Kunnamkulam School compound Encroached-“First as Tragedy, Then as Farce”

Marx’s statement that history repeats itself “first as tragedy, then as farce” is proving to be true in the life of North Kerala Diocese. With the tragic and embarrassing exit of Bishop Kuruvilla, we all thought that a very shameful phase in the history of the diocese had come to an end and a new era had begun. But even before we could overcome the hangover of the previous disposition, history has repeated itself, though this time as farce in the form of Rt. Rev. K. G. Daniel, who ‘served’ the diocese for a short time as the bishop-in-charge, and now continues as Moderator’s Commissary.

The school compound walls being demolished

One and a half acres of prime land in the compound of the Kunnamkulam CSI Church worth around Rs. 10 crores was leased out by one Jacob Mathew alias Ronnie to a business house with the consent of Bishop K. G. Daniel, who as bishop-in-charge had no authorization except to sign cheques. This deal was struck without the knowledge of the elected constitutional bodies of the diocese such as diocesan officers, the Property Committee and the Executive Committee. People came to know about this deal only when the one to whom the land was leased out came to demolish the existing structures with a bulldozer on Thursday, 24 th January 2013. They selected this day as it was a holiday, when the law and order machinery would be relatively non-functioning. But people came to know of this illegal and bogus deal and they resisted and alerted the diocesan officers. Fortunately they were able to act quickly and get an interim injunction from a vacation court. The court also appointed a commission. Thus, for the time being, a great loss and a damaging deal had been averted. But the question remains as to how a mere bishop-in-charge could act in this manner during his short stint in the diocese.

The school compound being encroached

It is learned that this was a deal originally struck by Bishop Kuruvilla through his crony, Ronnie before he was incapacitated. Bishop Daniel came to the help of the beleaguered fellow bishop by giving his consent to the deal. They had even expected that they would be able to carry forward their nefarious designs by putting in place a bishop of their choice. But that did not work out as they planned.

How could a bishop of the CSI act with such impunity to engage in a blatantly fraudulent land deal? It has become clear that Bishop Kuruvilla is not an aberration, but only one among the many bishops in CSI who besides being greedy for money, are arrogant and foolish. Bishop Daniel should know that the laity in North Kerala Diocese has already suffered enough, and are in no mood to tolerate another bishop with a bloated ego. Mr. M. M. Philip (General Secretary), Mr. Bennet Abraham (Treasurer), and the Most Rev. Devakadaksham (Moderator) have to do a lot of explaining as to how such deals could be struck and what action they would take against such bishops. A regime change need not bring about the desired results. The laity should remain watchful.  "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

First published in savecsi