Odisha: Church caught in dispute reopens after 22 years

By Sujata Jena

Bhubaneswar, Feb 3, 2022: A Catholic parish was reopened for the public after 22 years in the eastern Indian state of Odisha with the help of the civil authorities.

The Chandiput parish of the diocese of Berhampur was closed after a priest refused to accept his transfer and stayed on defying the local bishop.

On February 2, the parish celebrated its feast with its parishioners.

“It was a moment of great joy to celebrate Mass in the church after nine years,” Father Kabiraj Bastaray, the current parish priest, told Matters India February 3.

He was appointed the Chandiput parish priest in 2013, but could not enter the church or presbytery as its former priest Joseph Pani refused to vacate the place.

“I have been staying in a house offered by the villagers and offering Mass in an open space or in a convent,” he explained.

Pani, a former Vincentian priest, was appointed as the Chandiput pastor in 1996, and was transferred after three years.

“But he declined to accept the transfer because he wanted to celebrate the great jubilee of the Year 2000,” said Father Bimal Chandra Nayak, a lawyer priest appointed by the diocese to handle the dispute.

Pani’s native village Baghmari comes under Chandiput parish.

“Somehow, he decided not to move out and show that there was no bigger church authority than him. He rebelled against the provincial authorities,” Father Nayak, a diocesan priest, told Matters India.

Pani’s congregation then initiated the canonical provisions for his dismissal. But he refused to accept any communication from the congregation or meet anyone.

In 2001, the congregation’s headquarters in Rome dismissed Pani because of his disobedience of his provincial.

The diocese also refused to accept him as one of its priests. Bishop Joseph Das, who was the then prelate, in 2001 appointed Father Pradeep Chandra Nayak in Pani’s place.

Pani neither left the parish nor allowed the new priest to enter the church. He offered Mass for his supporters – some 100 families– in the church and stayed in the presbytery with his three unmarried sisters.

The parish has around 550 families.

Pani then filed a case against the new priest and the diocese accusing them of mental harassment and physical attack.

In 2012, the diocese appointed Father Promod Nayak as the Chandiput priest.

With the knowledge of police, the parishioners organized a procession to a Marian grotto in May that year.

However, someone threw stones at the police, who arrested and jailed a few parishioners.

Father Bimal Nayak entered the scene in 2013, as the diocese’s legal adviser. He filed an eviction petition against Pani, which was disposed of in favor of the diocese on August 17, 2019. The court passed a decree that Pani was no longer the official priest hence he had to vacate the presbytery within 30 days.

The diocese’s official committee tried to negotiate with Pani to implement the court order, but he ignored it, Father Bimal Nayak said.

The diocesan team also negotiated with various committees to execute the court order.

Meanwhile a rumor was spread that some Catholics were planning to kill Pani.

The civil administration then imposed prohibitory orders in the church area for 60 days, banning the assembly of more than five people at one place.

Pani ignored the prohibitory orders and met with his people on the church campus on December 26.

The women parishioners, who had formed a group by then, caught Pani supporters and handed them over to the police.

However, the police released them, upsetting the women, who then staged a sit-in in front of the church gate.

The church committee formed a team that met with the administration several times. They also wrote to the Additional District Magistrate that they would block the road.

As the court was to dispose of the case on January 6, Pani’s lawyer pleaded for more time.

The women group on January 28 blocked the state highway leading to the district headquarters.

The district administration requested the women to end their strike, but they made two demands – open the church for common worship and send out Pani from the priest’s residence.

A peace committee meeting was called at R. Udayagiri under the leadership of Sub Divisional Police Officer Dilip Kumar Nayak. Both the parties were asked to come to Nayak’s office the following day.

The diocesan team led by Father Bimal Nayak came for the meeting, but not Pani despite Nayak’s insistence. Father Bimal said several government officials waited two hours for Pani.

The peace committee meeting was rescheduled for January 30, at the Mohana police station. But Pani did not turn up even for that, Father Bimal said.

This forced the district administration to decide the matter in Pani’s absence.

The administration on January 31 withdrew the prohibitory orders from the church campus.

The local district administration led by Nayak, Mohana tehsildar and other officers came to the church with a police team. They broke open the church gate that was locked by Pani.

The police then handed over the church to Father Bastaray.

The new parish priest says he was optimistic about the administration’s intervention and “was confident that things would go better.”

Meanwhile Pani continues to stay in the presbytery with his sisters. His followers provide sustenance for them.

Father Bimal says after the Vincentian congregation dismissed Pani, he had appealed to Rome, which rejected his plea.

“So naturally, he is out of the priesthood. Therefore, nothing can be claimed by him,” the lawyer priest asserted.