"We are glad that the high court has finally admitted the appeals," Shaiju Antony, joint convener of SOS, told UCA News on April 6.

Kerala High Court admitted the appeals filed by the accuser and the Kerala government on April 5. "It is a very strong case," the lay Catholic leader said while expressing the hope that the nun accuser will get justice from the high court. Continue reading

The "canonical violations" leading to Kapalppura's dismissal included her joining in a protest against rape-accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal despite being told not to by her religious superior.

Kapalppura has taken her case to the High Court hoping it would allow her to stay in the convent and grant her police protection till the case, which she had filed against her expulsion in the civil court in 2019, is over.

Kapalppura appeared in Court alone after her lawyer withdrew his authorisation to represent her.

She began her defence saying: "Sir, please understand that I have been a nun for 39 years. It is important for me to stay at the convent to continue my nunship. I am a nun. Do not throw me out on the street."

The High Court refused to grant her protection as long as she is in the convent.

"You have yourself admitted that you're ill-treated at the convent. So if you continue to stay at the convent any longer, it will be detrimental to you, and the Court cannot grant you protection. It's better to move out where I can grant you police protection," she was told. It has reserved its orders in the plea.

In response, the nun told the Court she had challenged her eviction earlier and the court had passed an injunction in her favour in 2019. As part of the order, she was asked to stay at the convent.

"Your choice of accommodation is not the concern here," the bench replied. "I cannot continue the police protection to you if you stay at the convent [as] you are no longer a recognised member of the congregation..."

While she accepts the court can withdraw the police protection if it deem fit, Kapalppura told the Court she has nowhere else to go.

"It is true that the police protection was benefiting me, since I am not even treated as a human at the convent. It was the police that made my stay at the convent less troublesome. But, I am willing to accept if the Court wants to withdraw this protection," she told the court.

The Franciscan Clarist Congregation took a series of disciplinary action following Kapalppura's participation in the protests against the rape-accused bishop and extended her support to the nun.

In a recent letter to the expelled nun, the Franciscan Clarist Congregation Superior General said Kapalppura's prolonged stay at the convent will be deemed a criminal trespass. The Congregation has refused to pay her benefits or money for the work she had undertaken during her time as a Congregation member. She is only entitled to the amount that she had given to FCC as patrimony (a share of inheritance), which was handed over at the time of joining the congregation.

Source

• The News Minute
• Image: The News Minute

The petition to urgently stop Sister Lucy Kalappura's autobiography from being published has been filed in the Kerala High Court.

Licia Joseph of the SMI Convent in Kalamassery in Kochi is arguing the contents of Sr Kalappura's book ‘Karthavinte Namathil' are ‘highly defamatory' to the clergy, nuns and the religious.

"(The book) says that the priests and nuns are leading a very immoral life and they are indulging in indiscriminate and unprincipled sexual life".

"The contents ... shell shock all the right-minded persons particularly the Christian believers".

"It creates a sense of dejection and anger in the minds of the members of the Christian community and the general public ... is a naked infringement of public order, decency and morality."

Joseph's alleges Kalappura's autobiography attempts to convey a wrong message by saying present-day clergy and nuns are violating the fundamental principles of Christian doctrine.

Kalappura was at the forefront of protests last year following a nun's allegations of rape and sexual abuse against former Jalandhar bishop Franco Mulakkal.

Kalappura and other nuns went on an indefinite hunger strike outside the high court in Kochi demanding immediate arrest of Mulakkal.

After the protest, Mulakkal was arrested and later released on bail.

His trial began last week.

Kalappura was expelled from her Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC) in August for ‘failing to give a satisfactory explanation' for her lifestyle in ‘violation of the rules of FCC.'

The charges against her include taking a loan to buy a car, driving a car, publishing a book of poems and writing in anti-Christian newspapers.

All these charges have been widely seen as revenge for her participation in protests against the Church and the rape-accused Bishop.

