The location of a monastery or church is always very distinct. For example, the CMI (Carmelites of Mary Immaculate) Monastery at Thevara in Cochin, an indigenous Syrian Catholic religious organization founded in 1831; the founder friars of that monastery had a vision. They knew how to generate funds from the Catholic Community for their development projects. These far-sighted friars bought large extents of land in Thevara. This was predominantly dominated by the fisher folk. These fishermen were then economically weak and socially, culturally, and educationally backward. At the outset the friars set up a primary school, and a small printing press. The school gradually developed into a high school with a hostel; and recently they set up a CBSE School as well. They further expanded into the making of Sacred Heart College, an Arts and Science College, which was established in 1944 with magnificent buildings fringed with attractive gardens and potted plants, a large library, a spacious auditorium, vast play grounds and facilities for both sports and games. At present the college is accredited with five star statuses and a grade by the NAAS (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) and it has become an autonomous college. The college offered 14 under graduate and 14 post-graduate courses in varied subjects to cope with the demands of the modern age. The printing press too grew considerably. They renovated the church and monastery building. These institutions offered jobs for a lot of people. A different class of people with intellectual acumen, abilities, good values and virtues came to be associated with these institutions. A good number of them settled close to the college out of convenience. The elite in the City of Cochin also moved to this area not only for its scenic backwater location but also due to the availability of important amenities for the development of their children. This made drastic changes in the lives of common man. Now the people living in Thevara are all literate; they are all employed, living in stylish and modern buildings. Their living conditions too have improved considerably. Privation and sufferings are stories of the past. Nobody can ignore the great contribution and services of the friars and the nuns of varied congregations in the field of education, health and social service sectors. The yeoman services they have rendered for the peace and progress of common man especially in the State of Kerala is highly laudable. I cannot but comment that these ideals they upheld are realities of the past. I am amazed to note the changing scenario.
Day by day the values and virtues are failing; deterioration has extended its tentacles to all walks of life including Christianity. The profession of a friar and nun especially secular priests have degenerated into a mere livelihood for many. Indiscipline disobedience, lecherous behaviour and materialism are the rules of the day.
I was flabbergasted when a protest march was taken out by the secular priests brazenly through the public roads in the City of Cochin, a few years back, against their spiritual leader and Bishop Dr. Sebastian Mankuzhikari, who tried to introduce the ancient Chaldean order of worship in churches under the Ernakulam Diocese. The secular priests finally succeeded in ignominiously transferring him to an insignificant diocese at Thamarassery in Kozhikode district.
Another unfortunate and shocking episode reported in the news media was that of the vicar of St Mary’s Church at Njarakkal and a section of the fanatic religious group of parishioners, who criminally intimidated and assaulted two CMC sisters with the common intention to take control and management of the Convent School situated on the first floor of the convent building and the Poor Home, which was established in 1945. Both these belong to the CMC Convent at Njarakkal. The vicar’s futile attempt was on the basis of a fraudulent by-law fabricated by him in connivance with the Bishop of Ernakulam diocese. They manipulated and obtained orders from the Deputy Director of Public Instruction. This was done without the knowledge of the sisters of the convent. The provocation for the atrocious and concerted acts was due to the dismissal of the service of their Manager, who was the vicar of St. Mary’s Church at Njarakkal. He was appointed to the post of Manager by the Mother Superior of the Convent. The Vicar was asked to leave on the charges of mismanagement and misappropriation of the funds of their school. In order to cover up his wickedness, conspiracy, and to wriggle out of the grievous felony, the Vicar of Njarakkal Church filed a writ petition, WP(C) No. 30106 of 2006 of the High Court of Kerala, and obtained a judgment dated 11-08-2010 from the single bench, which was technically in his favour. But the single judge erroneously omitted to consider the real bone of contentions in the case. What the judge failed to realize was -who bought, and to whom the landed property of the school belonged and who started the original Convent Girls School. That was the crux of the issue. Aggrieved by the judgment of the single bench, the Mother Superior filed an appeal, WA No. 28 of 2011 before the High Court of Kerala. A division bench presided over by Justice C.N. Ramachandran Nair and Justice B.P. Ray heard that appeal in detail along with other connected appeals filed, WA Nos. 28, 48, 66, 69 & 76 of 2011, and passed an elaborate, common, appellate judgment dated 12-4-2011, reversing the judgment passed by the single judge. The Vicar, the looser, moved Special Leave Petition No. 12909 of 2011 before the Supreme Court of India, but the SLP was dismissed as per order dated 17-5-2011 and upheld the appellate judgment passed by the division bench. The Court upheld the absolute right of the Mother Superior of the Convent over the Little Flower Convent School and Poor Home and the right of the Mother Superior of Little Flower Convent, Njarakkal, in Ernakulam district as the Manager of both the institutions. The Convent sisters further created history of sorts when they sued a Syro-Malabar Bishop of the Ernakulam diocese and the priest of St Mary’s Church, Njarakkal for criminal intimidation, conspiracy and forgery, and for man-handling two CMC sisters with their common intention to take control and management of the school and Poor Home belonging to the convent fraudulently.
