Don’t throw me out: Sister Lucy argues her case in Kerala high court
KOCHI: Sister Lucy Kalappura, the Catholic nun who was expelled from the Franciscan Clarist Congregation in 2019, and who had spoken out against rape-accused Ex-Jalandhar bishop Franco Mulakkal, pleaded her case in the Kerala high court on Wednesday as she argued against her eviction from a convent in Mananthawady, Wayanad.
The Congregation defrocked the 55-year-old nun alleging indiscipline, and even the Vatican turned down her appeals against her eviction from the convent. The Congregation moved court after its attempts to have her vacate failed.
“Do not throw me out on the street. I have been a practising nun for 39 years. I do not have anywhere else to go. It is important for me to stay at the convent to continue my position as a nun,” said Kalappura as she broke down in court. Earlier her lawyer withdrew from the case as Kalappura does not have enough money to pay the fees.
The court has provided her with police protection, but the Congregation argued that her continued stay at the convent and the presence of police personnel has been troubling others staying there.
“I am a woman, a nun fighting for justice. It is important for my nunship that I continue in the convent,” Kalappura pleaded. She added that she filed a suit before a court in Wayanad against her eviction and sought permission to stay there till her plea was heard.
A single bench of Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan said it is difficult for her to stay at the convent and get police protection too. “This is for your own safety. You have made serious allegations against the vicar. You have admitted yourself that you are subjected to ill-treatment... We can give you protection,” the court said.
But Kalappura insisted she will have to stay at the convent to continue her religious duty and obligation. The court reserved its judgment.
The nun has maintained that she was victimised for supporting the agitation for the arrest of Mulakkal, the deposed bishop of Jalandhar who was accused of sexual assault by another nun in 2018.
In her book titled Karthavinte Namathil (In the name of Christ), she has claimed that sexual abuse and assaults have been rampant in convents and seminaries and there needs to be institutional reforms.
The church has rejected the charges.