3 Orthodox priests temporarily removed from parish ministry

According to him, the case against Fr Marcos is a bit complicated since it has become a police case.

KOCHI: It seems sexual abuse complaints are back to haunt the Malankara Orthodox Church. On Wednesday, three priests belonging to the Kottayam diocese of the Church were temporarily barred from carrying out parish ministry by Episcopal Synod secretary and Kottayam diocesan assistant bishop Yuhanon Mar Dioscoros. In 2018, five priests, three from the Niranam diocese, one from Thumpamon and another belonging to the Delhi diocese, were accused of blackmailing and sexually abusing a woman for three years.

According to Fr Johns Abraham Konat, Malankara Orthodox Church spokesperson, the priests have not yet been ousted.

“The decision to bar them temporarily from carrying out parish ministry has been taken based on an initial investigation,” he said. According to him, of the three priests, the accusations against the two date back to a few years.

“The three priests against whom action has been taken are Fr Varghese Marcos, Fr Varghese M Varghese (Gino) and Fr Rony Varghese. The complaints against Fr Marcos and Fr Rony are old and investigation into them were being conducted by the Church,” he said. The trigger for the immediate action against the priests comes in the wake of the accusations made against Fr Varghese by the parishioners of the church where he is the vicar, said Fr Konat.

According to him, the case against Fr Marcos is a bit complicated since it has become a police case.“The woman who was allegedly sexually abused by the priest had committed suicide two years ago. The police are investigating and findings are yet to be released,” said Fr Konat.

Fr Marcos was accused by the husband of the woman living at Kuzhimattom in Kottayam of engaging in an illicit relationship with his wife.Fr Rony too has been accused of engaging in an illicit relationship by the parishioners.  Following this, he had been earlier removed from the vicar’s post.

“As to their continuance as priests of the Orthodox Church, a decision will be taken by the Diocesan Council after looking into all the evidence presented,” said Fr Konat.

The Church will be looking into all the aspects like the moral health of the priests, he added.A priest under condition of anonymity said the Orthodox Church will also be looking into a conspiracy angle and investigate whether its priests are being targetted on purpose.