I too have personal experiences wherein the Bishop of Ernakulam diocese and secular priests, through murky deals, were involved in making such blatant moves. I knew personally that the bishops tried to unduly influence and coerce owners of private chapels to assign their properties to the bishop of Ernakulam. On another occasion, they trespassed into my private property and illegally erected a ‘Bhandaram’, the church offering treasury, which they removed when a complaint was moved against the bishop and the secular priest with a copy to the Sub Inspector of Police. Their concerted acts were in blatant violation of the tenets of Christian Commandments, teachings and practices.
The vows of “poverty, chastity and obedience” are conveniently forgotten by the priests. Nowadays priests liberate themselves from the cassock. They are often spotted in hotels and cinemas in the city. They drive around in their own posh cars, which is the new status symbol. Education has become a business for the secular priests; they charge exorbitant fees for admission to schools, colleges and professional courses. Lump sums are demanded for the appointment of teachers and lecturers; the Carmelite Missionary of India (C.M.I. friars and C.M.C. nuns) are no exception. Selfless service has become anathema, abhorrence and abomination to them. I was disturbed by a recent revelation in our leading local daily, “Malayala Manorama.” It had reported that the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Jacobite Bishop Kuriakose Mar Clemis, paid three crore rupees to the hierarchy to get the ‘Bishop’ title four years ago. Merit is often overlooked.
St. George, at Edappally, Edathua and Arthungal in Kerala, was a Roman soldier posted in Palestine. He was carved as the representation of a man (warrior) on horseback pursuing a dragon. The tradition is that the hero is supposed to have attacked the dragon and killed the monster concealed himself, and preyed upon the human race. This episode had no foundation in history. However, in 1494 Pope Gelasius I included George among those “whose names are rightly reverenced among us, but whose actions are known only to God.” In 1963 the Church, bowing to scholarship, removed St George from the Universal Calendar, Thirty-seven years later Pope John Paul II, bowing to popular faith, reinstated him. It is just a shame that nothing certain is known about him. I was rudely shaken up to hear that twenty-five crores of rupees were spent to construct St. George Church at Edappally. It may require another five crores to complete it. Most of the churches were reconstructed or are under renovation, spending exorbitant amounts when the global economy is in the grip of a recession. Aren’t austerity and simplicity the need of the hour? I would have appreciated if the Church had invested this money for erection of an industrial unit which would generate employment and feed the hungry mouths and / or they utilized it for the modernization of their school and hospital at Edappally.
I was again perturbed at the revelation of Sr. Jesme, an able and efficient principal of St. Mary’s College at Trichur, Her university records eloquently speak about her outstanding academic brilliance. Sr. Jesme, (Jesus and me), in her autobiography in Malayalam namely “Amen: Oru Kanyastrhreyude Atmakadha” (An autobiography of a nun) reveals the group interests, politics,, quarrels and fights for power and positions in their convents and educational institutions. It portrays the outbreak of suppressed sex among the convent sisters and in their college hostels and also exploitation of sex by the priests. It explains the harassment meted out to her as principal for her truthful and correct decision to oppose the collection of capitation fee for various new courses and illegal donations and unfair appropriation of caution deposits from students by the management. The hierarchy in their provincial house at Trichur and some of the superior nuns branded her insane and made endeavours to put her in mental asylum in order to usurp her seat of principal of the college. Ultimately she put an end to the bitter episode by taking a hard and painful decision to quit her Carmelite Missionary Congregation (CMC) at Trichur.
