As per the order, Sister Lucy is allowed to stay at the convent until the final verdict of her expulsion case is released.

The order concerns a petition filed by Kalappura in 2020. Reacting to the order, Kalappura said, "The order is a crucial one for me in my 40 years of life as a nun, since it gives me the courage to fight injustice."

Sister Lucy added that she hopes to educate the community about the importance of raising a voice against injustice.

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Sister Lucy Kalappura, a member of the Franciscan Clarist Congregation in Kerala, has been an outspoken advocate for a nun who has accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar of rape.

In September 2018, she participated in a public demonstration against the bishop against the order of her religious congregation.

She was dismissed from the order in 2019 and told to leave the convent. The congregation said it dismissed the 54-year-old for defiance, violating the norms of the congregation and infringing on the vow of poverty.

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Sister Lucy Kalappura has maintained that the disciplinary action against her was initiated only because she participated in a protest against rape-accused catholic Bishop Franco Mulakkal, who is facing rape charges.

Sister Kalappura was expelled in August 2019 from the Kerala-based congregation on "failing to give a satisfactory explanation for her lifestyle in violation of FCC laws" - which involved participating in protest against Bishop Mulakkal without permission, buying and driving a car, owning a driving license, publishing a book and earning remuneration. Read more

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.

Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC) nun, Kalappura complained the accused used social media to falsely portray her interactions with journalists as a salacious affair.

The police had registered the case after Kalappura made a complaint of illegal confinement.

Kalappura has been protesting against the former Bishop of Jalandhar, Franco Mulakkal, who had been accused of raping a nun.

She was expelled by the FCC early this month on the grounds that she failed "to give a satisfactory explanation for her lifestyle in violation of the proper law of the FCC".

He congregation had earlier accused her of publishing poems, purchasing a car and taking part in a protest against Mulakkal.

The National Women's Commission (NWC), a statutory federal body that advises the Indian government on all policy matters affecting women, is condemning the multiple harassment Kalappura is facing.

The NWC wrote to the Kerala police chief Loknath Behera asking him to arrest those targeting Kalappura. The letter arrived amid reports of the accused priest and nuns' attempts to slander Kalappura.

The alleged slanderous material was released by a priest from the diocese's public relations office team.

It included a defamatory YouTube video based on CCTV footage showing Kalappura entering an FCC convent with two men.

Father Noble Thomas Parackal, who produced the video, tried to malign the nun by suggesting that she had an illicit relationship with the men, who were found to be journalists.

However, Parackal omitted including images of a third journalist - a woman - who was with the men. He then made a second video justifying himself.

Kalappura is not the only person the accused priest and nuns are targeting, NWC says.

"While we are waiting for the investigations to get over in the rape case, these acts are tactics to put the victim under pressure so that she steps back."

The NWC demanded immediate action to be taken against Mulakkal and for a report on this from the police chief's office as soon as possible.

"We will not accept people holding respectable positions misuse their authority for wrongful actions," read the statement.

The former superior general of Missionaries of Jesus accused the bishop of rape on multiple occasions between 2014 and 2016.

Source

• Matters India
• NDTV
• The Tablet
• Hindustan Times
• Image: The News Minute

Franciscan Clarist nun, Lucy Kalappura (54), says she joined a group of Missionaries of Jesus last September to protest Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar's alleged rape of their former superior general.

The bishop is now on bail and the case against him is being heard in court.

Kaalappura's letter of expulsion claims the congregation had pointed out her continuous violation of the vows of poverty and obedience to her since 2015.

"However, [Kalappura] was not willing to make the corrections," a letter from Sister Jyoti Maria, head of the congregation's Mananthavady province, says.

Among her alleged failings, Kalappura committed dress code violations, bought a car, disobeyed authorities, became involved in large monetary transactions by publishing a book and bringing out a music CD, did not submit her salary to the convent and made media appearances.

Kalappura maintains that her possessions - especially the car - shouldn't be seen as a violation of her vow of poverty but as a means to better fulfill her responsibilities.

"I have been driving the car only for apostolic work, to fulfill my duties in a better way.

"In the one year since I bought the car, which was the cheapest available in the market, I have been able to visit hundreds of poor patients and people in their houses, support them, and pray for them.

"When I go to school, I also take underprivileged children in my car and drop them off. I have not done anything wrong. It's the perception of others, of the other nuns, that is a problem," she added.

Kalappura said she was tired of hearing the words obedience and disobedience.

"Obedience is not just about shutting one's eyes and saying ‘yes'. I'm so tired of explaining that I simply don't want to talk about these allegations against me regarding the car, theImage: books I published, the music CD I created.

"How is that wrong if I'm using it for God's work, which is my duty as a nun? The CD has worship songs that I wrote by myself."

Kalappura was allowed 10 days to appeal Rome.She has appealed her dismissal to the Pontifical Congregation for the Oriental Churches.

Kalappura's congregation has asked her 84-year old mother to take her back.

Source

• Matters India
• Matters India
• Matters India
• Image: Deccan Herald