Kerala nun dismissed for protesting against bishop
KOCHI: One of the nuns who had participated in the protest against rape accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal, was dismissed from the Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC) on Wednesday for “violating the rules.”
The dismissal order, issued by the congregation’s Mother Superior Sister Ann Joseph, was handed to Sister Lucy Kalappurakkal on Wednesday. “I am writing this leter to intimate you that you are hereby dismissed from the Franciscan Clarist Congregation. Please remember that you were given the required canonical warnings. However, you did not show the needed remorse and failed to give a satisfactory explanation for your lifestyle in violation of the proper law of the FCC,” the leter issued by FCC Superior General stated.
The nun who has been an outspoken supporter of the protest at Ernakulam to demand the arrest of Bishop Mulakkal, is now freed from the obligations of the vows and will have no rights and duties in the Congregation, the leter further read.
Sr Lucy has been living in FCC’S St Mary’s convent in Mananthavady in Wayanad. She has now been ordered to leave the convent within 10 days. She can, however, appeal to the Apostolic Nuncio, the Vatican’s representative in India, against the dismissal.
In January this year, she was served the first warning leter by the Superior General of the Congregation, followed by two more in February and March for violating the vow of obedience. A series of warning leters were issued to her for supporting the nuns’ protest march at Ernakulam seeking the arrest of Bishop Mulakkal. She had criticised the church for its lackadaisical atitude towards the allegations against the Jalandhar bishop.
Bishop Mulakkal, a senior member of the Roman Catholic clergy in India, was arrested last year following allegations by a nun that he repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted her at the Kuravilangad convent between 2014 and 2016, a charge denied by him. He is currently out on bail. Reacting to the development, Sr Lucy told media persons that she would continue her fight for justice.