Crimes of Cardinal Alencherry: Are the Members of Syro-Malabar Church also guilty?

By Mr.Tom Varkey,Texas, USA

Photo Credit/ Public domain

Crimes of Cardinal Alenchery: Are the Members of Syro-Malabar Church also guilty? Only if they stand with him by not speaking up against his criminal activities in the Church!

In the book of Lamentations, Chapter 4:1, we read: “How the gold has lost its luster, the fine gold become dull! The sacred gems are scattered at the head of every street.” Sounds familiar? This is the condition of the Syro-Malabar Church, once the most vibrant segment of the entire Catholic Church!

If you examine why this has happened to our Church, it is not hard to see why and how our Church has fallen so miserably beyond description. Let us analyze to see some of the reasons for this unimaginable downfall and what should be the course of action taken to prevent further fallout from the scandal committed by Cardinal Alenchery involving the swindling of a major portion of the finances of the entire Syro-Malabar Church!

Regarding the Syro-Malabar Church, in 1 Cor. 12:12-14 Paul tells us: “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. The Church, which is the mystical body of Christ, has deviated such a design that God has laid down for the Church. Therefore, such an abuse of power by the leaders of the Church has destroyed the smooth functioning of the Church through their greed, arrogance, pride, audacity, etc., which has resulted in the pathetic condition of today in the Syro-Malabar Church and the entire Catholic Church in general.

Unfortunately, in today’s Church, many cases exist in the civil courts against Cardinal Alencherry, who is allegedly involved in fraudulence behind the Church land row of Ernakulam-Angamaly.

Now there are two sides when it comes to deciding what kind of action should be taken against Cardinal Alencherry: one side saying that he should be forgiven and the Church should move on as though nothing ever happened and the other side saying he should be replaced. Even as much as I respect him as the head of the Syro-Malabar Church, I strongly feel that he should be replaced and the Cardinal should step down for the three Biblical reasons below.

First, the Word of God says in Titus 1:7-8: “Since an overseer [leader of a Church] is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless, not overbearing, not quick-tempered, … not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather he must be self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined.” As you can see, Cardinal Alencherry's criminal conduct for which he has been asked to face judicial trial by the High Court of Kerala, the highest Court in the State of Kerala where the Syro-Malabar Church is seated. This action of the High Court clearly disqualifies him based on Titus 1:7-8. As a matter of fact, if Cardinal Alencherry were to run for the position of the President of any Panchayat ( local authority) in the State of Kerala, he will be immediately voted out as disqualified in a heartbeat, much less for continuing as the leader of a major Church such as the Syro-Malabar Church because he is totally non-compatible with her bridegroom, Jesus Christ whose bride is the Syro-Malabar Church!

Secondly, the verdict of the High Court against Cardinal asking to face the trial in the land deal case disqualified him from being a Church leader, as we read in Titus 1:7. Anything less is a disgrace to the Syro-Malabar Church that he oversees and a great embarrassment to the bridegroom, Jesus Christ Himself, whom he is serving.

Last but not least, we read about the various sins and the wicked deeds that the Israelites committed against God in Rom. 1:18-32.

Photo Credit to Public domain. Mar Thoma Cross is nothing short of idolatry

I have this message to the whole Syro-Malabar Church regarding the way most of them ignore his crimes as though they are not serious. If you ignore these crimes and the many other crimes that Cardinal Alenchery has committed in the Syro-Malabar Church, you are against God himself. One example to say replacing the crucifix in the middle of the altar with anything else like the Mar Thoma Cross is nothing short of idolatry. The Mar Thoma Cross is nothing more than a man-made idol (the Manichaean Cross, even if you call it by the pet name, the Mar Thoma Cross, which has nothing to do with St. Thomas the Apostle or Jesus Christ unlike the Crucifix. I have no doubt in my mind that his earlier crime of promoting the Manichaean Cross as a substitute for the Crucifix was the horrible act of idolatry which has now led Alenchery to embrace his latest idol which is the 57 crores that he stole from the Syro-Malabar Church. So, my final message to Cardinal Alenchery is:

Thus says the Lord God:

“God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Your kingdom is divided and given to Medes and Persians” (Dan. 5:26-28). Cardinal Alenchery, soon you are going to find out who your Medes and Persians are who will be inheriting the rightful ownership of the reins of leadership in the Syro-Malabar Church which you are now stubbornly holding on to against all norms of justice -- even those of the High Court of Kerala. Sadly, but truly, you are only deceiving yourself because “the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers like you, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:4).

You are “like Satan himself masquerading as an angel of light along with your many followers who are also masquerading with you as servants of righteousness" although they have nothing to do with the righteousness of God because they are being misled by you (2 Cor. 11:14-15).

Once again, thus says the LORD:

“By its own fruits, every tree shall be recognized” (Lk. 6:44).

"We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone [including our beloved Cardinal Alencherry] perfect in Christ [for the greater glory of God]" (Col. 1:29)