Cardinal Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Bombay, warned last week that no property owned by the archdiocese could be sold without prior consent. The ruling followed complaints by the laity over what they called a lack of transparency in the sale of Church property. “If a parish priest felt that a particular piece of property was to be sold, he must first get the consent of the parish finance committee and also refer the matter to the archbishop’s office for approval,” the prelate wrote in a policy statement titled “Sale of Church Property” and published in the archdiocese’ 162-year-old weekly newspaper The Examiner on July 16. The archbishop had previously met with a Catholic delegation that briefed him on “the nexus between builders and certain clergy and laity in the sale of church properties,” Cardinal Gracias said. “As a policy, in the Archdiocese of Bombay, no archdiocesan property is to be sold unless there is a clear disadvantage to the Church in retaining these, including danger of encroachment, being overrun by slums and big outgoings,” he said. He added that if a property is valued at more than 10 million rupees (US$225,350), the matter must be referred directly to the Holy See. “The common man feels the need for those in authority to be transparent and accountable for their responsibilities. We in the Church endorse their desire for transparency and accountability,” the Cardinal Gracias wrote in his published statement. Greg Pereira, president of the Association of Concerned Catholics, said yesterday that several properties have been put up for sale in the archdiocese, where property prices have risen. “We trust the cardinal for issuing the official policy on the sale of Church properties to regulate them. But we will monitor the situation.”