Nuns who protested against Franco told to leave convent
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Four nuns from the Missionaries of Jesus congregation who supported a fellow nun who accused a bishop of rape last year have been asked by church authorities to leave the convent in Kerala and return to the vocations they were previously assigned to, according to letters they received from the congregation. But the nuns -Sister Alphy Pallasseril, Sister Anupama Kelamangalathuveliyil, Sister Josephine Villoonnickal and Sister Ancitta Urumbil -- have refused to vacate the convent in Kuravilangad.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Four nuns from the Missionaries of Jesus congregation who supported a fellow nun who accused a bishop of rape last year have been asked by church authorities to leave the convent in Kerala and return to the vocations they were previously assigned to, according to letters they received from the congregation.
But the nuns — Sister Alphy Pallasseril, Sister Anupama Kelamangalathuveliyil, Sister Josephine Villoonnickal and Sister Ancitta Urumbil -- have refused to vacate the convent in Kuravilangad, Kottayam and alleged the transfer order is the latest in a series of attempts to weaken the case against former bishop Franco Mullakkal of the Jalandhar diocese .
“Though we are leading a secluded life in the convent, we don’t have any plan to move out. It is a plan aimed at isolating us and weakening the case. Convent authorities have made our lives miserable but we will not dump our fellow nun and will go ahead with the case,” said Sister Anupma, adding that three other nuns had received letters.
“There were many attempts to smoke us out. The latest is one of them. We will remain in the convent and take the case to its logical end.” Sister Nina Rose, the fifth nun who took part in the protests, has not been transferred, Sister Anupama said.
Last June, a 43-year-old Mother Superior complained to the police that Mullakkal raped her 13 times between 2014 and 2016. In the weeks that followed, the five nuns staged a sit-in protest in Kochi seeking the bishop’s arrest. A SIT apprehended him in September after several rounds of questioning. The trial is yet to start.
Last week, the government appointed a special prosecutor after the nuns threatened to resume protests. In a letter dated January 3, Superior General Regina Kadamthottu of the Missionaries of Jesus directed Sister Anupama to immediately leave the convent in Kerala.