Mangalore: For eleven weeks now a group of parishioners of the Holy Cross Church Kulshekar (Cordel) have been meeting at the Bishops House on Thursdays to seek divine intervention to remedy what by all accounts is a human sin – that of misappropriation of church funds which first came to light in June 2015.
In a style reminiscent of a Gandhian agitation, this group of parishioners clad in black ‘T’ shirts and led by the former Vice President of the Parish council Praveen Patrao and Secretary Michael D’Souza meet outside the Bishop’s House every Thursday following prayers at the Chapel in the premises .With lit candles they pray for “the Almighty to enlighten and embolden the administrative hierarchy of the Catholic Church to take appropriate steps to address the allegations of misappropriation and replenish the stolen funds of the Holy Cross Church, Kulshekar(Cordel)”.
Both parties to this dispute have now taken the matter to the Vatican – the ultimate authority in the Catholic Church – for a resolution. This, after several meetings between this group and the local Church authorities failed to reach a mutually satisfactory solution.
The allegations of misappropriation of the Kulshekar (Cordel) Church funds by Fr. Valerian Pinto, the former parish priest of the Holy Cross Church Kulshekar (Cordel) were first made at the fag end of his 7 year tenure at the parish in the heart of the city. Currently Fr. Valerian Pinto is the parish priest of Fajir Parish.
The major allegations by former parish council Vice-President Praveen Patrao and his team include withdrawal of around Rs; 2 crore (of a total Rs: 5 Crore misappropriated) using self-cheques, transferring funds to family members and close acquaintances to buy properties on the outskirts of Mangalore, siphoning funds from parish corpus and education accounts without the knowledge of parish finance committee, transferring funds from unaudited accounts to official parish account to ‘hush up’ misdeeds and the like.
The allegations and counter allegations that followed have deepened the divisions among the laity, created serious differences among the clergy and in many cases even dented the faith of ordinary faithful as a consensual resolution of the issue has been hard to come by.
Fr. Valerian apologises
In a bid to quell the series of allegations which surfaced towards the end of his tenure, records show Fr. Valerian Pinto transferred amounts into Parish accounts showing deficit which were later proved as transfers from unaudited accounts of the parish itself. Fr. Valerian managed 7 accounts, most held by it at Mangalore Catholic Co-operative Bank. Some old accounts were closed and new ones were also opened during his tenure.
The Bishop of Mangalore when asked by Newskarnataka.com about these unaudited accounts said “Some accounts might not be audited, like those related to Altar Boy’s welfare, sodality etc.”.
All these financial transactions carried out in a bid to quell the disquiet among the parishioners only backfired. The allegations of misappropriation gained strength. After they had gone on for a year, Fr. Valerian Pinto tendered a written apology to the Bishop of Mangalore on the 30th May 2016 admitting mismanagement of the Cordel church funds, and promised to make good the loss incurred. This was forwarded by the Bishop to the new parish priest of the Cordel Parish Fr. Victor Machado on June 4th 2016.
In keeping with his promise to make good the losses, Fr. Valerian Pinto also issued a cheque dated 15/8/2016 for Rs: 4,89,455.00 in part payment of the losses incurred in the name of the Holy Cross Church Cordel, Kulshekar. Unfortunately the Cheque bounced thrice according to Praveen Patrao.
Ecclesiastical commission formed
In the meanwhile, in order to address the allegations impartially, the Bishop of Mangalore Rev Dr.Aloysius Paul D’ Souza, who as head of the Mangalore Diocese, was first recourse for redressal of grievances of the parishioners, appointed a 5 member ecclesiastical commission headed by Bendur Parish Priest Fr Antony Serrao with members Fr Valerian D’Souza (parish priest of Milagres church), Fr Joseph Martis (Rector of St Joseph Seminary and consultor to bishop), Fr Vincent Monteiro (consultor to bishop) and Fr Willliam Menezes (PRO of the diocese) to look into the alleged irregularities committed by the former parish priest during his 7 year tenure.
The 5 member commission which submitted its report to the Bishop in October 2016 is learnt to have indicted Fr.Valerian Pinto pretty severely. Reportedly the commission noted significant deviations on the part of Fr.Valerian Pinto, the then parish priest of Cordel church, in managing the parish finances and also found in many instances fabrication of bills by forging signatures and impersonating persons or firms from where services and materials were purchased for infrastructural work in the parish. It was alleged that most withdrawals and payments were executed by the former parish priest independent of any parish or Church oversight as the parish priest was the lone authorized signatory for the funds of the church.
The Commission arrived at this conclusion, after it scrutinized available data in the forms of bills, vouchers, and receipts of a few of the 21 projects undertaken during the period May 2008 and May 2015. (It had to limit its scrutiny due to a paucity of time) It found that most of these projects barring one, had overshot the budgeted limit by 150% and 200%.
The commission summoned and heard all the stake holders including catholic professionals of high standing and those belonging to finance committee of the Cordel church to corroborate its findings.
The statement of accounts as prepared by Rodrigues & D’Souza associates for the period ending March 2016 showed nearly Rs 20 lakh as payment due from Fr. Valerian to Cordel church, which critics term as ‘historic’. The non-payment of TDS amount to IT department is another important aberration in the management of church accounts by Fr. Valerian during his tenure which may also have far reaching consequences, it is learnt.
Twists and turns
The parish council too on its part instituted a fact finding committee of its own to separately ensure that its allegations are based on recordable evidence. The committee comprised former Chairman and Managing Director of the Bank of Maharashtra Allen C. Pereira, former KCCI president Capt. John Prasad Menezes, Dean of the PG Department, St Aloysius College Prof. Edmond Frank, Former dean, St Aloysius College Prof.Rolphie Mascarenhas and Chair–person of the Ladies Club Wilma Pais among others.
