By Jose Kavi
New Delhi, Sept 20, 2020: Several Catholic groups in India have expressed relief after the Vatican removed its controversial envoy from the country.
Pope Francis Aug. 29 suddenly transferred Archbishop Giambattista Diquattro, apostolic nuncio to India and Nepal, to Brazil amid accusations of inaction against allegedly corrupt bishops.
“I saw the nuncio’s transfer as a small moral victory, not something to gloat about, but more a sense of relief,” chhotebhai, coordinator of the Indian Catholic Forum and former president of the All India Catholic Union, the largest lay association in the country, told NCR.
Chhotebhai welcomed the transfer as a “good riddance,” a sentiment shared by Virginia Saldanha, a laywoman theologian, and Melwyn Fernandes of the Association of the Concerned Catholics, who had tried to contact the nuncio. Their experience has made them question the relevance of an envoy of a religious state to a secular country like India.
Chhotebhai alleged that Diquattro’s tenure, from Jan. 21, 2017, to Aug. 29, 2020, was the worst in the history of nuncios to India.
Diquattro’s was one of the shortest tenures among seven apostolic delegates, three internuncios, six pro-nuncios and four nuncios India has had since Pope Leo XIII in 1881 established formal diplomatic relations with the nation where Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism originated. However, the first papal envoy to enter India was St. Francis Xavier, who was appointed the apostolic nuncio to the East by Pope Paul III on April 7, 1541.
Chhotebhai says he had taken up with the nuncio issues such as the controversy around then-Bishop Gallela Prasad of Cuddapah, in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Prasad faced a criminal complaint for allegedly misappropriating diocesan funds to lead a luxurious life with his alleged wife and son.
Another request to the nuncio was to act against Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar, who has been accused of raping a nun multiple times. Chhotebhai wanted Diquattro to protect the rape survivor and her five main supporters, who are also nuns.
The lay leader called for a Vatican probe into Bishop K.A. William of Mysore in Karnataka state, who too faced allegations of criminal and immoral acts. Chhotebhai also wanted the nuncio to investigate the scandal of police nabbing a Jalandhar diocesan priest in 2019 with 300 million rupees in cash.
“The nuncio did not reply to a single communication,” the lay leader lamented.
However, the Vatican later removed Prasad from his post, and accepted Mulakkal’s request for temporary resignation to face the court case.
The apostolic nunciature in New Delhi did not respond to request for comment for this story, or on the accusations made against Diquattro during his tenure in India. The Holy See press office also did not respond to a request for comment.
Chhotebhai says he had warned the nuncio that his “silence means consent, therefore collusion and conspiracy, which was an offence under Section 120B of the Indian Penal Code.”
He alleged that Diquattro behaved like “a white colonial master, not answerable or accountable to his subjects,” while the scandals involving bishops dealt a “lethal blow” to the Indian church’s credibility.
Fernandes said he had tried contact the nuncio by phone, email and even in person, but was driven away from the nunciature in New Delhi. “Letters were never acknowledged, forget about acting on them. Despite being a trained diplomat, [Diquattro] was far from being courteous,” the lay leader told NCR.
Fernandes had alerted the nuncio about several allegations of clandestine sale of land belonging to the Bombay Archdiocese. He also drew the nuncio’s attention to the archdiocese allegedly providing a lawyer to defend a priest in a sodomy case.
Concerned Catholics had also sought the nuncio’s intervention after 37 priests in Mysore Diocese complained to Rome about William. The laity group also informed the nuncio about the controversial installation of cameras in women’s washrooms in St. Michael’s Church in Mahim, a Mumbai suburb.
“All these letters were never acknowledged,” Fernandes says.
Vikram K. Antony, a Catholic politician in Bengaluru, says he had written to the nuncio about the arrest of a few priests in the murder of a seminary rector. “There was no action or inquiry into our complaints,” he told NCR.
Another person happy with the nuncio’s transfer is Kochurani Abraham, a feminist theologian who accompanies the rape survivor nun and her supporters.