The friars, nuns and secular priests of various orders and congregations extract large amounts of money as capitation fees for admissions to medical, engineering, and other unaided courses in their management quotas. They do the same for appointments to the posts of teachers and lecturers in their institutions. Did they keep and maintain accounts for such money collected? Did anyone audit such accounts? Everybody knows that these amounts are misappropriated and mismanaged. Many of the friars and nuns and secular priests pilfer such funds to help their close relations. Who will bell the cat is now the moot question?
Sodomy, incest, the abuse of nuns and the molestation of children have been endemic in the Christian Church from its very origins. Abuse of children in Church-run institutions by celibate priests has become an international scandal. The Churches that once were the gathering point for entire communities are now half empty with only gray heads during worship. Disgusted with sex abuse scandals, highly exaggerated and fabricated gospels and fables, and for other reasons like exploitation of the laity on sacraments, mass attendance is declining among the younger generation, under age group of 30, in the western countries including Italy. Did a myriad of books and articles start to decay? Recently my cousins, Celin Jose and Jose Neerackal, who were working at Scotland, told me that a church at Dundee in Scotland has been converted into a beer parlour. How colossal is the problem? We have reached a stage where we cannot imagine being anything but a Catholic. Can the Church really reverse this exodus of young adults? The population of the world is exploding, but the Church is losing ground. The Church is in a steep state of decline. A few blind believers could be cheated and exploited throughout their life; the Church could cheat or exploit some of their sheep for some time but the Church cannot cheat or exploit all their sheep for all time to come. Everything, faith or institution, which had a beginning and growth has an ending too. This is a natural rule of law.
Shibu K.P. (Kalamparambil, Karukutty, a former friar of Vincentian Order) in his autobiography, “Oru Vaidikante Hrudayamitha,” (This is the Heart of a Priest) discloses, “The convents and nunneries are being converted into brothels. The priests have sex with nuns at night in these convents. Because of these acts, the chastity of the priests and nuns has come under suspicion. Their love for God has shrunk. Some of the clergy indulge in watching pornography and reading pornographic material. They lose themselves in this habit. These books and DVDs are kept in secret places and can’t be found easily.”
I was stunned, when Bishop John Thattungal, of Kochi diocese, who raised a storm following his decision to adopt a thirty year old woman as his daughter, has been suspended by Pope Benedict XVI, in 2008.
Some of the secular priests and their hierarchy would quarrel over doctrines during the day and sexually harass nuns during the night. Old wine and other people’s wives are their weakness. I was astounded by the revelation of Sister Mary Chandy in her autobiography “Nanma Niranjavale Swasthi,” (Peace to the One filled with Grace), revealed, “The cry of a baby came from the bathroom of one of the inner rooms along with the sobs of a woman. We used our might to force open the bathroom door and what we saw would break anyone’s heart. A nun who had given birth to a child was pushing the head of the baby into the closet. The bathroom was filled with blood. The legs of the child, which were sticking out of the closet, were kicking for life.” She describes some of the sexual harassments meted out by a number of nuns in convents at the hands of some lecherous secular priests. Convent sisters are coerced to offer – how many jugs of wine, how many cauldrons of food, and how many young nuns to some of these secular priests! The hierarchy and the mother superiors of some of the convents abetted and encouraged such heinous crimes. They coerce these young nuns into “sin” as part of the oath of obedience. Those who questioned it were harassed and had to leave the convent like Sr. Mary Chandy, who was forced to hit the head of a secular priest with a wooden stool to avert an attempt of molestation and rape on her. Some of the secular priests and the hierarchy of the convent chase them even outside their territory and try their best to malign and ostracize them. I take this opportunity to bring to the notice of the priests and friars, especially those of the Roman Catholic Churches that Article 23 of the Constitution of India prohibits traffic on women. Therefore those who harass and sexually exploit the nuns on the basis of one of the vows they had taken which is “the vow of obedience” shall be prosecuted for offences, convicted and sentenced to undergo imprisonment prescribed under the Indian Penal Code.