Kalappura is presently a teacher with a church-run government-aided school.

Source

• The Indian Express
• Image: The Hindu

It gave her 10 days to appeal to the Vatican against the order, which she did.

Kalappura says she was being punished for using media outlets to obtain justice for a nun who accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal of repeatedly raping her from 2014 to 2016 at her convent in Kuravilangad, south of Kochi.

The Jalandhar bishop's trial date has not yet been set.

Kalappura, a 54-year-old schoolteacher, was a lesser known nun in India until September 2018, when she joined five members of the Missionaries of Jesus who staged a Kerala sit-in to support the rape survivor, their former superior general.

The Missionaries of Jesus sisters have also been under church pressure for their activism.

Kalappura became a media sensation especially in Kerala, a major Christian center in southwestern India, when she questioned the church leaders' neglect of the survivor of alleged clergy abuse. Kalappura's superiors and other Catholic leaders reacted by accusing her of working with enemies of the church.

Her dismissal order, dated Aug. 5, says her congregation's general council on May 11 "unanimously voted to dismiss her" from the community.

The Franciscan Clarists also obtained the assent of the prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches for the council's decision.

Global Sisters Report interviewed her a few times since April this year when the congregation served her the third warning letter, offering her the option to leave the order on her own.

Kalappura describes the struggles with her superiors and church leaders that led to her dismissal.

GSR: Now that you are dismissed, what is your first reaction?

Kalappura: I am surprised. I don't think I have done anything against the rules of the congregation or the Catholic Church to deserve such an action. I have led a clear lifestyle with nothing to hide or fear.

What about the accusation that you have violated the vows of poverty and obedience?

It is not true.

The accusations against me are that I learned to drive, got a driver's license, purchased a car with a loan, and published a book without permission.

But I had done all this after the superiors continuously refused me permission, even after verbal and written requests.

I did all this in good faith, thinking that sooner or later the congregation would understand me and accept my works. Unfortunately, I am proved wrong.

What is your next step?

They gave me 10 days to appeal against the dismissal to the prefect of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches at the Vatican.

I have already appealed to the congregation.

I will wait for its response to decide the future course of action.

Why is the congregation so determined to expel you?

My superiors are influenced by those jealous of my work among the poor and the needy.

I am sad that I am criticized for doing good for other people.

I have never deviated from my religious life at any point in time.

You have become quite popular on TV. How did that happen?

I have not done anything extraordinary to attract the media.

It is true that I got a lot of media attention after I supported the five nuns who were forced to sit on a roadside seeking justice.

I talked to the media for them.

I used social media to highlight their plight.

The church authorities, instead of helping the rape victim and her supporters, gave the accused bishop a clean bill. The media was interested in me because I was the only nun who openly challenged the bishops' stand.

You are primarily a schoolteacher. Why did you become a social activist?

I have been a mathematics teacher since 1993.

But I spend my spare time to visit sick people at their homes, arrange for medicine and other help for those in need, and counsel people in distress.

I joined the convent with a desire to help suffering people.

But my superiors asked me to take up teaching.

However, my original desire was so strong that I started visiting families of my students. Such visits gradually became part of my daily routine as people began to share their struggles in family life and other issues.

People also invited me to their homes.

Soon I realized that counseling needed follow-up. I started seeking help from generous people for those in need. Thus I became a part-time social worker.

I have realized our physical presence not only makes people comfortable but boosts their confidence.

I encourage them to attend spiritual retreats and family counseling.

I liaise with government offices for them.

I also counsel Catholic families who feel slighted by priests and nuns in their parish.

What was the response of your superiors and community members to such works?

The general attitude was negative. They taunted me for going out of the way to help people. Some were annoyed that I did not share the confidential details of my counseling.

You said outsiders support you. How do they do that?

They recognize my services.

After the sit-in protest, the people of my present parish, on their own, pressured the parish priest to lift a ban on me from distributing Communion and teaching catechism in the Sunday school. The priest had to yield to the people's demand.