The member of Sisters in Solidarity, a national association of Catholic women, said the nuns had first written to the nuncio about the rape on Jan. 28, 2018. The letter was sent through Bishop Kurian Valiayakandathil of Bhagalpur. As no reply came even after five months, the nuns wrote directly to heads of various Vatican offices and to Pope Francis.
As no response came from anywhere, the nuns emailed the nuncio again on June 24, 2018, seeking his immediate intervention, as Mulakkal had filed police cases against them and the rape survivor’s family members. Five days later, survivor nun filed a police complaint against Mulakkal — the first case of a sexual abuse allegation against an Indian bishop.
Abraham said the survivor nun wrote to the nuncio again on Sept. 8, 2018, seeking his help, hours before Save Our Sisters, a laity movement to support Catholic religious women in distress, launched an indefinite sit-in in Kerala’s Kochi city to demand Mulakkal’s arrest. The rape survivor’s five nun supporters also joined the protest, which lasted until Sept. 25, 2018, a day after Mulakkal’s arrest.
Sr. Anupama Kelamangalathuveli, the spokesperson for the survivor and her supporters, corroborated Abraham’s narration of the developments. She, however, declined to talk further as the trial in the case began Aug 13.
Abraham said the Sisters in Solidarity had requested on April 23 that the nuncio remove Mulakkal from the Jalandhar bishop’s residence. “We have not received even an acknowledgement to this letter,” she said.
Abraham says such behavior of Diquattro has led those “seriously seeking justice for the victims of clergy sexual abuse” to question his integrity. The nuncio’s role “seemed nothing but an ornamental emblem decorating the ecclesiastical suit of the Indian church,” she told NCR.
Another frustrated person is Sr. Manju Kulapuram, national secretary of the Forum of Religious for Justice and Peace, an advocacy group for Catholic religious. She too finds the nuncio’s post just decorative.
“I don’t remember the nuncio taking any action or [making] any statement in spite all kinds of allegations against bishops and priests in the Indian church,” the Holy Cross sister told NCR.
Abraham wants whoever is the pope’s new representative to India to listen to people’s grievances, especially regarding serious allegations against bishops. A nuncio, she adds, should be bold and free to intervene on behalf of the afflicted.
Kulapuram wants the new nuncio to “be alert” to inform the Vatican about serious developments in the Indian church and help Rome take appropriate actions lest the church’s credibility is tarnished.
Saldanha, who has headed women’s offices under bishops’ conferences in Asia and India, dismisses Diquattro’s tenure in India as insignificant.
“Since the cases of sex abuse have been tumbling out of the woodwork of the church, we have consistently sent letters to the nuncio, as we failed to get any response from the leaders” of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, she said.
Saldanha says the nuncio has no relevance in India unless he functions like the link with the church and the Vatican.
Antony, the politician, wants the new nuncio to tell people that his position is only ceremonial — essentially to attend special liturgical services. “It will then save us from expecting anything from the nuncio’s office,” he added.
John Dayal, current spokesperson of the All India Catholic Union, says people complained against Diquattro because of their ignorance about a nuncio’s role.
A nuncio, according to Dayal, is “not a monitor, or a policeman and magistrate, to admonish, administer instant justice or mete out punishment.” Every bishop, he explains, is sovereign in his diocese and answerable only to the pope.
However, much is expected of the nuncio in “a feudal society such as India” where the church is “absolutely dependent” on foreign funds sent through Rome, said the spokesman. “He is also a sort of agony aunt for aggrieved and hurt communities and individuals, a post office, a counselor and an adviser.”
Dayal says nuncios should be trained to work for “an honest, just, incorruptible church that obeys Jesus the Christ” before being sent to a complex country such as India.
India accredited its first full ambassador to the Holy See in March 1965, fewer than six months after Pope Paul VI had become the first pontiff to visit the country.
Welcoming the ambassador to Rome, Paul said that during his visit he had been impressed with India’s faithfulness to its religious heritage and “native respect for religion.” The pope then raised India’s diplomatic status to the highest level, giving the country a full nuncio instead of a pro-nuncio.
Many wonder if the last nuncio, now headed to Brazil, lived up to that expectation.
