NSAE (We Also Are Church) has been informed of the latest developments in the trial of Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandar, Punjab.
Bishop Mulakkal is since 2018 the subject of a complaint from a Missionary of Jesus nun in Kochi (Kerala) who accuses him of having raped her on very many occasions between 2014 and 2016. The nun received first support from five of her sisters and afterwards from other nuns. They are ostracized in their communities and subject to banning measures. Lay people joined them as well as a group of priests called “SOS Save Our Sister” to support their struggle
The trial of bishop Mulakkal was scheduled to begin in August 2019 but
by missing to appear to Court forced the case to be postponed. It occurred four more times since November. There is no doubt that he hopes the plaintiff and her supporters will be exhausted. But they continue to fight. The plaintiff and their supporters are subject to denigration, public humiliation, accusations of all kinds. They are maltreated in their communities, kept away from activities, threatened with exclusion.
On 21 February, it was learned that another nun, aged 36, revealed that she has also been the object of the same violence. She gave evidence but did not filed a complaint for fear of being expelled from the Church. She just has done it now. She reports that other sisters have been the object of “similar suffering” but are afraid to speak out against the bishop who is a powerful man and is enjoying protection. They are calling for a bishop’s canonical inquiry.
NSAE demands that the Catholic and Syro-Malabar authorities provide victims with the support they need. We protest against delaying tactics of Bishop Mulakkal, and against the protections he is enjoying and. hopes that light will be shed on this matter.
NSAE is once again indignant at the abominable scandal of sexual abuse of nuns. It is time to stop it as well as the manoeuvres that consist to stifle the cry of the victims which are unworthy of the Church of Christ.
March 2nd, April 2020
List of French associations supporting this press release :
- Association culturelle Marcel Légaut (ACML)
- Chrétiens et libres en Morbihan (CELEM)
- Chrétiens pour une Église dégagée de l’école confessionnelle (CEDEC)
- Chrétiens sans frontière-Orne (CSF 61)
- Coordination Jonas-Alsace
- Croyants en Liberté 42
- Équipe de chrétiens en classe ouvrière de la région de Caen (ECCO) .../...
- Espérance 54
- Fédération des Réseaux du Parvis (le Bureau) - Les Amis du 68 rue de Babylone
- Liberté et Partage (NSAE 45)
- NSAE Cantal
- NSAE Cher
- NSAE Dordogne
- NSAE Hérault
- NSAE Île-de-France
- Partenia 31
- Partenia 77
- Partenia 2000