NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s Catholic Church, already rocked by allegations that a bishop raped a nun, is facing an uprising by hundreds of priests against one of the country’s four cardinals following his reinstatement by Pope Francis.
Francis last year effectively suspended Cardinal George Alencherry, head of the eastern rite Syro-Malabar church in the southern Indian state of Kerala, amid a controversy over disputed land sales. Francis named a temporary administrator to run Alencherry’s Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese, resolve its financial problems and try to heal the divisions the dispute had caused among the priests.
Last month, Francis reinstated Alencherry. About 450 priests, including 70 from outside of India, began a hunger strike last week in protest. The strike was called off Saturday but priests continue to demand information about the investigation.