[Jose Kavi is the editor-in-chief of Matters India, a news portal focusing on religious and social issues in India. This article first appeared in ncronline.com on September 18, 2020.]
Better late than never
Who is Authority of Catholic Bishops of India after transfer of Nuncio, Is CCBI President or CBCI President ??
I plead guilty.To ignoranve. But not to facts. Generation of local funds remains an issue. Most Christians – barring some – are poor. Some are very poor. And if the EP is impkemented in tis current form, the schools as cash cows for theCatholci church willalso dry up. I did tell the Nation Wants to Know that I am funded entirely by the intterest on the davings of my wife. But I am a peson, not the chrch which is not just the Latin right, or the two other catholci Rites but extends down to the distant villages where denominations do nto matter, and poverty rules. Btw, i was interviewed NOT as the Fomrer National president and Official spkesperson, but as just me.
I append herewith the full texxt of my written notes :
“I am an editor and an activist, and in my faith role, a reformist in the Catholic church, seeking a larger role for the laity in keeping with the promise of the Second Vatican decisions, a promise that actually remains largely unfulfilled in India, and in fact in South Asia. This is both because of the clergy and hierarchy’s reluctance to cede ground, and power as they see it, to ordinary men and women, as it is linked to the illiteracy among the laity about their own role and place in the church.
I am therefore phlegmatic about things transient like the transfer of the incumbent Nuncio. I understand, I think, the role of the Nuncio in diplomacy and church administration; I also understand that the Nuncio is not entirely divorced from his posting’s environment, which can shape him and decide his actions. I have nothing against the outgoing bishop. His presence in India will in reality have left no impact, unlike his predecessor who’s stay saw a large number of very young priests being chosen to be consecrated bishops, some in very important dioceses.
I am not sure if all bishops, much less clergy, religious and lay women and men, really understand the role of the Nuncio, his powers, or the limits to his powers.
The position is unique in the history and in the annals of diplomacy. In canon law, he is for all practical purposes both the eyes and ears of the Vatican and the Bishop of Rome to the goings on in the region of India, and it Catholic community, He is also a sort of agony aunt for aggrieved and hurt communities and individuals, a post office, a counsellor and an advisor. But he is not a monitor, or a policeman and magistrate, to admonish, administer instant justice or mete out punishment. Every Bishop is sovereign in his diocese, answerable really only to the Holy father, is appointing authority, but in actually to the Congregation for Bishops, the de facto administering authority.
But in a still feudal society such as India, and a church absolutely dependent on foreign resources through the good offices and umbrella of Rome – even if the money actually comes from Germany or some such western sources – both Bishops and Lay have a slight exaggerated idea about the Nuncio. So much so that even people of his own rank, Archbishops, and senior Metropolitans, seem to be in awe of him. The four Cardinals perhaps not, but I don’t think even they would want to get on the wrong side of an incumbent Nuncio, howsoever junior he may be in rank to them, or in age. I say this with great respect.
It is because of this that so much was expected of the Nuncio. In cold assessment, he failed to deliver.
His first role had been to see that the Rites live amicably together, now that the Old Churches are sui juris, and in their ability to elect their own bishops, so to speak, ahead of the Latin church which is entirely dependent on Rome to do the choices. In truth, there is a non-constructive tension between the Rites, especially in Hindi speaking areas where each is trying to consolidate. I have seen this in my wide and frequent travels across the country over the decades. A scientific study has to be done in how evangelisation, for instance, is to be shared, consolidated, and united. The British tried it with protestant churches in the nineteenth and twentieth century, giving each denomination a geographic range. That is not possible in the Catholic church as the Rites want to come out of Kerala and cater not just to migrant and Malayalam speaking residents – settlers of the 1950s to 1980s – but also to endemic local populations. Otherwise they remain just a Malayalam speaking church.
The second issue was of Dalit Christians. apart from tokenism and despite the rebukes of the last three Popes who heard the Dalit church speak in Tamil bishops ad limina meetings, support for the cause of Dalit Christians is a tokenism. The Nuncio never did come out with any strength on this despite very string Dalit advocacy.
