‘Don’t pull inquiry commission in AOCC dragnet’

Bishop KA Williams of Mysuru

Days after the Catholic laity group Association of Concerned Catholics (AOCC) raised concerns over Bishop KA Williams' DNA test being conducted in a Catholic hospital, Archbishop Leo Cornelio, who is heading the three-member inquiry commission constituted by the Vatican to look into charges of misappropriation of church funds and fathering children against Williams, the Bishop of Mysuru, wrote to the secretary of AOCC asking him to be "kindly sensible and refrain from pulling the commission into the AOCC dragnet."

Earlier in the week, Melwyn Fernandes, secretary of the AOCC, had written to the Papal Nuncio of India and Nepal that he had learnt "from sources" that Bishop Williams' DNA test was going to be conducted by the three-member committee at St. John's hospital in Bangalore. The AOCC strongly objected to it being done in a Catholic hospital because Bishop Williams had "influential clergymen" as friends, who could manipulate the test results.

Also Read: Bishop DNA test at non-Catholic hospital?

The group had further demanded that the DNA/paternity test be conducted in a non-Catholic hospital in Mumbai. On May 18, the AOCC wrote to Cardinal Louis Antonio Tagle, head of the Vatican Investigation Agency called ‘Prefect of Propaganda fide', who had ordered the DNA test last year, alleging that the inquiry committee headed by Archbishop Cornelio had been "breached" and it also helped Bishop Williams "tamper with the case."

The communication from Archbishop Cornelio to AOCC in this matter reads, "Kindly be sensible and stop creating these figments of your mind. The commission, which was more recently constituted by the Vatican, has nothing to do with what you are imagining and alleging. Hence, don't try to pull the commission into your AOCC dragnet. Thanking you and counting on your good sense and prudence to prevail."

Speaking to mid-day, Fernandes said, "We welcome the reply of the Vatican Inquiry Committee head to our grievances in the ongoing Bishop of Mysuru case. As members of the Holy Catholic Church, we have all the right to question the inquiry committee when there are serious doubts in the investigation."