Why Bishop is NOT Obliging Cordel Parishioners Demands
Faithful of Holy Cross Church- Cordel/Kulshekar Urge Bishop to Give Back Church Money Swindled by Former Parish Priest Fr Valerian Pinto (Also read the story of this scam titled “Bishop & Diocese should Sleuth into Church Funds Scam by Fr V Pinto’- Parish Council VP Patrao published in our website on June 5, 2015 – the article link is attached below)
Mangaluru: For the last two Thursdays the angry parishioners of Holy Cross Church-Cordel/Kulshekar have been holding a unique candlelight protest in front of the Bishop’s House-Kodialbail urging the Bishop of Mangaluru Diocese, Dr Aloysius Paul D’Souza to recover more than Rs 5 crore swindled by Holy Cross church former parish priest Fr Valerian Pinto between May 2008 and May 2015. As a part of the protest, similar to the Munnabhai style, about 50 parishioners of Cordel have been taking part in the prayer service by wearing black T-shirts, along with other devotees between 6:00 pm and 7:00 pm and singing hymns outside the Bishop’s House with lit candles. Even though they want to meet the Bishop personally, but unfortunately, according to one of the protesters, it is learnt that the Bishop has been avoiding them. But why? A priest has swindled the money, and it is the responsibility of the Head of the Diocese to solve this issue and come out with a proper solution.
Recalling the reports pertaining to this issue published on Mangalorean.com ‘Bishop & Diocese should Sleuth into Church Funds Scam by Fr V Pinto’- Parish Council VP Patrao dated June 5, 2015, alleging that crores of rupees were swindled by the then parish priest while implementing twenty-one projects during his tenure in the church. The projects included renovation of the church, cemetery and park among others. Subsequently, Bishop Dr Aloysius Paul D’Souza had set up an inquiry commission headed by the 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 the Bishop), Fr Vincent Monteiro and Fr William Menezes (PRO of the diocese).
On the other hand, Finance Committee of Cordel church appointed a fact finding committee comprising Bank of Maharashtra former chairman and managing director Allen C Pereira, KCCI former president Capt John Prasad Menezes, St Aloysius College PG Dean Prof Edmond Frank, St Aloysius College former dean Prof Rolphie Mascarenhas and Ladies Club Chairperson Wilma Pais among others. Quite interestingly, both the committees unearthed misappropriation to the tune of over Rs 5 crore. It is learnt that the former Parish priest had diverted the church funds to purchase land and had also transferred the funds to few individuals.
As per a Church member, Fr Valerian Pinto in a hand written letter dated May 30, 2016, to the Bishop, claimed that he himself is solely responsible for the misappropriation. He even gave a cheque for Rs 4,89,000 which was not honoured due to insufficient funds. (Subsequently, a criminal case has been filed at Mangaluru court). Later, much to the embarrassment of the Bishop, Fr Valerian Pinto made a U turn and wrote to the Vatican (Rome) alleging that the bishop is part of misappropriation. When queried, the Bishop said that though the priest had voluntarily given a letter of apology and offered to pay back the money according to his means, later on, he changed his stand and started saying that the apology was forced on him.
Sources also reveal that Fr Valerian Pinto changed his stand saying that apology was forced on him, he has started challenging Bishop’s authority and refused to cooperate with the Bishop in settling this issue, and in the meantime, the Bishop said that he is awaiting a reply from the Vatican. However, Parish Vice President Praveen Patrao said that when Fr Valerian himself has given apology six months ago, why is the bishop not taking any action against the priest. “If the Vatican has prevented the Bishop from taking action against the priest, let him (Bishop) reveal it,” he said and added that the parishioners had to resort to silent protest as they have already explored all the possibilities and silent, but dignified protest was the last resort. But sadly, the older and middle-aged parishioners say that they are not supported by the young parishioners in the protest and most of them hold a high position in society. These parishioners have decided to hold more such candle lit protests every Thursday, and if they don’t get a response from the Bishop, they will be submitting the report of the protests and their demands to the concerned authorities in Rome, probably by this month end.
Now that we Catholics have been alerted with this particular (Holy Cross) church-Cordel funds scamming incident, (which could be true or false until someone is proven guilty), do we need to think twice in future before we donate to church or tithe. I am absolutely convinced on many levels of the importance of tithing. But what really and deeply saddens me to see so much of the hard earned revenue donated was being embezzled by some of the clergy. So, I feel it is my responsibility to bring this to the attention of those who are attending Catholic churches so they can hold their priests accountable to make sure this does not continue to occur, and that the hard earned donations or tithing (Sunday collection) can really be used to serve those who truly need it. I suspect that the Catholic church is not the only church where embezzlement occurs. So if you are donating to your church my caution is don’t do it blindly. Do it with responsibility.
It is important to be a wise steward of your donations so they are used most effectively. This is not an easy assignment. Most of you reading this won’t have the same problem in finding out how to responsibly distribute your hard earned money , but whatever you donate, make sure that the funds are being used wisely.You never know, you may witness many corrupt, evil, deceptive, & UNHEALTHY things may go on in your church. The truth comes out when someone spills the beans or the concerned church authorities are caught red handed. I believe that those blessed, must return to the neediest, several fold. Or we will have keep quite and pardon some of these clergy, and follow what Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
Also Read Related Articles Below:
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Mangaluru: ‘Bishop and Diocese should Sleuth into Church Funds Scam by Fr V Pinto’- Parish Council VP Patrao
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Thou Shalt Not Steal! ‘Parish Priest Scammed Over Rs 1 Crore of Church Funds’ say Faithful
as a priest is considered great by the number of buildings he puts up, and human nature being what it is, this kind of scandal is bound to occur. the cordel parishioners are to be encouraged in their attempt to find the guilty and seek redress.