committee would be formed to look into this matter and Father K T Emmanuel and Bishop John Rodrigues would give timely information.

The cardinal later left for Rome. When we asked him for a medical examination of our son, we got no response. So we approached our family doctor, who said it was a police case. We went to the police station to lodge a complaint. We were then taken to Sion hospital for a medical examination, following which a complaint was lodged against the priest on December 1, 2015.”

The father said that on December 3, he got a call from Father Emmanuel and Bishop Rodrigues asking him to visit Bishop House. “Bishop John Rodrigues, Father KT Emmanuel were present along with three other priests. They heard us and took our signatures on some documents but when we asked for the documents, they didn’t give them to us.”

The father said the family took four days to report the incidence to the police because they were afraid of church retribution. “To the best of our knowledge the Archdiocese of Bombay is unaware of any FIR being filed against Bishop Dominic Savio Fernandes, Bishop John Rodrigues and Cardinal Gracias. Whatever we know is from the newspapers. We are in the process of obtaining certified copies of the order and the proceedings,” the Archdiocese of Bombay’s press office said in a statement. While Section 19 of the Pocso Act deals with reporting of sexual offences, Section 21(2) prescribes a maximum sentence of one year’s imprisonment if a person in charge of an institution fails to report by a subordinate under his control.

source: Mumbai Mirror