KOCHI: The FIR against Fr Paul Thelakkat has escalated the tension between Syro-Malabar Church and priests belonging to Ernakulam Angamaly archdiocese. While priests believe that the FIR was a stunt pulled by the Church’s media commission to defame Fr Thelakkat, the Church said the intent was to find the culprits who came up with a document that was used to defame Cardinal George Alencherry.Priests alleged that the FIR was part of a planned move to defame priests of the archdiocese who had exposed the land deal scam.“We are enraged. We were quiet after the synod urged priests to refrain from making public statements. They are now taking our silence for granted and running a hate campaign to defame priests. The reputation of Thelakkat – who has been an ideal Christian all his life – has been damaged by this baseless allegation. Fr Thelakkat had personally given the document to a senior bishop so that it would be investigated. Instead of finding the truth, they named the person who gave the document as suspect. This is atrocious,” said a priest on condition of anonymity.Chairman of the media commission Mar Joseph Pamplany claimed that the accusations raised by priests were baseless. “It is a crime and police can investigate it backwards from the last known source. Fr Thelakkat’s name would be removed from the FIR once he reveals who gave it to him. The priest was told to name the person who gave him the document, but he said nothing,” said Pamplany.Presbyteral council secretary Fr Kuriakose Mundadan said: “We will convey our protest to the apostolic administrator,” he said, adding that priests will meet him when he arrives in Kochi on Tuesday night.But, Pamplany said the Church cannot overlook a criminal act. “It is a criminal act and Church’s intent is to find who forged the fake document. This is not a private document but one that was used by organizations like AMT (Archdiocesan Movement for Transparency) to defame Cardinal Alencherry. This fake bank statement tarnished the Cardinal’s image 10 times more than what the investigation did to Fr Thelakkat,” he added.AMT member Shyju Antony rubbished Pamplany’s claim. “Let him prove that this document was used by AMT against the Cardinal. We haven’t even seen it. They are now manufacturing lies to save face as the action against Fr Thelakkat has snowballed into a controversy,” he said.Meanwhile, another priest said that the situation was such that even bishops cannot be trusted. “I am sure Fr Thelakkat maintained confidentiality while handling the document as he was unsure about its authenticity. He gave it to bishop Manathodath trusting him to keep it confidential and investigate its truth. Priests are supposed to convey their doubt to seniors. If we must visit police stations for this, it is a moral degradation in church,” he said .

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