Matters India Reporter

New Delhi: Father Varghese Peter Palappallil has denied that he has assaulted his superior, Bishop Pius Thomas D’Souza of Ajmer, and accused the vicar general of spreading “baseless and motivated lies” and “imaginary stories.”

“I have not assaulted bishop. It is totally a false story,” Father Palappallil told Matter India on March 13, three days after Bishop D’Souza suspended the 50-year-old priest from performing priestly duties and ministries.

The alleged assault took place on March 7 and both the bishop and the priest differed in their narration of the event.

While the bishop claimed the priest attacked him unprovoked, the priest said the bishop was abusive and threatened him with dire consequences when he tried to talk to the prelate about a pending case against him.

“It is shocking to learn that a letter is being circulated by Father Cosmos [Shekhawat, the vicar general] depicting me in bad light writing baseless and untrue matters,” Father Palappallil wrote to his friends and supporters on March 12.

Father Shekhawat’s March 9 letter said that Father Palappallil, whose alleged sexual abuse case is pending in the Vatican, assaulted Bishop D’Souza in the dining hall of the Ajmer bishop’s residence.

In the same letter, the bishop narrated how the priest attacked him without provocation.

Bishop D’Souza, who took over the diocese on January 19, 2013, as its sixth prelate, alleged that Father Palappillil attacked him as he was having lunch on March 7.

“As he was about to get up after the meal at 1 pm Father Palappallil came to dining hall. Since he is a priest of the diocese I waited and he came and sat close to me,” the bishop explained:.

According to the prelate, the priest began to argue about his sexual abuse case. “I explained to him that I have nothing to do with the case as it is pending in Rome, being dealt with according to the procedure of Canon Law and I am not against him,” Bishop D’Souza added.

Father Palappallil then sprang up and started physically attacking the bishop, according to the prelate’s narration.

“Before I could understand anything, he gave me a strong blow on my face near eyes. My spectacles fell off to the ground. Before I could grasp the situation, he gave me a blow on my neck,” Bishop D’Souza continued.

The bishop also alleged that the priest attacked was pre-planned.

Father Palappallil said he went to the bishop’s house with prior information and met the bishop in the dining hall where the prelate was having lunch at 12:30 pm.

“My purpose of the visit was to appeal the bishop to appoint me in any official post of the diocese as I was not given any posting since 2015 after I was accused of sexual relationship with a woman,” the priest said.

The priest asserted that the false sexual abuse allegation “could not be proved even after setting up two commissions to probe against me.”

The priest says he asked Bishop D’Souza to set up another commission to probe an allegation that the prelate had molested a nun some years ago.

This infuriated the bishop and “he turned towards me with a table knife and I just pushed him and his spectacle fell down from his face and other than this nothing happened.”

“After that we continued our discussion until 3:30 pm and we departed happily with the bishop promising to consider my case,” the priest added.

Later on, he read in Matters India and other news outlets that he had physically assaulted the bishop and that restrictions have been imposed on him from offering Sacraments.

“The story is totally fabricated and it is an attempt to defrock me for questioning the bishop for his autocratic way of running the diocese,” said Father Palappallil, who is now at his native place in Kerala, according to newindia.com, a Malayalam news portal.

Father Palappallil’s letter to friends says the news about the alleged assault has damaged his as well as his family’s image.

“Neither Fr Cosmos, nor any consulters of Ajmer Diocese, nor any one from the above publishing houses ever contacted me before publishing any of these baseless and motivated letter full of lies and imaginary stories,” his letter says.

The priest vowed to legally challenge the false allegation against him.