A Catholic priest of over 20 years’ standing has quit his priestly duties in Kerala over the “general decline” in the Christian Churches, especially his Syro-Malabar Church that has seen an archbishop offer the BJP a Lok Sabha seat in exchange for a higher price for rubber.

Fr Aji Puthiyaparambil, 46, of the Diocese of Thamarassery, who stepped out of his priestly duties last week to take up his “mission” of reforming the Church, regretted the recent trend among the clergy to flirt with political parties.

“It’s the widespread degeneration, and not a single incident, that prompted me to take this decision. There is a spiritual degeneration as well,” he told The Telegraph on Monday.

Puthiyaparambil took the decision on May 13, the day he relinquished his charges as parish priest of Mukkom in Kozhikode district as part of a routine transfer. He was supposed to take charge of the Nooramthodu parish in the same district, but moved to Ernakulam instead.

He will continue as a Catholic priest, wear the cassock and dedicate himself to efforts to reform the Church from outside the diocesan walls. “I want to focus on my prophetic mission, which is focused on the Church and its reformation,” he said.

Calls from this newspaper to get a reaction from the Diocese of Thamarassery were not answered.

The Archbishop of the Thalassery Diocese of the Syro-Malabar Church, Joseph Pamplany, had in March offered a Lok Sabha seat in Kerala to the BJP, which is in power at the Centre, if it raised the minimum support price for rubber to Rs 300.

This had shocked many Church members and the laity, and reformist groups had accused him of “selling his soul”.

“The Church should not get involved in party politics and must stick to Jesus Christ’s approach of ‘Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God’,” Puthiyaparambil said.

“It was very inappropriate for a man like the archbishop to make such an offer to a political party. That is the kind of bargaining that will defame the Church as a whole.”

Puthiyaparambil has circulated a note in English and Malayalam among the laity explaining his decision, citing several instances of inappropriateness in Christian Churches that influenced his decision.

“The Christian Churches in Kerala, especially the Syro-Malabar Church, are going through a great decline. Today’s Church leadership is walking far away from the way of Christ,” the note said.

“Man-made liturgical laws are given more importance than God’s laws of love and mercy…. Church Fathers are accused in criminal cases. (They are) making unholy alliances with political opportunity.”

Mar George Alencherry, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church, faces criminal cases, some relating to the alleged misappropriation of Church assets. The Supreme Court recently ordered him to stand trial in a case involving a land deal in Ernakulam.

Alencherry was one of the seven bishops from various denominations who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kochi last month, amid an Easter outreach being conducted by the BJP to win over a section of Kerala’s Christians.

With Kerala’s population being 50 per cent Hindu, 30 per cent Muslim and 20 per cent Christian, the BJP needs the support of some of the minorities to gain a foothold in the state.

Puthiyaparambil said that Kerala’s progressive-secular society and syncretic culture mean that people from other faiths too have been concerned about Church leaders’ controversial actions.

“Not just Christians, but even others have spoken out against this (degeneration in the Church),” he asserted.

He said the flirtations with the BJP, which is in power at the Centre, may have stemmed from “fear” or the possibility of facing “some difficulties”.

“The support offered to the BJP is certainly opportunistic. It could be out of fear, which means this is a support in exchange for something. And it’s not based on an ideological common ground (between these Church leaders and the BJP),” the priest said.

He reminded the Church leaders hobnobbing with the BJP-RSS, and a small section of the laity that backs them, of the attacks on churches in other states and the recent violence in Manipur where Christian Kukis and their places of worship were targeted.

“The Manipur violence was very well planned. There is no guarantee that such incidents won’t be replicated in other places,” he warned.