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Catholics in a south Indian diocese want their bishop removed for allegedly misappropriating diocesan funds to lead a luxurious life with his wife and son.
Bishop Prasad Gallela of Cuddapah, however, has denied the charges as baseless and aimed at tarnishing his image.
Aggrieved Catholics have filed a criminal complaint in a trial court in Andhra Pradesh state seeking action against the 56-year-old prelate after their efforts to get justice from the Vatican failed.
“We approached the court after our efforts to settle the issue within the Church failed,” Mesa Ravi Kumar, one of the two complaints in the case, told Matters India on August 3, a day after appearing before the court. He had filed the complaint in the court in June this year.
The case came up for hearing before the court of Second Additional District Judge, Kadapa (new name of Cuddapah) at Proddatur on August 2.
The prelate’s lawyer has sought more time to file a detailed reply to the charges leveled against him.
The other complainant is Byreddy Chinnappa Reddy, a 65-year-old farmer.
Kumar, a 40-year-old college lecturer and the Kadapa district president of Christian Dalit Forum, said several people, including him, had sent registered letters to the Vatican narrating Bishop Gallela’s alleged illegal activities, including “his immoral life with his wife and son.”
“A female lawyer Chandravati had written to the Vatican in November 2016 demanding the ouster of Bishop Gallela for the charges, but to no avail,” Kumar bemoaned.
He also said that he and one T. P. Radhika had sent similar letters in May this year to the Vatican, urging Pope Francis to act against the prelate to save the diocese from disintegration since many Catholics have stopped attending Mass and going to confession.
Kumar says the bishop, whose son is now 20 years old, stays only less than a week in a month in the diocese.
“The rest of the time he is believed to be spending with his family, as no one knows about his whereabouts during this period,” he alleged.
When contacted, a few priests in the diocese have also confirmed the bishop has a family. However, none of them was willing to go on record.
They too said the bishop stays only less than a week a month at the bishop’s house and that nobody knows how he spends the rest of the time.
Source
- First published by Jose Kavi in Matters India. Reproduced with permission.
- Image: UCANews.com
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