By Matters India Reporter
New Delhi, Dec 31, 2021: The Indian Catholic Forum has urged the Vatican to immediately remove Bishop K A William of Mysore who it alleges has been involved in “heinous crimes.”
The call for Bishop William’s removal was first made on December 11 in a letter the Save Mysore Diocese Action Committee (SMDAC) wrote to Cardinal Luis Tagle, prefect of Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. The letter was signed by 113 people, including 22 priests of the diocese.
Endorsing the committee’s “legitimate demand,” the Catholic forum’s open letter to Cardinal Tagle calls for the removal of Bishop William, an “eyesore in Mysore diocese,” from the diocese’s geographical territory and appoint an administrator.
The copies of the forum’s December 28 letter were sent to Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli and Cardinal Oswald Gracias, head of the Catholic Church in India and one of advisers to Pope Francis. It also wants the bishop to undergo a paternity test.
“I would reiterate their plea that justice delayed is justice denied, as also that justice must not just be done but also be seen to be done,” says chhotebhai, convener of the forum.
The forum says problems erupted in Mysore diocese after K.A. William was appointed its bishop in February 2017. It quotes the committee allegation that the bishop has been involved in rape, kidnap, murder, sexual molestation, sodomy and gross financial misappropriation.
It recalls a petition 37 priests of the diocese had signed July 20, 2019, to the Vatican listing Bishop William’s alleged crimes and immoral acts.
It was followed by several petitions from prominent lay leaders such as Justice Michael Saldanha, a retired judge, that forced the nuncio to appoint an enquiry committee of three bishops.
The committee made two apostolic visitations to the diocese in March and July this year and talked to several witnesses and victims.
The Mysore committee, as per the direction of the enquiry team, on June 6 submitted a dossier detailing the bishop’s alleged crimes.
The Catholic forum expresses surprised that the enquiry team asked the Mysore committee to keep quiet when it sought the status of the probe. “This was tantamount to “shooting the messenger” and silencing the voice of the victims,” asserts the forum.
It further says the Mysore group was recently told by Archbishop Leo Cornelio, who led the enquiry, that they had submitted their report to the nuncio and with that their role was over.
The Mysore group then contacted Cardinal Tagle.
The laity reminds the cardinal that he had on August 15, 2020, ordered Bishop William to undergo a paternity test. “This was conveyed to him by no less a person than Cardinal Oswald Gracias. Had William been innocent he would have grabbed this opportunity with both hands to clear his name. His open defiance of your order is an incontrovertible indication of his guilt,” the forum letter asserts.
It regrets that the bishop remains unaffected despite two apostolic visitations and “is brazenly going about business as usual, including purchase of expensive properties.”