According to information in the public domain, this fact finding committee’s findings match those of ecclesiastical committee findings in most parts with very minor deviations.
Following these developments, it learnt that Fr. Valerian Pinto changed tack and went on the offensive. He accused the Bishop of not safeguarding his interests despite knowledge of all the events that unfolded during his tenure. He refuted his apology and admission and said ‘he was forced into submission’.He also accused the Bishop of not issuing him with a show cause notice to enable counter the charges and expressed his displeasure at the way the issue was handled in a letter written directly to the Vatican, the ultimate administrative and spiritual authority for the Catholic Church across the globe.
Bishop D’Souza however refuted Fr. Valerian’s claim of being forced to tender an apology but clarified that the apology letter was submitted by Fr. Valerian in the presence of four other witnesses.
When contacted, Fr. Valerian Pinto declined to comment.
Case moves to Vatican
The hierarchical structure within the Catholic Church requires all correspondence with the Vatican be routed only through the jurisdictional Bishop, even in cases where Bishop is the subject of allegations and reportedly the process was not adhered to in the instant case. The Vatican however, after receiving the complaint sought a few clarifications from the Bishop, and those queries were answered post-haste by the Bishop, it is learnt and it is now up to the Vatican to resolve the issue.
On the issue of Fr. Valerian writing to Rome directly bypassing him and the guidelines, Bishop D’Souza said, “Probably Fr. Valerian was pained by the events which might have forced him to take such a step”, but added that a copy was given to him by Fr.Valerian to be forwarded to the Vatican in Rome with his remarks, so he was well aware of the move.
Asked why he has so far not taken action against the guilty despite the findings of the ecclesiastical commission, Bishop D’Souza said conclusively, “That would amount to being Judgemental on my part. The Vatican which takes note of everything will act in accordance with the canon law”.
It would seem strange that the dispute was not resolved amicably by the local catholic community and the local church authorities and the matter had instead to be referred to the Vatican. Bishop D’Souza too lamented the same saying “Hard-line stance adopted and stepped up demands, limited the options of an amicable solution”.
Across the fence, the aggrieved parishioners too sent a memorandum to the Vatican pleading for its intervention to resolve the problem immediately. The 12 page memorandum was also forwarded to the Vatican through the Bishop. They simultaneously requested the Arch Bishop H E Rev. Dr. Bernard Moras to intervene and settle the dispute amicably.
The agitated parishioners are also hopeful of meeting H.E.Most Rev. Giambattista Diquattro the new Apostolic Nuncio to India and Nepal in few days’ time to table their ‘fight for justice’ demand as he will be in charge of the affairs of the Church in India. Incidentally the former Nuncio of Bolivia was appointed as the new Nuncio of India by Pope Francis in January 2017, and assumed office in the latter half of February after returning from Europe.
Mediation may help resolve the dispute, but few are willing to intervene in this now 2 year old dispute. MP Noronha, advocate and former diocesan pastoral council secretary and an eminent member of the Cordel parish was one such whose words of wisdom may have altered the course of events favourably, firstly on account of his proximity to the Bishop on the one hand and to the parish community on the other. When asked by Newskarnataka.com as to why he chose to stay away from the arena, he said “I preferred to stay away from the issue from the word go and rather would rely on Will, Way and Act of God than on my personal ability”, giving a spiritual twist to the worldly issue. He said the problem has become “more complex” than “ever before” and now that it has reached Vatican, “let us await the outcome from the supreme authority”. However, he opposed the move of a few parishioners to wear black T-Shirts in the guise of seeking justice during prayer services.
Countering Noronha’s view on the issue of black attire, Praveen Patrao said, “Black T shirts are only symbolic and meant to show solidarity among the ones seeking justice and the decision to wear them was taken after keeping the Bishop informed. They are not seeking anyone’s pound of flesh but only want justice on the issue, which in simple terms, means punishment to the guilty and refund of misappropriated amount to the Cordel parish after a negotiated settlement”. Bishop D’Souza rebutted Praveen Patrao’s claim of granting permission to wear Black T-Shirts and was of the opinion that the protests have already dented the image of the church in the eyes of the world. “The damage has already been done” he told Newskarnataka.com.
Bishop D’Souza also questioned the timeline of allegations. “I wonder why things went wrong only during last 6-7 months of Fr. Valerian’s tenure with none pointing fingers earlier, even appreciating the works carried out by Fr.Valerian”. The leader of the agitated parishioners and the Vice President of the Parish Council during the tenure of Fr. Valerian, Praveen Patrao however justified his actions. “Cordel parishioners had reposed total faith in Fr.Valerian and appreciated his good works but only noticed the can of worms at the end of his tenure”. “I highlighted the irregularities through diverse means once this mismanagement became clear to me but I was kept out of parish decisions by Fr.Valerian at that time”, he added.
Parishioners to continue their struggle
“Oh! What a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive!” wrote Sir Walter Scott in his famous play Marmion and that echoes even today. While the agitated group of parishioners have vowed to continue their struggle till the issue is resolved, Bishop D’Souza feels that “Vatican cannot be influenced by protests”. Bishop D’Souza said he would spell out the future course of action only on receipt of information from Nuncio about the Vatican’s decision, ruling out a definite time frame to resolve the tangle. For the moment, all eyes are on the Vatican. Resolving this dispute amicably and restoring the shaken faith of the catholic laity in Mangalore is truly a litmus test for the Vatican.
