Kochi: Syro Malabar Church has admitted serious lapses in the recent controversial land deal. The circular issued by Bishop Mar Sebastian Adayantharath to vicars in the Church admits that the Church’s properties were sold without the consent of the Canon committees. “The Church decided to sell five plots, nearly 306.98 cents, to resolve its financial crisis. The land price was fixed between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 19 lakh per cent in various locations. The person, who was entrusted with the land sale, sold the plots to 36 persons in violation of the agreement with the Archdiocese. It was specified that the properties should not be sold to a third person or persons without the Church’s consent. As per the land sale deed on June 21, 2016, the Archdiocese should get Rs 27.30 crore. But even after one and half years, the Church received only Rs 9.13 crore from the deal,” according to the circular.
The land transactions were done without the consent of Canon committees. It has also been found that 25 acres of land at Kottappady in Kothamangalam and 17 acres of land at Devikulam in Idukki were registered in the name of the Archdiocese. The total land deal is worth Rs 16.59 crore. The land purchase was done without the consent or knowledge of auxiliary bishops. Earlier, the Church has strictly warned against buying land citing serious financial crisis.
The Archdiocese faced deep financial crisis after buying 23.22 acres of land at Matoor near Kalady in 2015 to set up a medical college as part of Little Flower Hospital, Angamaly. A loan of Rs 60 crore was taken from the bank to this effect. But, the Church finance council found it difficult to repay the bank loan, nearly Rs 6 crore per year. “While the Church has a debt of Rs 60 crore from earlier, now the debt has increased to Rs 84 crore after the land deal.
It is not the financial crisis that the Church is concerned about but the serious issue is that its ethical values have not been followed,” observed the circular. Meanwhile, the preliminary report of the inquiry commission appointed by Major Archbishop George Alencherry found that the normal practice of the Church has not been followed in the land deals and there was no transparency in the transaction. Based on the report, the powers of the church accounts officer and finance department director general have been restricted. When contacted Fr. Paul Karedan, spokesperson of Ernakulam – Angamaly Archdiocese told DC that the final report of the inquiry commission would be forwarded to the Vatican with the remarks of the Archbishop and Bishops.
“The Church will take necessary action based on the recommendation from the Vatican. As per the Canon Law, only the Vatican has the right to take action in case of allegations against persons of eminence like Archbishops,” he said. However, Fr. Paul denied the reports that a group of priests have sent a complaint to the Pope against the incident. Meanwhile, various forums and organisations of believers in the church have demanded a probe by the state government into the alleged tax evasion in the land deal and other irregularities.