The final straw in the popular opprobrium on his tenure was the near silence, publicly, on the issue of moral turpitude and corruption in matters of kind and money. There are serious charges in all too many dioceses on these three issues. The women of the community have complained almost on a continuous basis. The bishops have been hard of hearing. The nuncio was seemingly deaf to the protests. That is the opinion most have formed, I fear. It does injustice to the Nuncio, but this is how the people feel.
I am against kangaroo courts. I am against cutting the nose to spite the face. I am against the sort of division that has taken place in congregations and dioceses, among the laity and a section of the clergy too, on issues of the tolerance shown to sexual predation when the church has a Zero Tolerance policy, and the Pope is vehement in his condemnation on his. The people see it as defiance of Catholic morality, of Cannon law and of the Pope’s exhortations. That it is sinful is not forgotten by the laity, and the women religious.
The Nuncio is easily the most important posting in the world church. Canon law mandates it, the Geneva conventions endorse it. The Nuncio is both an ambassador plenipotentiary and the last letter box to convey the feelings of the people to the Pope and to do it urgently. He may maintain secrecy when taking counsel of people in dioceses to shortlist candidates for a vacant diocesan See, but he must also use his wisdom and his knowledge – which I hope he has of India’s political and social geography and its religious topography – in choosing Bishops who are the most suited to a diocese. Do not fit squares in vacancies that are round, and vice versa. Ensure if there are enough Dalits in Dalit majority dioceses. Do not be swayed by the rich, metaphorically speaking, or the powerful. And some communities are powerful in numbers, or in land, or in wealth, or in church history. The peoples’ aspirations, expectations, and hopes and fears must never be ignored. Their sentiments must not be slighted. They must be weighed. The decisions, when they come, must be just, and must be seen as fair and just.
That will make the church frow. An honest, jut, incorruptible church that obeys Jesus the Christ.
The people are pious and honest, despite the big boys seeking to monopolise space and leadership. But as in Indian politics, it is the poor who really matter.
Nuncios must be schooled in this before they are posted to a complex See as India is.
[John Dayal, National President, All India Catholic Union from 2004 to 2008,member of the Prime Minister’s National Integration Council since 2004]
The issues still remain to be addressed. Hopefully the Vatican has not misunderstood that transfer settles everything. Indian Catholics have gained voice thanks to social media and portals. Mattersindia should support the believers by providing a platform for airing grievances and views against Church.
So nice that the Nuncio for India has been transferred to Brazil . He should be really Happy to leave India for during his tenure the Church has achieved nothing only shame.
I hope as everyone that the next Nuncio will be active for the faithful and for the Catholic Church.
I was even more shocked by the AICU spokesperson’s comment that the church in India is totally dependent on foreign funds sent from Rome!! I really wonder now who really is ignorant? When I stood for election as AICU National President in 1990 I had issued an election manifesto in which I clearly stated that I was against foreign funding. During my four year tenure I neither solicited nor received any foreign funds. How much foreign funds does this person receive? The nation wants to know!!
As a practising Catholic , I too sent a mail to the Nuncio. I do not expect any reply because almost all our bishops and authorities believe that “ to respond to ordinary people is infra dig”. But we must write giving due respect
From the definition of the Function and Role of the Apostolic Nuncio (http://nunciature.se/index.php/11-articles/22-function-and-role-of-the-apostolic-nuncio ), it is debatable how much authority an Apostolic Nuncio has to pull up a Bishop (Mulakkal, K.A. William) for his inaction or action. In fact, Archbishops/ Bishops have a lot of power over their jurisdiction, which most consider their fiefdom. Due to this opaque operation and the absence of proper checks and balances, Mulakkals and Williams have carried on their loot and adventurism with impunity – forcing the Laity to take recourse to the legal route to book them.
As can be seen from the description below, a Nuncio can only “assist the Bishops by action and advice, leaving intact the exercise of their lawful power.” So at the ground level, there is no Church Authority to correct errant Bishops. They know very well that Vatican cannot control any bishop from 6000 kms away.
Based on the principle of “Transparency and Accountability” at all levels as espoused by Rev. Fr. Felix Raj – Vice Chancellor of St Xavier’s University Kolkata, there is an immediate need to devise a system of making Bishops and Parish Priests accountable to the Laity. After all our Bishops are dealing with the public – People of God and their money.
