 |
| Edward Pushparaj at his Deaconal Ordination by the Archbishop of Pescara. Because of criticism leveled against Pope Francis, the recently ordained priest from India was supsended |
(Rome) He, a Catholic priest, criticized Pope Francis on the last Palm Sunday in his homily - and was suspended.
According to Il Pescara of 10 April, Palm Sunday Mass in the Parish of St. Anthony of Padua in the town of Montesilvano in the Abruzzi in Italy came to grief. In the parish, the Indian priest, Edward Arulrai Pushparaj has been serving for some time. Don Pushparaj had already worked as a deacon in the parish. Already in the past he had criticized the office of Pope Francis. He did so in his sermon on Palm Sunday.
The priest had described "Pope Bergoglio, as an evil for the Church," according to the daily newspaper, referring to eye witnesses. The Indian criticized the "extreme openness to dialogue" with regard to positions and persons who represent positions that are openly contradictory to the doctrine of the Church. In particular, the priest criticized the "willingness to dialogue with Islam." His criticism also against the post-synodal letter Amoris laetitia was "hard".
Msgr. Tommaso Valentinetti, Archbishop of Pescara-Penne, was informed about the content of the sermon.This required enlightenment from the local pastor, Don Antonio Del Casale. The preaching had to serve the "meditation of the readings of the day, and certainly not to give personal judgments, especially if they were not in communion with the Pope," the archbishop said. "I think it is right to give the priest a time of rest and free him from his present obligations. It is certain that priestly ministry in the Catholic Church presupposes communion with the Holy Father." [LOL]
The archbishop also announced: "I intend to visit the parish of St Anthony of Padua at Easter, to take care of their sorrows."
The complaint against the Indian priest had been presented by the faithful to the Archbishop, as the daily newspaper had shown through. Some of the faithful even accuse the priest of "raising his voice to criticism" on the sidelines of his sermons.
Don Edward Arulrai Pushparaj was ordained priest in 2013 by his local bishop, Archbishop Antony Pappusamy of Madurai, but sent to the "sister diocese" of Pescara-Penne. Don Pushparaj comes from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. He had already begun his theological studies in India and then continued at the papal universities in Rome.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Photo: La Porzione (Screenshot)
Photo: La Porzione (Screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG
