Kochi, Dec 6 2019: Cardinal George Alencherry was on Dec 6 elected the president of Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC), an association of the Catholic bishops of all three rites in the state.
The head of Syro Malabar Catholic Church succeeds Archbishop Maria Calist Soosa Pakiam of Trivandrum Latin archdiocese. Bishop Varghese Chakkalakal of Calicut (Latin) will be the new deputy chairman of the council. Bishop Joseph Thomas of Bathery (Syro-Malankara) is the new secretary general.
The KCBC meet regretted an increase in the vested interests in governance and the politicization of the education sector. KCBC has also reiterated that it will continue to try to resolve disputes between Orthodox and Jacobite churches.
However KCBC’s move has drawn flak from a section of believers in the Catholic Church. Archdiocesan Movement for Transparency (AMT), a collective that have been functioning as a corrective force within the Church, has criticized the KCBC decision to appoint Cardinal Alencherry as its new leader.
Cardinal Alencherry is among the accused in the controversial land deal case, which has allegedly incurred losses to the tune of several millions to the Church.
In 2016, he allegedly sold land that belonged to the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese at a price much lower than the market price. He has been charged with cheating and criminal conspiracy by the police.
The members of AMT stated that KCBC’s move clearly shows they don’t care about the allegations against the cardinal.
“It is these same people who will in the coming days will go to the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, and take a stand supporting rape accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal. They will even make Franco the president of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India,” an AMT member said.
In June last year, a section of priests in the Syro Malabar Catholic Church held an indefinite strike demanding the ouster of Cardinal Alencherry from his position.
KCBC comprises 32 dioceses. They include five archdioceses and eight dioceses of the Syro-Malabar, two archdioceses and ten dioceses of Latin and two archdioceses and five dioceses of the Syro-Malankara Churches.
The council’s secretariat is the Pastoral Orientation Centre based in Kochi. The center orients and co-ordinates the various pastoral activities of the different dioceses, parishes, institutions and individuals.
source: NewsMinute