Hyderabad: Over 55 parishioners of St Anthony’s Church, Mettuguda and the parish priest Father U.J. Chinnappa Reddy got into an ugly brawl with allegations of corruption and rude behaviour being hurled at the priest.
Following the protest at the premises, the police was called by Father Chinnappa himself; however, no formal complaint has been filed. The parishioners approached the Archbishop’s house with a demand to transfer the priest.
The priest alleged that the two have been swindling money from the church donations.
He said the parishioners used vulgar language against priest and nuns. “The allegations on me are not correct. I was never part of the protest, only when the Chikalguda police arrived at the spot, I interacted with the group,” the Father said.
The church’s weekly income is over Rs 2 lakh.
Irudynathan (Sunil) an employee with the church said, “Every church has an independent Parish council committee comprising senior church members chaired by the priest who regulates the income and expenditure of the church, but at St Anthony, the priest controls the income.”
Another parishioner, Mr Harry Francis added, “Father Chinnappa Reddy takes independent decisions and in case of any hazard, he blames it on the parishioners. At several instances he has spoken abusively to women parishioners."
“A team of religious heads will visit St Anthony's church on June 14 to take a decision on Chinnappa's transfer,” said a parishioner.
