Kurnool: Kadapa Bishop Prasad Gallela has resigned amid allegations of misusing church funds for maintaining a private family. The resignation has been accepted by Pope Francis.
Dr Prasad had married one Sujatha and has a son who is now 20 years old, alleged the Christian Protection Force of the Kadapa diocese. A case is pending in court on the matter. Reacting to the resignation, Pradeep of Mariapuram Christian Youth Association said, “It is early Christamas for us.”
Dr Prasad of Kadapa denied the accusations. On Monday, the Vatican said Dr Prasad had offered to resign and Francis accepted. At 56, Gallela is well below the retirement age of 75 for bishops.
The issue came into the open when aggrieved Catholics filed a criminal complaint in a trial court at Proddutur seeking action against the 56-year-old prelate after their efforts to get justice from the Vatican failed.
Complainants Mesa Ravi Kumar and Byreddy Chinnappa Reddy deposed before the court that their efforts to settle the issue within the church had failed.
The case came up for hearing before the court of Second Additional District Judge, Kadapa, at Proddatur on August 2. Dr Prasad’s lawyer has sought more time to file a detailed reply to the charges leveled against him.
The Ucanews news agency, which covers the Catholic Church closely in Asia, said the criminal complaint against Dr Prasad accused him of misappropriating diocesan social welfare funds to support a wife and a son.
Ucanews quoted him as saying the accusations were false and that the woman identified as his wife on land deeds was actually the wife of his dead brother.
Born in Kurnool in 1962, Dr Prasad was a recipient of state best teacher award and completed his PhD on the topic ‘Christian Charity as Witnessed by Mother Teresa of Calcutta’ in Rome in 1999.
On March 1, 1989, Dr Prasad was ordained a priest of the Catholic diocese of Kurnool by Bishop Matthew Cheriankunnel. After his ordination, Dr Prasad served as a youth services director of the diocese of Kurnool from 1989 to 1993 as well as a warden for St. Mary's Junior College, Kurnool. from 1989 to 1990.
From 1990 to 1995, he was a parish priest in Koilakunta. He served as spiritual director of the Legion of Mary from 1993 to 1995. From 2000 to 2004 he served as pastor in the diocese of San Angelo, Texas, US.
