Bishop shows no tolerance towards wayward clergy

Regrettably, the headline does not refer to Bishop Moses Doraboina Prakasam of Nellore Diocese. 

There is, however,  an encouraging report from the news agency Crux about Bishop Gaspard Beby Gneba from the African nation of Ivory Coast, who clearly regards it as a serious matter for a priest to have a "wife" and children, or to be involved in financial crimes.  

                                     Bishop Gaspard Béby Gnéba of Man in Ivory Coast. (Credit: Vatican Media.)

In a recent (4 Jan 2024) letter to the faithful of his diocese, Bishop Gneba wrote:  "Any lay faithful who knows that a priest is not faithful to his celibacy, has a wife or child, has committed sexual abuse or economic crimes, must have the courage to denounce him to the bishop, otherwise he commits a sin of complicity before God, the Pope and the Church." 

The letter notes:  "The Pope speaks of zero tolerance towards these priests."

Bishop Gneba made clear - as has Pope Francis - that priests who father children cannot remain in the clerical state.

It is shocking to report that (Fr) Gali Arulraj, though he has a "wife" and (at least) two children, still remains a priest of the Diocese of Nellore in south India.  He has not been laicized.

His nephew, (Fr) Vatakali Paulin Raj, was not disciplined in any way for his collaboration with Arulraj in embezzling about one million pounds.  Unbelievably, he has now hit the jackpot of opportunities for embezzling, as he is working currently in a diocese of the United States.

Far from showing the "zero tolerance" requested by Pope Francis,  Bishop Moses Prakasam of Nellore Diocese has demonstrated that it is pointless denouncing wayward priests of his diocese to him, as he will do nothing.  It is deeply lamentable  that he doesn't have the same concern for the integrity of his priests as Bishop Gneba.

But mindful of Bishop Gneba's appeal for the laity to have courage in denouncing such priests so as not to "commit a sin of of complicity before God,  the Pope and the Church," this blog will continue to appeal to Bishop Prakasam to act as an honorable bishop should.

Pope Francis addresses the scandal of Gali Arulraj

Pope Francis:  "he has to leave the ministry."

Well, yes, the heading is perhaps a little misleading as I have no reason to think that Pope Francis has even heard of Gali Arulraj - though I suppose it might just be possible that he has been one of the readers of this blog from Argentina or Italy...

However, in a book published in 2012, Pope Francis makes it clear that someone like Arulraj cannot remain in the priesthood.  Speaking as Cardinal Bergoglio (as he was at that time), he addressed the general situation of a priest who has fathered just one child, not two (as is the more appalling case with Arulraj). He said:

If [a priest] comes and tells me that he got a woman pregnant, I listen. I try to help him have peace and little by little I try to help him realize that the natural law takes priority over his priesthood. So, he has to leave the ministry and should take care of that child, even if he chooses not to marry that woman. For just as that child has the right to have a mother, he has a right to the face of a father. I commit myself to arranging all the paperwork for him in Rome, but he has to leave everything.

For Pope Francis, leaving the priesthood is required as an obvious consequence of fathering a child, even if the priest were otherwise in good standing.  How much more so must it be required for a rogue priest like Arulraj who has fathered two children, separated himself from his bishop and diocese for 16 years (the years are constantly increasing), and who has been engaged in the long-term racket of scamming donations and embezzling more than one million pounds that were intended for disabled children (and for which he awaits trial, conviction and imprisonment).

It is now more than seven months since Bishop Prakasam of Nellore issued the long overdue decree of suspension.  I understand that he has still not even been in touch with the Congregation for the Clergy in Rome, which is the relevant Congregation for arranging for priests to leave the clerical state.

Bishop Prakasam dragged his heels for nearly six years before eventually issuing the decree of suspension that should have been automatically issued.  The indications are that those heels are now being firmly dug in once again.

With Pope Francis's guidance, may we hope that the Congregation for the Clergy will act swiftly to resolve the scandal of Gali Arulraj - a scandal that his own bishop has, for unfathomable reasons, been unwilling to address.

Official - Gali Arulraj now suspended as a priest

This morning I received a copy of a public notice, issued by the Bishop of Nellore, Most Rev. Moses Prakasam, to "inform all the clergy, religious and people of God that Rev. Fr. Gali Arulraj was placed under suspension with effect from 06-09-12."

 

 

 

 

 

The full notice can be read clearly by clicking  [right click and 'open link in new tab'] on the image above.  Whereas a priest is sometimes given a partial suspension for offences that are less grave, it is to be noted that Arulraj's suspension is total: he is "prohibited from exercising all the acts of the power of Orders, power or governance and exercise of all the rights and functions attached to the office of the  Priesthood."  Arulraj "has no faculties and consequently he is not authorised to celebrate Holy Mass, hearing confessions or administration of any other sacraments or any other related ministries of Priesthood."