How many people have you helped so far?

I have touched so many people in my 33 years of consecrated life.

I never took up any formal social work where records were kept. … Hundreds have benefited from my counseling and other activities.

Can you cite some examples of those you helped?

Recently, a man with "elephant foot" needed surgery. [Elephantiasis is an infection that causes severe swelling of the limbs.]

He had no one to take him to the hospital or arrange money for his treatment.

I arranged the funds for the treatment and for people to take him to the hospital. Now he is fine.

When did your trouble with your superiors begin and why?

I began to face problems from my superiors in February 2018, when I published a collection of poems and released a CD of devotional songs.

The poems spoke of topics such as God's love, nature, religion, happiness, death and marriage. The disc, "Devalayam" (Temple of God), has lyrics and music all by me.

I got a letter from my provincial saying I had not received permission.

I had sought her permission through letters and in person since 2015, but to no avail.

Since the superiors were not willing to give permission, I went ahead with the publication.

You are accused of not following the traditional lifestyle of a woman religious. What do you say?

I have been following the traditional lifestyle of an FCC sister.

However, after I published the poems and the CD, I became an irritant for the superiors.

My support to the five nuns further infuriated them and the bishops.

When you take a stand against the official system, whether the convent, the church or public life, you are bound to face such charges.

What are your views on religious life? Should the church revisit it?

It is high time the church revisited religious life to make it more relevant to the changed world scenario.

We are living in a global village with more transparency and accessibility to information, unlike in the past.

Unfortunately, some sisters are made slaves in the name of religious life and obedience.

Consecrated women are made to work in hospitals and schools without minimum wages. Shouldn't we end this exploitation?

Changes are indeed required.

Have you been happy as a nun?

Of course, I am happy.

I was born at Karikkottakary in Kerala's Kannur District as the seventh of 11 children.

I became a nun to serve people.

My father's charitable works and simplicity attracted me. My parents had deep faith in Jesus. I did whatever I could as a nun to help people and make society better.

When I look back, I have no reason to be dissatisfied with my decision to become a nun.

• First published in Matters India. Republished with permission.

The unidentified nun, who is a member of the Missionaries of Jesus, laid a complaint with the police at the end of June of being raped in May 2014.

She says Bishop Franco Mulakkal also sexually abused her many times over the following two years.

The nun alleges that the bishop harassed her when she resisted sexual abuse. She and her family claim that Church authorities have ignored their complaints.

Mulakkal claims the nun's accusation arose only after Church authorities began disciplinary action following allegations that she was having sexual relations with her cousin's husband.

The Police team probing the alleged rape says it will take action in the case "after they are fully convinced."

Meanwhile, although Catholic and other leaders have urged that Mulakkal be removed from his position, the Catholic Bishops Conference of India and the Apostolic Nuncio are watching the situation.

"At present, the Vatican is not planning any action against the bishop. Normally, the Vatican does not interfere with the law and order of a foreign country," a priest from Punjab says.

"We have received information that the Vatican Nuncio has already informed the Vatican about the issue. The Vatican is also watching whether the state or central government in India has taken any action against the bishop."

A group of nuns, priests and lay people has also written to the Vatican about the nun's allegations, urging it to provide justice to the women.

The group sent a copy of the letter to Vatican Nuncio Giambattista Diquattro and to Catholic Bishop Conference of India (CBCI) president Cardinal Oswald Graciou.

It asked Diquattro to "advise Pope Francis to relieve the bishop concerned of his pastoral responsibilities so that the Church is seen to actually practise the zero tolerance it professes to observe in abuse cases."

The groups says allowing Mulakkal to continue in his position as bishop of Jalandhar "will erode the faith of the people in the credibility of the Church to implement its policy of zero tolerance and act justly in abuse matters."

Source

• CruxNow
• Times of India
• News18
• Image: Catholic News Agency