What would happen if a bishop acts against the basic tenets of Christianity, the Bible and the constitutional norms? The North Kerala Diocese – Laity, Clergy, the elected officers and the Executive Committee - finds itself in an unenviable position, as an onlooker, to the truant behavior of a bishop who has lost all sense of proportion in defending his undemocratic, corrupt and unjust actions.
The latest episode is related to the bishop’s US-Canada visit purported to be at the behest of the Ecumenical Fellowship to participate in their Christmas Programs. Our friends in the US can enlighten us on this Ecumenical Fellowship which had not found anyone else other than Bishop Kuruvilla to be their chief guest. We know that this Ecumenical Fellowship is as non-existent as the ‘CSI meeting’ that the Bishop had referred to in the Thalikulam sale deed, as authorizing him to sell the property. If he can enter into such a clandestine and unauthorized land deal, nothing prevents him from touting such blatant lies. The CSI North Kerala Diocese would be grateful to our fellow believers in the US if they could find a way to rehabilitate this bishop who has lost his moral right to shepherd a diocese.
This gathering gave a signal to the bishop that they might not just let him embark on his overseas trip. As can be expected from the devious mind of the bishop, the immediate response was to call the police. But the police backed off realizing that this is a standoff between the bishop and the officers and that they have a legitimate ground to hold the bishop accountable. This standoff continued till 1 pm on 14 December. On 14 December, to the disgrace of the august office of bishop and Christian witness, the police officers had to bring the bishop to the negotiating table and play the role of a mediator. The police officers had to preach to the bishop of the virtue of love and forgiveness and concern for the employees under his care especially at a time as Christmas. Finally, he signed the cheques necessary for the day to day administration of the diocese. He also compromised on his stand to let go of the hook another fraud and criminal henchman, the Presbyter of the CSI Christ Church (Tamil), Munnar, Rev. Immanuel Dasan and agreed to sign a show cause notice to Rev. Dasan for his glaring misappropriation of funds.The way the bishop went out of the way to delay and detract the decision of the Executive Committee to remove Rev. Dasan from the chairmanship of the Christ Church, Munnar, illustrates the bishop’s complicity in many of the scams associated with the properties in Munnar. The sequence of events on the actions taken against Rev. Dasan is as follows: The Special Audit Wing of the Diocesan Treasurer’s office visited Christ Church, Munnar and found grave irregularities in the accounts. As per their report, the Finance Committee and the Executive Committee, the meetings chaired by the bishop, resolved to divest Rev. Dasan of the chairmanship of the pastorate and hand it over to Rev. Jacob Jabaraj. Then the bishop sent a letter conveying the decision of the Executive Committee and asking Rev. Dasan to hand over the charge to Rev. Jabaraj (below this post, see bishop’s letter of December 8, 2011). He did this to satisfy the diocesan officers. On the same day, by a letter not dated, he cancelled his own order sent to Rev. Dasan sighting flimsy reasons, probably at the instigation of Jacob Mathew, who was the main go between in the fraudulent property transactions in Munnar (below the post, see the letter). The Bishop thought that he could abscond after denigrating and defrauding the officers, the Executive Committee, the Finance Committee and the people in the pew in general. But they forced him to issue a show cause notice to Rev. Dasan.
But we can now anticipate the scheme of the bishop – Jacob Mathew - Dasan trio. Rev. Dasan will be given time to file a civil suit staying this order of the bishop and thus subvert all attempts to bring the criminals to book. Therein, the bishop can continue in his chair till his retirement, then go his way leaving the diocese monetarily, morally, spiritually bankrupt. While this will in no way shame the bishop or make him repentant of his ways, the developments of 13 and 14 December opened the eyes of a large section of the clergy and church members to the devil behind the purple cloak. The diocese and the Church of South India as a whole should hang their heads in shame for having such bishops of incorrigible moral rectitude. It is expected that the laity and the clergy would act more vigilantly in future to stem this rot in the church.
In the midst of these turn of events, we are faced with a synod that is indifferent to the church drifting into moral degeneracy. In the light of grave lapses, violations of CSI constitution and active complicity in various forms of corruption, the synod should be asked to intervene with a moderator’s commissary and a commission to investigate some of these gross misappropriations and mismanagements of Bishop Kuruvilla. If he thinks that he can go scot free with the retirement, he can be rest assured that he will not have a peaceful retirement. A number of criminal cases are in last stage of becoming admitted in various courts. It is yet to be seen what his next move would be. He is capable of surprising us with behaviors that the CSI or Christian history has ever envisaged in a bishop.
