Indian Priests at Center of Catholic Church Scandal

One priest charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl in Minnesota in 2004 is among those shuffled around by the Catholic Church. Rev. Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul, of the Diocese of Ootacamund in Tamil Nadu, returned to India after the allegations surfaced, where he continues to work in an administrative capacity.

Contacted by reporters, Jeyapaul said he was innocent and willing to return to Minnesota to face criminal charges filed in December 2006 alleging he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old female parishioner in 2004. Roseau County Attorney Lisa Hanson has written to the pope for help in securing Jeyapaul’s return.

According to reports, the Vatican had recommended that Jeyapaul be removed as a priest, but his local church authorities instead “sternly warned of any further mischief” and ordered him to undergo counseling and spend a year in prayer.

Another Indian priest Rev. Vijay Vhaskr Godugunuru, who pleaded no contest in the assault of a teenage girl in Florida, was moved to a diocese in Tuscany, Italy. The Pensacola-Tallahassee parish, settled a lawsuit filed by the girl in 2009 for an undisclosed amount. But Godugunuru was serving as deputy parish priest in Sarteano in April. Soon after the news broke, the church announced he had given up the job.