Retreat is becoming the new money minting business of the last quarter of the 20th century. The spiritual leaders, inter-alia, advise the throng of believers to take care not to let the anger, the grudge, whatever they are harbouring inside them which poison their life; forgive your enemy and forget the episode is the elixir for chronic ailments like cancer. I don’t know the veracity of their statements. However people fall for it and gave alms liberally to them. Brother Dhinakaran became a multi-millionaire and started a university of his own. The self proclaimed Bishop Yohannan bought thousands of acres of plantations, built palaces, acquired schools and colleges. The friars of Vincentian congregation started popular mission retreats at Potta. When their retreat turned out to be a crowd puller; they bought sprawling areas on either side of NH-47 on the banks of River Chalakudy. They are extending their territory eastwards to the foot-hills of Sahyadri Mountains. Their products like Jose Anathanam and his nephew has made huge investments in real estate. They bought a prime property, vast area, at Kumbalam abutting the NH-47 on the western side and backwaters on the eastern side. Mullakkara Devassy is trying to outdo others by campaigns and by the sale of his CDs. Fr. Sebastian Kaiparambath, a charismatic product, former vicar of a church at Udayanapuram (2004-05) made a prophesy that the sun would vanish and the water is going to engulf the earth. His prophesy spread like a wild fire. The blind believers hoarded bundles of candle sticks and match boxes to deter the ensuing darkness. The candle and match box manufacturers made a quick buck. Such foolish prophets and self-proclaimed saints are mushrooming. They are misguiding and looting their blind believers. I recall the words of Desmond Tutu, “When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said ‘Let us pray.’ We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.” (Desmond Mpilo Tutu, (born on October 7, 1931,) is the first black Archbishop of Cape Town of the Church of the Province of Southern Africa. He is a social rights activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid. He was awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 1984.)
The rabbi sighed, “How the days rush by, how rapidly the one pursued the next! Dawn, dusk, the passage of the sun, the passage of the moon after moon; the children became men, black hairs withered, the sea ate into the land, mountains were stripped bare and still the One they awaited did not come!”
The Catholic Church should stop the practice of recruiting in novitiates at a very young age. The young boys and girls who have the “Call of the Lord” should be fully convinced and aware of what they are going into. Only then will they be doing justice to their choice in life, the life of celibacy and sacrifice which will make them totally dedicated and devoted. In the event of he / she cannot stay a celibate, it is better to liberate them from the prison of celibacy. Let them abandon the holy life, strip off the cassock, and get married and settled in life. Holy Bible, Apostle Paul advised the unmarried and the widows (1 Corinthians 7 Verses 9,) “But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.” In the event of a priest or friar or nun desires to marry, their parental share / patrimony deposited in the monastery or convent or with their hierarchy should be returned forthwith with 6% simple interest on filing his / her application expressing his / her wish to leave the order/congregation. Such individuals may be permitted to marry and lead a normal life with their family. It is the duty of the Catholic Church and the society to accept and rehabilitate without any stigma attached to them. The Catholic Church should realize and accept the fact that sex is not a sin; it is only a biological necessity. Kamala Surayya (Madhavikutty,) the daring woman and a great novelist, ripped the mask of sexual taboos in the orthodox society. Morality is nothing but lack of opportunity. There are only two unpardonable crimes in the code of sexual conduct, rape and telling of lies or breach of promise. The outbreak of suppressed sex is one of the major problems our society faces today. The Catholic Church could also bring reforms, “like the priests of Ancient Christians, the secular priests of Roman Catholic Church also could be allowed to marry and maintain a family.” This would prevent sexual exploitation of hapless and unwilling nuns in convents.
More shocking than the sex was the violence and cruelty that went with it. The CBI is once again directed by the High Court of Kerala to probe into “the Abhaya case. The ghost of Sr. Abhaya, the victim of a murder case in a convent at Kottayam, haunts top echelon in the religion and the society.”
I am of the opinion that a statutory Christian Board, similar to the Devaswom Boards in Kerala State, shall be constituted by the government to control and manage the church properties fraudulently obtained from the laities and to audit their accounts. Mismanagement and misappropriation of church funds and funds of educational institutions, hospitals and others have to be curtailed. Moreover, in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India and the security and safety of its citizens, a foreign sovereign or Pope or Patriarch or anyother person shall not be allowed to interfere in the affairs of our Churches or Faiths. Put an end to all the vestiges of the colonial rule. A competent and qualified person from among the laymen or a priest can be appointed as Pope or Patriarch to head the statutory Christian Board with the concurrence of the Govt. of India. Such Pope or Patriarch shall not have any allegiance or subjugation to the Pope at Vatican or Patriarch in Antioch or elsewhere and shall be treated as equal to Pope or Patriarch elsewhere.
Excerpts from
MEMOIRS
An autobiography
by
Joseph J. Thayamkeril
Lawyer, Kochi, Kerala, India.
josephjthayamkeril.blogspot.com
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