Police file charges against officials at Indian church retreat center

Published: 2007-05-02

MURINGOOR, India (CNS) -- Police have filed criminal charges against 10 top officials of a popular Catholic retreat center in southern India. The accused include two Vincentian priests and a nun. The charges against the Divine Retreat Center officials were filed April 30 at the direction of Kerala state's High Court, which ordered a probe of the center more than a year ago, reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency. The charges come under Indian Penal Code sections dealing with criminal conspiracy, wrongful confinement, voluntarily causing harm with dangerous weapons, poisoning and tampering with evidence, said a police official who did not want to be identified. The center's director said the chief police investigator had a vendetta against the center. Billed as Asia's largest Catholic charismatic renewal center, the complex managed by Vincentian priests is located in Muringoor. It draws 10,000 people for its weekly retreats, conducted in seven languages.

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