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We should greatly appreciate our 'beloved' bishop for cornering a lovely place in The Church of England Newspaper, an authentic News Paper of the Church of England. A recent legal incident happened here is quoted in the paper.
Let his 'glory' be sung from all corners of our earth. What a lucky people we are to have such a renowned 'great' bishop to shepherd us!
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Bishop Christopher Asir
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Picked from:
The Religious, Political and Cultural journalism of George Conger
Indian bishop accused of swindling diocese: The Church of England Newspaper, Oct 7, 2011 p 6. October 7, 2011
Posted by geoconger in Church of England Newspaper, Church of South India, Corruption.Tags: Christopher Asir
First published in The Church of England Newspaper.
Tax authorities in India have questioned the Church of South India’s (CSI) former moderator, investigating allegations he illegally sold church land and pocketed the proceeds.
On Sept 23 the Revenue Divisional Officer in Madurai issued a summons to the Bishop in Madarui-Ramnad ordering him to a hearing at his office on Oct 3 to answer questions over his stewardship of church lands.
The tax investigation follows a Jan 28 order by Justice V. Kuruppiah of the Madras High Court directing police to investigate Bishop Asir for defrauding the diocese by selling church land at below market prices in return for a kickback from the buyer.
The tax and criminal investigations are reviewing a 2008 sale of land. Upon the creation of the CSI in 1947 an American missionary society assigned 46.71 acres of land belonging to the Lucy Perry Noble Institute for Women to the Church of South India Trust Association (CSITA). The terms of the transfer required the CSITA to hold the land in perpetuity on behalf of the church and rent the property, using the income to support women’s ministries in the church.
However, Bishop Asir in collusion with Pauline Sathyamurthy, the former treasurer of the CSI who is currently being sought by police in connection with the theft of funds donated by Episcopal Relief and Development to assist survivors of the 2004 tsunami, sold 6.74 acres of land for £2.2 million, pocketing £925,000 of the proceeds.
Though several complaints have been filed by members of the diocese over the alienation of the church’s land, no action has been taken so far by the police. In his Sept 23 petition to the RDO, a lay member of the diocese, Mr. J.M. Bhaskar, has asked the tax authorities to cancel the sale and return the land to the church.
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பரணியும் புகழ் பாடும் ‘தலைவரின்’ பெருமை திக்கெட்டும் பரவட்டும்!
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One more news item in the same paper on another allegation :
A quick google search on the keywords provided in the article: "Corruption in Church of South India" gives 30,60,000 results....this is for the past year alone.... அதில் நமது மதுரை திருமண்டலத்தின் மாபெரும் ஊழல் தலைவரின் பங்கு மகத்தானது. இது அமெரிக்கன் கல்லூரிக்கு மிக மிக பெருமை. அவரை ஆதரித்த நமது கல்லூரி ஆசிரியர்களின் முகங்களை நினைத்து வெட்கம் அடைகிறேன். இனியாவது திருந்த மாட்டார்களா, திருந்தி கல்லூரியை மீண்டும் நல்ல நிலைக்கு கொண்டு வர முயற்சி செய்யமாட்டார்கள என ஏங்குகிறோம்!!!!!
ReplyDeleteBroomboy
ReplyDeleteஎனக்கு ஒரு ஆச்சரியம். பலவாறு கற்றுப் பண்டிதர்களான நமது ஆசிரியர்கள் ‘ஏதோ ஒரு பலனுக்காக’ இப்படி செம்மறி ஆடுகளாக இருக்கலாம். கிறித்துவ மக்கள் எல்லோரும் அதே போல் ஏன் செம்மறிகளாகத் தலையாட்டிக் கொண்டு இருக்கிறார்கள்.
ஒருவேளை ‘தெய்வக்குற்றம்’ என்று பயந்து போய் இருக்கிறார்களோ!
கடவுளே! ஒண்ணுமே புரியலையே’ப்பா!!