Thiruvananthapuram, August 23, 2019: Some members of the Church of South India (CSI) have petitioned Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan against giving state guest status to Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby of the Church of England when he arrives in Kerala later this month.
Those opposing the plan include Reverend Valson Thampu, former principal of Delhi’s St Stephen’s College, who says through its topmost leader’s visit the Church aims to clean up its image, sullied by a series of corruption charges.
Thampu said he has signed the memorandum to Vijayan and all what is written in it are “facts” and they hope that the Kerala government takes it seriously.
The memorandum has listed the corruption cases, in which the Church is caught, such as admissions to a medical college which it owns.
It also points out that the CSI is independent and gives no administrative or spiritual supremacy to the visiting dignitary.
Archbishop Welby, along with his wife, is arriving in India after being invited by the United Churches of North and South India from August 31 to September 10.
As part of the trip, he has a function in Kerala’s Kottayam on August 3. The archbishop would be in Kerala until September 2, when he leaves for Bengaluru.
He is also scheduled to visit Hyderabad, Medak, Jabalpur, Kolkata and Amritsar.
Source: outlookindia.com