THALASSERY (INDIA)
Union of Catholic Asian News (UCA News) [Hong Kong]
June 16, 2025
By UCA News reporter
The priest can come back after a police probe and legal process proves his innocence
A Catholic archdiocese in southern Indian Kerala state has suspended a priest from pastoral ministries after he was accused of sexually abusing a 16-year-old boy for at least four months a year ago.
The Archdiocese of Tellicherry, in an official statement released to the media on June 15, announced that Archbishop Joseph Pamplany suspended Father Paul Thattuparambil, a retreat preacher, following allegations.
Thattuparambil was the priest of St Paul’s Church in Athirumavu village when he was suspended.
Considering the seriousness and scandalous nature of the allegation of child abuse that is circulating among the public against Thattuparambil, he has been removed from the parish with immediate effect, said the statement dated June 8.
The priest was accused of abusing the grade-eleven student multiple times from May 15 to August 13, 2024, and action was taken when the complaint reached the archbishop, the statement said.
A police case is also registered against Thattuparambil for violating a stringent law — the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act — meant to protect children from sexual abuse.
In addition to being barred from priestly duties, Thattuparambil is also suspended from administering Sacraments and preaching the Gospel in public, either inside or outside the archdiocese, the official statement said.
This suspension and prohibition will remain in force until the priest undergoes legal proceedings and proves his innocence, the statement signed by the archbishop said.
A local police officer told UCA News on June 16 that they could not arrest the priest yet as he is absconding.
Archdiocesan Chancellor Father Biju Muttathukunnel told UCA News on June 16 that the allegations are grave, but since a police probe is underway, the archdiocese has not gone for any internal probe.
He said the diocese can consider reinstating the priest only if the police probe and legal process prove him innocent. The Church has a zero tolerance to such cases of child abuse, he added.
Muttathukunnel stated that the boy shared his ordeal with a counselor during a retreat, which was reported to an archdiocesan priest.
The priest asked the boy’s family to report it to the police according to the policy of the Archdiocese and the Catholic Church at large.
Some people close to the accused priest, who did not want to publish their names, said the allegations were aimed at trapping him because some people were envious of his popularity.
Zero tolerance to sex abuse has become a policy of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) since June 2020, when the national bishops’ body adopted the Vatican’s more rigid guidelines to curb child abuse.
In his 2019 apostolic letter Vos Estis Lux Mundi, Pope Francis said all priests and members of religious orders are obligated to report suspicions of abuse to their superiors and subsequently, to the civil authorities.