Kerala bishop under fire as critics call religious court he formed to try priest reminiscent of ‘Inquisition’

Bishop Remigiose Inchananiyil of Kerala has come under fire for creating a religious court reminiscent of the Inquisition in the Middle Ages to try a Catholic priest accused of sedition and insubordination. Pope Paul II apologised for the cruelties of these medieval church courts, and the order challenges the Indian Constitution, government and judiciary. The priest was trying to reform the church and the bishop is a dictator under the Canon Law. Pope John Paul II also apologised for the excesses of religious courts.

Mar Remigiose Inchananiyil, Bishop of the Thamarassery diocese in Kerala, has come under fire for constituting a religious court “reminiscent of the Inquisition in the Middle Ages” to try a Catholic priest who has been accused of sedition, insubordination, publicly taking a stand against the synod of bishops of the Syro-Malabar Church and preaching disobedience to the faithful in speeches and messages on social media.

The bishop’s order reeks of the Inquisition, a phase in the history of the Catholic Church of which the Church itself is now ashamed. Pope Paul II apologised for the cruelties under these medieval church courts in the Great Jubilee Year 2000, said a senior priest of the Syro-Malabar Church about the order issued on September 21 against Fr. Thomas, aka Aji, Puthiyaparambil.

Catholic Laymen’s Association, a reform-minded organisation within the Catholic Church, alleged that the bishop’s order challenged the Indian Constitution, the government and the judiciary. The religious court has been constituted under the Canon Law, a Vatican creation, said M.L. George Maliekal, secretary of the association.

Fr. Puthiyaparambil’s fault is that he pointed out “anti-Christian activities of the bishops of the Syro-Malabar Church and those who took orders from them.” The priest tried to reform the church and give it a new life, the association said. Under the Canon Law, the bishop is a dictator. He is the rule-maker, rule-interpreter and executive, said the association.

Spokesman for Almaya Munnettam, a laypeople’s group calling for more transparency in church administration in the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese, recalled that historically, religious court such as the Inquisition misused its powers and committed excesses for which Pope John Paul II apologised.

The order constituting the religious court said preliminary investigations revealed the gravity of the offences and scandal caused by him.