George Alencherry (Syriac: ܓܹܝܘܲܪܓܝܼܣ ܐܵܠܲܢܫܹ̰ܝܪܝ, romanized: Gīwargīs Ālancēri; born 19 April 1945) is the Major Archbishop Emeritus of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church after serving in the position from 2011 to 2023.

[4] On 18 December 1972, Antony Padiyara, archbishop of Chanagancherry, ordained him a priest at St. Mary's Church in Thuruthy for the archdiocese of Changanacherry.

After completing his studies at Aluva, Alencherry was appointed assistant vicar at the cathedral church of Changanacherry and Director of the Archdiocesan Faith Formation department.

Returning to India in 1986, Alencherry was appointed director of the Pastoral Oriental Centre (POC) at Palarivattom and deputy secretary of KCBC, serving until 1993.

[7][9][d] Alencherry declared his service would be for all the people of India, stressing ecumenical relations among Christians and harmony with other religions.

[9] On 18 February 2012, Pope Benedict XVI elevated Alencherry to the rank of cardinal during a ceremony in Saint Peter's Basilica,[10] creating him Cardinal-Priest of San Bernardo alle Terme.

[11][e] Alencherry's visit to Rome for that consistory coincided with the arrest of Italian merchant marine officers on board the Enrica Lexie who shot and killed two Kerala fishermen on a fishing vessel.

[14] He had previously been quoted accusing some Kerala politicians of exploiting the incident for their own purposes and seemed to suggest he was actively seeking to resolve the dispute.

[19][f] Following a series of attacks on Catholic properties, on 17 February 2015 Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking at a ceremony celebrating two new Indian saints, expressed strong support for "equal respect for all religions" and denounced sectarian violence, but Alencherry warned that proposed anti-conversion legislation contradicted that rhetoric.

[22] An internal investigation by the Archdiocese of Ernakulam-Angamaly determined it had suffered large losses on speculative real estate deals made by Alencherry without adhering to procedural safeguards.

[24][25] From that time until his resignation, responsibility for the archeparchy's financial affairs passed to a series of prelates named by the Synod or Pope Francis.

This move subsequently met with criticism from a section of believers in the Church owing to accusations of corruption against him in a land deal case from 2016.

From 1934 onwards, popes encouraged a process of returning to the original liturgical traditions which resulted in divergence of opinion among Syro-Malabar Catholics.

Following the Second Vatican Council, the Archdiocese of Ernakulam–under the leadership of Joseph Parecattil–and its ecclesiastical province changed as in the universal Church to a rubric in the celebration of the Mass versus populum.

In 1999, the Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church led by its then-Major Archbishop Varkey Vithayathil, drew up a formula of rubric (50:50) by incorporating the views of both factions.

Meanwhile, George Alencherry was successful in persuading the Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church to legislate on rubrical uniformity (as known as 50:50 formula) and in bringing more dioceses into the implementation of the decision made in 1999.

The metropolitan vicar, being responsible for the ordinary administration of the archdiocese, met the pope in November 2021 and issued an order of dispensation from the decision made by the synod on the question of the rubric versus populum.

But Antony Kariyil stood with the major section of the priests and laity of Ernakulam-Angamaly, thus in effect maintaining the rubric versus populum in the celebration of the Mass.

The Kerala High Court observed that there was prima facie evidence to indicate criminal conspiracy, breach of trust and misappropriation of money.

[61] On 16 March 2018, the division bench of Kerala High Court stayed a court order requiring the police investigation because the complainant had sought the order without first allowing the police[i] to follow their procedures and removed some verbal comments of the single judge abusing ecclesiastical powers of the head of the church.

[63] On 22 June 2018, Pope Francis named Jacob Manathodath, Bishop of Palghat the Apostolic Administrator seda plena of the Archieparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly under the recommendation of Alencherry.

[64] In April 2019, the Kakkanad Judicial First Class Magistrate Court filed a criminal complaint against Alencherry for breaches of the law and massive disparities in the church's land agreements.

The Ernakulam Principal Sessions Court ruled on 24 August 2019 that Alencherry, along with the former financial officer of the archdiocese and a real estate agent will face charges.

The Income Tax Department fined the Syro-Malabar Church's archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly Rs 3 crore for the contentious land purchases that occurred between April 2013 and March 2018.

[69] The police team investigating the case submitted a report to the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Ernakulam in December 2020, stating that there is no evidence of conspiracy or excessive gain by George Alencherry in the incident.

Police have said the documents, purportedly linking the Syro-Malabar Church head with the accounts of a private bank, were found to be forged during their investigation.

The priests, including Bishop Jacob Manathodath, who was appointed as the administrator of the Ernakulam-Angamaly Archdiocese by Pope Francis on 22 June 2018, have urged the government to order either a CBI or a judicial probe into the case.