The former Archbishop of Bangalore Bernard Moras has been accused of illegally giving away Archdiocesan property to the Society of Jesus.
Bangalore, April 13, 2018: Akila Karnataka Catholica Christhara Kannada Sangh (AKCCKS) is taking legal action against the former-Arch bishop of Bangalore Bernard Moras for the alleged illegal ‘gifting’ 60,000 sq. ft. of real estate to the Society of Jesus—an evangelical arm of the catholic church.
A. Devakumar, the Vice President of AKCCKS said, “When we protested against the wrongful transfer of the 60,000 sq ft land by the Archbishop, he filed a case against us and we’ve been imprisoned in the past. Police is not taking any action against the bishop due to his strong connections with Home Minister K.J. George. The bishop was the head of the Catholic Church in Bangalore so when he resigned recently we decided to file a case against him.”
The chancellor and the public relations office of the Archdiocese of Bangalore put out a circular defending the Archbisop’s actions. The circular said the gifting deed (registered on October 14, 2015) of the 60,000 sq ft land on M.G. Road known as Webb’s property was done to enable the Karnataka Jesuit Educational Society to serve poor students of the society.
The circular also stated that all the necessary permissions were already taken by the Archdiocesan Finance committee before the transfer of property.
However, AKCCKS said, according to a 1937 Ecclesiastical Agreement, there cannot be any kind of transfer of ownership of the property to the Society of Jesus.
The allegations on the ex-Archbishop Bernard Moras come under the purview of the Prevention of corruption Act, 1988. He is accused of transferring the property of the Archdiocesan trust to the Society of Jesus, is a prerogative of the management and the administration of the property.
The Archdiocese of Bangalore and the Society of Jesus declined TheSoftCopy’s request for a comment.
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