Kerala: Church threatens to expel nun for protesting against rape-accused Bishop

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 9: The Catholic Church in Kerala sent a warning to Sister Lucy Kalapura, a nun who was at the forefront of protests against rape-accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal, for 'attending channel discussions', writing articles in 'non-Christian newspapers' and 'making false accusations'against the Catholic leadership.

A letter, that has been sent to Kalapura reads, "Your deeds on 20 September 2018 and on the following days were of most grave external scandal and harm to the Church and the FCC. You went to the Ernakulam High Court junction and participated in the protest held by the SOS Action Council on 20-9-2018 without the permission of your superior."

Mulakkal, who spent three weeks in the sub-jail at Pala before he got bail, has been accused of raping a nun belonging to the order of Missionaries of Jesus several times between 2014 and 2016. Though Mulakkal was divested of his pastoral duties at the Jalandhar diocese in Punjab, the Church leadership has steadfastly backed him.

Franco Mulakkal, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jalandhar, is accused of raping a 44- year-old nun at a guest house in Kuravilangad in May 2014 and subsequent sexual exploitations afterward.

The nun had registered a complaint in June this year and has also claimed that despite her complaints, the church took no action on the bishop. The congregation had also stood by the rape accused and referred to him as an "innocent soul".