Apostolic Nuncio to India Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli has pulled up Tamil Nadu bishops for “a tendency” among priests to set up and manage independent trusts violating the canon law. The nuncio says the existence of such trusts in Tamil Nadu came to his attention during his recent visit to the diocese of Kottar in the southernmost tip of India.
“Even if the aim of such trusts may appear to be praiseworthy, all too often those trusts become financial and political power bases for the priests involved,” says the nuncio’s October 8 letter addressed to the Catholic bishops of Tamil Nadu.
The letter, shared widely in social media platforms, quotes various sections of the canon law to urge bishops of dioceses with such trusts to regulate them guided by the bishops’ conference.
“Priests and religious should not be directly associated with any independent or standalone trusts or societies or For/Not-for-profit companies, unless their involvement has specifically been approved by” the local bishop, the nuncio asserts.
The Vatican representative wants bishops to follow the canon law to punish the offenders according “to the gravity of their offence.”
He has recommended the Tamil Nadu bishops’ conference to formulate “clear guidelines on the subject,” if they are non-existent.
He wants every bishop to ascertain the details of the personal trusts held by any of his priests and instruct holders of existing personal trusts to close them immediately. He also wants the bishops to ensure that no new trust is opened by his priests.
The nuncio wants the diocesan trust or the diocesan social services trust to bring under its control personal trusts of priests that “are of genuine benefit to the life and mission of the diocese.”
The Vatican official urges the bishops to resolve that no trust is set up under “the sole control of a single member of the clergy.”
The nuncio concludes the letter saying his recommendations are for the well-being of the Church in Tamil Nadu. In response to the nuncio’s letter, Bishop Thomas Aquinas of Coimbatore, one of the 18 dioceses in Tamil Nadu, wrote to his priests on October 16 that he is aware of “a couple of priests” who have trusts.