Controversial priest performs miracles

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Kottayam: In what appears to be a move to pave the way for conferring an exalted status on Fr Benedict On­amkul­am, the controversial priest acquitted by the divis­ion bench of HC in the infamous Mariyakutty murder case, the Athirampuzha St Mary’s Church is making a list of those who have gained by his intercession after praying at his tomb.
 
“The many ways in which devotees, many of whom are from Malabar, have ben­efited after praying at the tomb of Fr Benedict have been periodically pu­blished in the bulletin of the parish church," admitted Fr Joshy Muppathinchira, assi­stant vicar of St Mary’s Church.
 
But some in the church say it has not taken any dec­ision up till now to propose his name for higher recognition in the Church although there is a demand for it in some sections.
 
Among stories of miracles circulating is that of class X student, who apparently recovered after being on the verge of death all because his grandfather prayed at the tomb of the priest. Fr Benedict, a priest with the archdiocese of Changanacherry, died on January 11, 2001.
 
According to church sources at least two proven miracles of people being freed of diseases not curable by medical science need to be attributed to the dead for canonisation. A special team from Rome has to also explore the sanctity of the miracles through an inquiry and confirm them, they explain.
 
In his lifetime Fr Benedict Onamkulam was accused of murdering a widow who was found dead on June 16, 1966. The police claim­ed the priest had murdered the woman after a liaison and fathering a son.
 
The priest was sentenced to death by Justice Kunji­raman Vaidhyan of the Kollam sessions court but was acquitted by the division bench of HC headed by Chief Justice P.T. Raman Nair and Justice V.P. Gopalan, who gave him the  benefit of  the doubt.
 
But the case created a sensation all over the state. Crucially, a doctor’s family later confessed that the woman had died of complications during abortion and that she had been in a relationship with a planter.