The Protosyncellus (Vicar General) of the Syrian Catholic Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly Varghese Pottackal has issued a circular denying that anyone had fabricated documents to defame Major Archbishop Cardinal George Alencherry.
The circular makes it clear that no priest of the Archdiocese was involved in producing these documents but that they were found by a young member of the Archdiocese during the course of his work. The documents were handed over to Father Paul Thelakkat, who in turn, handed them over to Bishop Jacob Manadthodath, Apostolic Administrator.
The documents were placed before the Cardinal in great discretion and there was no intention to defame him, said the circular, which would be read out in all churches under the Archdiocese during the course of the Mass on Sunday. The circular is in drastic contrast to the stand taken by the permanent synod of the Archdiocese, which opined that the documents, now under police investigation, were fabricated to defame the Cardinal.
While there had been no conspiracy to defame the Cardinal, it was wrong to propagate that the documents were fabricated to defame the Cardinal, the circular said.
At the centre of the controversy is a set of documents which apparently showed that the Cardinal transferred substantial sums of money to a private firm using his account in a private bank. However, the documents were investigated and found by the police to have been forged. A young IT professional, who allegedly forged the documents, is under police custody, while two priests of the Archdiocese face possible investigations.
The circular said that the young man who was arrested was kept under illegal confinement and forced to confess that there was a conspiracy in forging the documents. The circular expressed the opinion that the investigations were not moving in the right direction.
The Protocyncellus appealed to members of the church to pray for a peaceful resolution of the problems facing the Archdiocese.