Kozhikode: The circular issued by the Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council (KCBC) defending Cardinal George Ale-ncherry of Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese of Syro-Malabar Church is ridiculous and has neither legal nor ecclesiastical binding on any of the individual churches, acc-ording to the Catholic Laymen’s Association, a platform of reformists based here.
The circular issued by Archbishop Soosa Pakiam, KCBC president, at the conclusion of a two-day meeting of the forum, supported Alencherry in a case relating to a series of land deals conducted by the Syro-Malabar Church, which reportedly caused a huge financial loss to the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese.
The kind of corruption alleged in the land deal did not seem to have occurred, the circular said.
Mr M.L. George, convenor of CLA, said, “the bishops of various chur-ches can sit together and discuss issues of common interest but the decisions taken by the collective will not be binding on individual churches.”
The Latin (Roman Catholic), Syro- Malankara, Syro-Malabar and Knanaya Catholic bishops can convene synods and assemble to discuss issues and weave out common strategies for ensuring justice and common good for the churches. “But the decisions taken on such platforms are not binding on the administrative issues of any of the individual churches,” Mr George said and added that the KCBC has no right to influence or intervene in the ongoing investigation against the cardinal.
The Canon Law says that the decisions of such assemblies “do not have legal binding force unless they deal with things which in no way can be prejudicial to the rite of each and every church.” The CLA also urged the parish priests not to read out the KCBC circular during Sunday Mass.
The issue is not whether there is a fake account in the name of the cardinal or not, but the illegal sale of Church properties secretively by the cardinal sans any permission of designated Church forums, the CLA said. The forum has also asked the state government to order a foolproof investigation into the case and book the guilty even if it is the cardinal.
