With Rev. Bishop . G. Devakadasham finally having to give up at 67, a law he singlehandedly created in 2015 to extend his term by 2 more years from 65, CSI Kanyakumari’s hope of returning to peace & harmony takes new shape as the CSI Moderator Thomas K. Oomen himself steps in. What happens now?
Nagercoil, 1 March 2018. CSI Congregation of Kanyakumari Diocese will sleep in peace tonight, expecting the return to normalcy in quick time with the Moderator of CSI South India, Rev. Thomas K. Oomen taking over as the Bishop-in- charge at the exit of Rev. G. Devakadasham, whose administrative excesses & holding onto power, followed by chaos took KK CSI to a all new low, in its 200-odd years of history.
With the law breathing down his neck and his own cortege turning against him, time was ticking against Bishop . G. Devakadasham, who had played God for long enough. In the face of growing opposition & with the noose of law tightening around his feet, Rev. G. Devakadasham took his own time moving out of the premise he held onto risking life, reputation & all, Rev. G. Devakadasham finally made an unceremonious, hasty exist, holding on to his heavy heart.
At the event that marked the transition of power at the Community Hall, Home Church, Nagercoil, there were no words of adieu except for a formal statement announcing his exit & welcoming the Moderator as the Bishop-in- charge of CSI KK Diocese. It wasn’t a Send-off ceremony, which usually is the norm for any outgoing Bishop. But today, not many words were lost on the dais in praise of his term in office. Nobody even tried. Rev. G. Devakadasham himself had nothing much to say. It seemed like all had been said & done.
Addressing the Pastors & Presbyters of the KK CSI congregation for the first time, the Bishop-in- charge Rev. Thomas K. Oomen said that time was ripe to “rebuild what has been lost” & called for an end to trading accusations & to end cases that are now being fought in the floors of the Supreme Court. He called on the warring factions “not to spoil the Church from within as ultimately we are all parts of the one body of Christ and one part can never take pleasure in the other, which bleeds.”
With the Bishop gone (retired), he said, the reasons for differences & unrest need also be settled. He called upon the congregating to talk to him and to sort out the differences that have been pulling the Diocese in different directions if they can’t find peace on their own. He also reminded the Pastors of their vow and duty to Christ and called upon them to understand Him with wisdom. Moreover he asked them “Oh thou preachers, do you live by your words too?” adding up, “that is what I ask myself every day. And I want each of you to ask yourselves too.”
Rev. Oomen subtly reminded them of their roles, reading from the bible, he posed a Theological question to the audience, quoting from Romans 2. 26 – 28 about the uncircumcised who keep the law & the circumcised who break it. “Time is ripe to rebuild all that we lost in the few years” he said and called on the congregation to stand together to build it to its past glory.
Apparently, Rev. Thomas K. Oomen is one of the three Bishops among 19 others named in the usurping of Rs. 7.95 crore in construction of a building for the engineering college at Ketti. Thomas K. Oommen, was then the Moderator Commissary of Coimbatore Diocese, when Rev. G. Devakadasham was Bishop in Kanyakumari & Moderator of CSI and Bishop in-charge of Coimbatore Diocese, in May 2012 to April 2013, when these deals happened. If you had visited the Synod Office at Chennai any time recently after Rev. Oomen’s ascension, it already looks like a Keralite Island in the middle of Tamil Chennai, with most of the temporary residents/staff turning up from just across the border.
In a reversal of roles now, Rev. Thomas is the Moderator & Bishop in Charge of Kanyakumari Diocese and Rev . G. Devakadasham has retired. Will Rev. G. Devakadasham be protected or will the law take over? Can we look forward to better days? Why is nobody talking about reelection? When will our money & property (now in contention) be accounted for? When will CSI Kanyakumari have its own Bishop? And that too, unlike the last, a suitable one!?
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