FUNCTION AND ROLE OF THE APOSTOLIC NUNCIO
An Apostolic Nuncio is the personal representative of the Pope in a particular part of the Catholic Church, a particular country or more particular countries. Thus the Nuncio has two main functions: one relating within the Church, the other relating with States.
Relations within the Church
The ecclesial role of an Apostolic Nuncio is to make firm and effective the bonds of unity which exist between the Pope and the Church throughout the world.
• To inform the Apostolic See about the conditions in which the particular Churches find themselves, and matters which affect the life of the Church and the good of souls.
• To assist the Bishops by action and advice, leaving intact the exercise of their lawful power.
• To foster close relations with the Bishops Conference, offering it every assistance.
• In connection with the appointment of Bishops, to send or propose names of candidates to the Apostolic See, as well as to prepare the informative process about those who may be promoted, in accordance with the norms issued by the Apostolic See.
• To promote whatever may contribute to peace, progress, and the united efforts of peoples.
• To work with the Bishops to foster appropriate exchanges between the Catholic Church and other Churches or ecclesial communities, and indeed with non-Christian religions.
• To work with the Bishops to safeguard, so far as the rules of the state are concerned, those things which relate to the mission of the Church and of the Apostolic See.
Relations with States
The diplomatic role of an Apostolic Nuncio is to establish and maintain a relationship of mutual understanding between Church and State, for the peace and progress of each nation, and peace between different peoples.
• To promote and foster relationships between the Apostolic See and State authorities.
• To address questions concerning relations between Church and State, drawing up concordats and other similar agreements, and giving effect to them.
(cf. Canons 361-365 of the Code of Canon Law)
In the recent past there have been several complaints to the Nuncio against the current Archbishop of Calcutta for his inaction. The result has been the same as before – no action from the Nuncio. The Archbishop is very well aware of complaints of Sexual Harassment of female members of staff in a well-reputed Salesian School in Kolkata, at the hands of the current Principal. The victims have met him several times and he gave them assurances of justice. But it turned out to be lip service, as now he refuses to take their calls or meet them. When they objected to the Salesian Principal’s indecent approach, he vilified them (no proper ICC existed at the time of these incidents), show-caused and charge-sheeted them, put them on 50-75% pay, and recently terminated them during this Covid Pandemic. All these victims had approached the school authorities, the immediate past Salesian Provincial (who set up wishy-washy ICC and warned them to withdraw their complaints), the Women’s Commission and even the Districts Complaints Committee at Lal Bazar Police Headquarters. But to no avail. They have been terminated from their services misusing Article 30 which shields Minority Schools’ from government interference in management. THIS ARTICLE URGENTLY NEEDS A RELOOK in terms of carte blanche to Minority Institutes.
The latest was a Dharna/agitation at Archbishop’s House for the removal of a parish priest (in Ekbalpore) who has to regularly attend an on-going criminal case against him at Barrackpore Court. The charges are extortion of money in the name of religion, nudity, disrobing and outraging the modesty of a woman. In the written complaint to the Archbishop, the parishioners also mentioned that this PP threatened to cut off the head of a parishioner!
Mattersindia.com is in possession of the relevant documents.
But if the nuncio intervened in local church affairs would he then be accused of acting like a “colonial master”…so maybe that is why he has to keep quiet knowing full well his “comments” (even if he made them) would not have any effect in resolving any justice issues. I think we should not expect the nuncio to resolve our local Indian & Nepali church issues. John Dayal’s views & quotes inform us all of the real scenario & facts!
Could the venerable AICU spokesperson also enlighten us on the role of the AICU and what action it has taken in all these cases?
The spokesperson of the AICU tells us that we are”ignorant” of the role of the Nuncio. Please enlighten us ignoramuses sir.
Sir, you may have noticed from my earlier postings I did not give my views as Spoesman of AICU, or member of the NIC or as member of anything but as a member of the community who thinks he understands a little. Pwerhaps i am the ignaramus, orignoramii considring I wear several hats, the last and most important as a grandfather.