Bengaluru: The Archdiocese of Bangalore on Friday strongly refuted the August 10 report by the Church Militant against Archbishop (Dr) Peter Machado over allegations of shielding Mysore Bishop K A William and offering him a safe place to stay over ongoing allegations. The other allegation is of misappropriation of funds collected for 2018-19 flood relief houses built at Kodagu, Mysore.
The statement released by the archdiocese stated that the archbishop admitted that he had written a letter to Bishop K.A. William on December 2, 2019, and offered him support and shelter till an anticipatory bail was sought. This was in response to Bishop William’s letter to the bishops expressing his apprehension of being arrested on false allegations and charges.
Regarding the embezzlement of funds collected for flood relief houses built at Kodagu, Mysore, which the Church Militant is accusing the Archbishop with the support of Justice Michael Saldanha, the archbishop has categorically denied the charges. “Such an accusation is far from the truth as proper accounts have been maintained and systematic audit was done and the money collected for the flood relief was routed through Caritas India, a reputed relief organisation in India, to the Diocese of Mysore,” the statement mentioned.
In fact, the Archbishop had already sent a letter to Justice Saldanha on July 20, 2020 refuting all the false allegations, which the archdiocese note stated that Justice Saldanha never took cognisance of. “Instead, he continues to malign the reputation of the Archbishop with his baseless charges. The prelate is also making this letter known to the public in order to place the facts and to clarify the matters,” the statement rued.
Click to read Archbishop Peter Machado’s letter to Justice Saldanha.
“On August 7, 2022, Archbishop Rev. Dr. Peter Machado received a mail from the Church Militant seeking information on the above charges. Even before a response could be sent within a reasonable time, this disturbing story of accusations was released to the public with disparaging remarks without fact- checking,” the note said.
“We strongly refute all the allegations and accusations made in the report. The damage caused to the credibility and reputation of Archbishop Peter Machado and the Archdiocese is deeply disappointing and disturbing,” the statement added.