Qualification to become a Bishop! Musing from a lay person.

Photo credit to Public domain. Archbishop Joseph Perumthottam. Newspapers reported that Fr. Joseph Perumthottam was a rebel leader against the Papal leader of the Syro Malabar Church. He was a convener of a rebel group against Pope John Paul II and his papal delegate. ( News report below)

By Jestor, Changanassery

To your dismay, this would be shocking news for you. How did a rebel group leader against Pope John Paul II and his Papal delegate Mar Abraham Kattumana become a bishop later? Fr. Joseph Perumthottam formed a rebel group in Cheganassery Archdiocese, and he held the office of convener of the revolutionary group against Abraham Kattummana, the first papal delegate of the Syro Malabar Church. This was reported on 25 November 1993

Well, this news will be heart-wrenching to faithful of Syro Malabar Catholics. Yes, Indeed, the current bishop of Archdiocese of Changanassery was the defiant leader behind that upheaval against the Synod of the Syro Malabar Church in 1993. Archbishop Kattumana was brutally defamed by anonymous letters spruced up with fabricated stories. The news report confirms this truth as he coordinated a movement against the papal delegate, which was reported in the national dailies. Fr. Joseph Perumthottam, later he was made the bishop of Archdiocese of Changanassery in April 2002. " This is the qualification to become a bishop who belongs to a group of bishops in the Syro Malabar Synod today. This is the root cause of problems today. Their integrity and moral attitudes are questioned by laity" Laity leaders reacted.

“Pope Francis and dicastery for bishops of the Vatican have to investigate and ask him to resign from his office. A priest who was flagrantly involved in his capacity to defame a papal delegate is great matter of concern. And it is obviously against the values of the Christian faith. It is crystal clear that these kinds of dirty deeds behind the power corridors were considered as the qualification to promote a priest to the Episcopate. It speaks of dirty games of an Archbishop and who is the root cause of problems in the Church.” A senior priest of the Changanassery Archdiocese said in anonymity.