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The Syro Malabar Church has warned Father Augustine Vattoly, a senior priest attached to the diocese, of punitive action for spearheading a fight against the regressive stands of the church and its reluctance to correct them.
Apostolic Administrator of Ernakulam-Angamaly Syro-Malabar diocese Mar Jacob Manathodath in a letter to Father Vattoly has warned him of consequences for organising a dharna at the Thiruvananthapuram Secretariat in the name of ‘Save our Sisters’.
The letter says that Vattoly has to face the consequences "if he is not able to give a explanation which is not satisfactory and the Church will have to proceed with disciplinary action against him.”
The dharna also demanded a probe into the death of Father Kuriakose Kattuthara, a witness against Bishop Franco.
The letter accused Father Vattoly of associating himself with anti-ecclesiastical, extremist and atheistic groups. Accessed by TNM, the letter says:
“Some of the groups are said to be plotting against the Church to hurt religion and the Church. Some of your activities are said to be refusal to the authority of the Church,” it says, adding that Father Vattoly’s speeches have incited sedition and hatred against Church authorities.
The priest has also been in the forefront of seeking justice for the survivor nun and other nuns who protested against Franco. He is also the convener of ‘Save Our Sisters Forum’, which led the protest by the nuns against Bishop Franco in Kochi.
“We will write to the Pope soon, a group of devotees meanwhile are planning to move the court. Priests moving the court against a Bishop is not fair, and we have to examine if it is against the Canon Law. The Pope had publicly declared two big sins – paedophilia and financial irregularities,” Father Vattoly had told TNM about the alleged land scam by the Church.
(This story has been published in an arrangement with The News Minute.)
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