 

There remain serious concerns with regard to the amount of effort and the length of time it has taken to effect this suspension - a suspension which should have been declared many years ago.  It is only with this suspension that a canonical process leading to Arulraj's dismissal from the clerical state - which must surely be the outcome of the process - can now take place.  (That his dismissal remains necessary is indicated by the notice of suspension itself, which describes Arulraj respectfully- as a priest - as "Rev. Fr. Gali Arulraj." It is, however, clear even from the sanitised description of  Arulraj's shameful activities, which date back some 15 years - 15 years! -  that he does not merit this respectful title or any of the privileges attached to the clerical state.)  While it is to be hoped that the canonical process now advances without unnecessary delays this blog will remain active in case there are further concerns to raise.

 

For now, though, there is much reason to be grateful for the imposition of the suspension.  The scandal of Arulraj living a family life and fraudulently raising funds and then embezzling them from the poorest of the poor, and continuing to function as a Catholic priest,  has now been addressed by the Bishop of Nellore's actions.  May Bishop Prakasam now bring the scandal of Arulraj remaining a Catholic priest to its fitting conclusion.

 

Still waiting for the Bishop of Nellore

In recent weeks several people have contacted me inquring whether Bishop Moses Prakasam of the Diocese of Nellore responded to the email I sent him on 16 April in reply to his email of 2 April.  More importantly, they have asked whether he has at last taken action against his rogue priests, epseically against Gali Arulraj. 

In emails to me, dated 22 and 28 April, Bishop Prakasam said that he had not intended to cause offence by his email of 2 April.  He said that he was unable to reply to individuals who were writing to him, but wished to correspond directly with me and work on this directly with me. Bishop Prakasam asked me not to publish on this blog his correspondence with me. Although he did not answer the many points I made in my email of 16 April I assumed good will and sincerity on his part, and so (in spite of my previous experience with him) I accepted what he said at face value. Recognising that some things have to be said and done privately I told him I was willing not to publish our correspondence so long as it was clear that progress was being made.  The indications I received were that at long last Bishop Prakasam would deal properly with the scandal caused by allowing Arulraj to continue functioning as a priest.

Correspondence between us continued until 26 May, when Bishop Prakasam sent me an email in which he asked me to clarify a preposterous allegation made by Gali Arulraj. He also informed me that Arulraj denies being married or living in concubinage with a woman.  The way the email was written it almost seemed as though Arulraj's denial was enough to settle the matter!

In that email of 26 May, Bishop Prakasam said I could place a few lines from him on the website, reading:

"Gali Arulraj is not in communion with his Bishop and the Diocese of Nellore. None of his appeals for soliciting funds have neither the endorsement of his Bishop nor are part of the mission and works of the Diocese."

In my reply to Bishop Prakasam, dated 30 May, I said I would not publish his statement immediately because I thought he might wish to revise it.  I said to him: "You may choose to revise it for two main reasons: a) it does not provide any new information but repeats what you have said in the past, and b) what it says about Arulraj being "not in communion" is inaccurate and inevitably raises further questions, notably why Arulraj still has not been suspended."

I also responded to what the Bishop had said about Arulraj's preposterous allegation, and provided documentation from four separate public sources - one of which includes information given under affidavit -  as evidence that Gali Arulraj is publicly regarded as being the husband of Gangada Sujatha and the father of her two children.

I have received no response - not even the courtesy of an acknowledgement - from Bishop Prakasam.  Since then there has been silence from him. 

The evidence I gave to Bishop Prakasam was sufficient for him to suspend Arulraj immediately from functioning as a priest in any way.  More than that, given that Arulraj was denying being married when there was public evidence to the contrary, it required Bishop Prakasam to suspend him from all priestly activities. (See a previous post  which gives details of canon law on this.)

Indeed, Bishop Prakasam received sufficient information to suspend Arulraj  more than five and a half years ago, and the process to dismiss him from priestly ministry should have been concluded long ago. Instead, he is willing to let this scandalous situation with a priest of his diocese continue.

And the persistent question remains:  Why?

It is now three months since Bishop Prakasam's last email, and it seems clear to me that he has reverted to his policy of inaction. For the coming weeks I will be busy and will be unable to deal with queries about Arulraj.  This matter is not, however, forgotten.  And it will not be forgotten.  It will be resolved.

In the meantime, Bishop Prakasam has a final opportunity to demonstrate whether the emails he sent me in April and May were truly sincere and whether he is genuinely concerned to take action to put an end to the ongoing scandal of Gali Arulraj remaining a priest of the Diocese of Nellore. He could show his sincerity today by issuing a decree that Arulraj is suspended from all priestly ministry.  In the absence of concrete action there is only one conclusion to be drawn as to whether the Bishop of Nellore is sincere.

