Church suspends 2 priests over abuse

A WOMAN HAD LAST YEAR COMPLAINED TO THE DIOCESE ABOUT THE ALLEGED HARASSMENT; OTHERS HAVE ALSO COMPLAINED ABOUT THEIR BEHAVIOUR

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Thalassery Archdiocese of SyroMalabar Church in Kerala on Wednesday suspended two priests, who were accused of sexual harassment last year, after audio clips of their purported sleazy conversations went viral on social media.

In a statement, the diocese apologised to the believers saying the two, Father Joseph Poothattil and Father Mathew Mullappallil, were supposed to “hold a high moral ground but they failed”.

It said the priests have been debarred and restrained from carrying out priestly duties indefinitely.

A woman last year complained to the diocese about the alleged harassment while others have also complained about their behaviour. But the church brushed aside these charges and defended them.

The audio clips surfaced on social media last week in which one of the priests is purportedly heard admitting to having a relationship with the woman and how they really wanted to get out of it. They were also purportedly talking about a dalliance with the woman. Some video clips also surfaced later.

“Whatever we want to say, it is there in the statement. We don’t want to make more comments on this,” said Father A Jose, the spokesman of the archdiocese. Police said they are yet to get a complaint in this regard while the two priests were unavailable for comments.