Coimbatore: The differences between members of CSI All Souls Church and Bishop is widening and turning murkier, with nominations of 12 members were removed by declaring them ineligible to contest in election for Pastorate committee members and Diocesan Council Members, scheduled two days from now.
Coimbatore: With just two days for the elections for Pastorate committee members and Diocesan Council Members, the differences between members of CSI All Souls Church and Bishop has got murkier, as the nominations of 12 members were removed by declaring them ‘ineligible’ to contest in the election.
Earlier, we had reported on members of the church taking on Bishop Rev Timothy Ravinder Dev Pradeep of Coimbatore diocese over the appointment of Presbyter in charge. The members also agitated over removal of 50 members from the voters list by him..
Apparently, this time canceling of nominations of members from contesting the election has come following the removal of members from voters list.
The members alleged that the bishop had become in hands of presbyter in charge Rev Charles Samraj, who has been dictating terms in the church, without any consultation or by serving proper notice to the members. The members also point to the several allegations and criminal proceedings against him.
However, the bishop overlooked all the concerns and objections, while ordering his appointment, the members added.
Speaking to Simplicity, Jacob Mathew, who is one of the oldest members of the church, whose nomination was removed, said that such a thing is happening for the the first time. Never before there were so many controversies. But the scenario has changed ever since the bishop has failed to listen to the concerns of the members and upheld Rev Charles for the best known reasons to him.
“In both cases of removing 50 members from voting list and making the nomination of members ineligible, there is role of Rev Charles. Nominations of eight members were removed from contesting the election for pastorate committee and four for the Diocesan Council Members”, he alleged.
he added that the reason for ineligibility has been cited as seeking legal remedy without exhausting the provisions of CSI constitution. However, the fact is that none of the members had gone legal for the upcoming election scheduled on 28 July.
He further accused that nominations of supporters of Rev Charles have been accepted to ensure that the powers.of the committee remains with him.
“There is huge amount of funds that is with the church and there is a coveted effort to loot them”, said another member on conditions of anonymity.
N.A Prabhakar, another member of the church said that despite confronting the bishop today morning, he failed to listen to our side and take action. He added that it may not be inappropriate to state that the bishop is in the clutches of Rev Charles and is unable to take an independent decision.
“Though initially bishop accepted our argument and assured of action, he later changed his position soon after his meeting with Rev Charles. As we have used all our options left, we are left with no choice but to take legal action. This cannot be allowed to function in this way”, he said and opined that a case has already been filed in the magistrate court against the decision of bishop to appoint Rev Charles as Presbyter in Charge.
“Interestingly many cases are pending against Rev Charles. This includes the case in which both Bishop Rev Thimothy Ravinder Dev Pradeep and Samraj has received anticipatory bail from the Madras high court”, he claimed.
He noted that based on the complaints, CSI Synod had appointed a fact-finding committee to look into the series of allegations against both the bishop and Samraj.
Another member of the church, who also requested anonymity, said “In 2011, when Samraj was a pastor in Yercaud, he was suspended by Moderator S Vasanthakumar. However, Samraj not just refused to accept the suspension, but also assaulted a person named Rajkumar, who serve him the order.”
Alleging lack of fair administration and huge misappropriation of funds, he claimed that the truth behind the accusations will be proved, after the fact-finding committee headed by Bishop Chandrasekaran of Trichy-Tanjore Dioceses, submit its report.