It seems to me that Bishop Prakasam has abused the good will of myself and others in Enable, and is taking us for a ride. There are several reasons why Bishop Prakasam might want to spin out this 'waiting game'  and they do no credit to him or the Diocese of Nellore. He should know by now that the scandal of Arulraj - and the additional scandal of  his own inaction - will be pursued to its fitting conclusion.

Blog poll conclusion: Arulraj unfit to be a priest

Is Gali Arulraj unfit to be a priest?                 

Yes	217 (99%)
No	1 (0%)

Change your vote

Votes so far: 218
Days left to vote: 224

[Votes on the poll this morning]

It has been brought to my attention that the number of votes on the blog poll has, mysteriously, been reduced at least three times during the past week.  The votes saying that Gali Arulraj is unfit to be a priest have gone beyond 230, and then mysteriously been reduced by 10 or 15 votes - and when they have gone beyond 230 again the number has inexplicably been reduced yet again.

This morning I noticed that the 'yes' vote had been dropped from last night's 231 to 217.  The 'no' vote had dropped from 2 to 1.

I assume that  Gali Arulraj was one of those who voted that he is fit to be a priest. Perhaps he was supported by Vatakili Paulinraj (his nephew and fellow priest of the Diocese of Nellore who is also charged with fraud, theft, etc. and awaiting trial) ? Or perhaps his 'wife' gave him her loyal support?  I had thought he might receive at least three votes - not that he is getting any sympathy from me after the dismal amount of support shown for him.

Given the inexplicable problem with the poll, and in order to avoid any accusation that I have unfairly slashed the 'no' vote in half, it seems right to bring the poll to an end now.

I should just add that I have no control over the poll itself.  It is managed by 'blogger' and I cannot increase or decrease any of the votes myself. As only one vote can be registered from each computer the poll cannot count the multiple votes of family members who would all have liked to indicate their objection to Arulraj remaining a priest.

The poll, however, which registered more than 250 'yes' votes, and only 2 'no' votes, reflects the overwhelming opinion that Gali Arulraj is unfit to be a priest.

Of course, I am not calling on Bishop Moses Prakasam of Nellore Diocese to resolve Gali Arulraj's priestly status in view of the blog poll.  The case for immediately suspending Arulraj and then concluding the canonical process for his dismissal from the priestly ministry stands on its own merits - and it is a compelling case. 

What I am truly trying to fathom though is this:  if it is so obvious to just about everyone else that Gali Arulraj is unfit to be a priest....why is it not obvious to the Bishop of Nellore?

[UPDATE - 9 May 2012: During the past week there have been some fluctuations in the poll figures even though the poll has been closed during that time.  The 'yes' votes have fluctuated between about 205 and 250.  I will keep the poll results up in the right hand column for now, as they give a general idea of how people voted, but I will remove them if the changes are so excessive as to give a distorted impression of the results.]

And it's down again

Gali Arulraj's scamming website for the bogus "New Life Society for the Poor and Handicapped"  went online again last Thursday.

By Saturday morning it was down again.  It's still down. 

Gali Arulraj - a priest with no shame

Gali Arulraj's scamming website back online today - he has no shame

Gali Arulraj's scamming website for the bogus New Life Society for the Poor and Handicapped went online again today, having been taken down one month ago.

The website has been carefully constructed so that everything is in image form, preventing words from being traced by google or other search engines.  Most of the pages are entitled "Untitled Document" so they won't be picked up on search engines.  Does even one legitimate website go to such lengths to ensure that it won't be traced?!

Obviously, during the past month Arulraj must have been missing out on the funds he had been able to scam while it was up, and he decided it was worth taking the chance of putting it up again.

Yet again, he offensively uses photographs of disabled children who have never even heard of a so-called "New Life Society," let alone benefited from it - in order to enrich himself.

Yet again, he uses religious imagery: pictures of Jesus Christ and Blessed Theresa of Calcutta are prominently displayed - in order to deceive and steal from charitable Christians, especially those who are Catholics.

And this is done by a priest who flaunts his priestly credientials and insists on being called "Fr Gali Arulraj" when it suits his purposes, but at other times (as with his website) uses the subterfuge of calling himself  "Mr G A Raj."

All this is made worse by the fact that his bishop, Bishop Moses Prakasam of the Diocese of Nellore, has been fully informed of the situation and continues to do nothing about it.

Gali Arulraj remains a priest of the Diocese of Nellore who has not even been suspended from the priesthood, inspite of embezzling more than a million pounds, and having a 'wife' and (at least) two children.

Arulraj has the confidence to do whatever he likes because he knows his bishop will do nothing about it.

Bishop Prakasam, we know that Arulraj has no shame.  As the Bishop responsible for your errant priest: have you no shame too?