THE CLARIFICATION TO THE NEWS REPORT OF 11TH AUGUST 2022 ISSUED BY THE CHURCH MILITANT GROUP

A news report released by the Church Militant Group has come to our notice as a great shock as it has accused Rev. Dr. Peter Machado, Archbishop of Bangalore, basically on two charges, namely: i. Shielding Bishop K.A. William of Mysore and offering him safe place to stay; and ii. Misappropriation of the Funds collected for Flood Relief Houses built at Kodagu, Mysore.

i. The Archbishop admits that he had written a letter to Bishop K.A. William on 2nd Dec. 2019 offering 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.

ii. Regarding the embezzlement of funds collected for Flood Relief Houses built at Kodagu, Mysore, which the Church Militant Group is accusing the Archbishop with the support of Justice Michael Saldanha, the Archbishop has categorically denied that such an accusation is far from 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, the reputed Relief Organisation in India, to the Diocese of Mysore.

In fact, the Archbishop had sent a letter to Justice Saldanha, the learned Judge, already on 20th July 2020 refuting all the false allegations made by him, which, unfortunately, Justice Saldanha, never took cognisance of. Instead, he continues to malign the reputation of the Archbishop with his baseless charges. His Grace is also making this letter known to the public in order to place the facts and to clarify the matters (READ: COPY OF THE LETTER).

On the 7th of August 2022, Archbishop Rev. Dr. Peter Machado received the 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.

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.

12th August 2022 J.A. Kanthraj

Bangalore PRO,

Archdiocese of Bangalore