The St Mary’s Church in Athirampuzha, Kerala, is making a list of those
who have gained by the intercession of Fr. Benedict Onamkulam, the
controversial priest acquitted by a court in a murder case.The move is seen as paving the way for conferring an exalted status on the priest.
“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 Changanacherry archdiocese, 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 canonization.
A special team from Rome has to also explore the sanctity of the miracles through an inquiry and confirm them, they explain.
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 high court, which 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.