Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Associated PressSeptember 12, 2018
Catholic nuns hold placards demanding the arrest of a bishop who one nun has accused of rape, during a public protest in Kochi, Kerala, India, Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2018. (AP Photo)  

KOCHI, India (AP) — A group of Catholic nuns is holding a public protest in south India, demanding the arrest of a bishop whom one nun accused of rape.

The nuns, members of the order the Missionaries of Jesus, began their protest last week, gathering with dozens of supporters along a crowded street in Kochi, a coastal city in the Indian state of Kerala. India is overwhelmingly Hindu but Kerala has a large Catholic population.

"The church has not given us justice," one of the nuns, Sister Anupama, told the Times of India newspaper over the weekend. "It was the church which forced us onto the street."

 

The protest follows a June complaint to police by a Missionary of Jesus nun who accused Franco Mulakkal, bishop of the city of Jalandhar, of repeatedly sexually abusing her in 2014-2016.

The bishop has denied the accusation, saying the nun was angry because he had earlier ordered disciplinary actions against her.

Police questioned Mulakkal in July. He has not been arrested.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
Franklyn BUSBY
6 years 10 months ago

Good for them! One of the (many) dirty little sex secrets in our church is that, in the developing world, religious women are seen as nothing more than chattel: expected to submit to the sexual depravity of clergy who consider sexual abuse of religious women their "right." This phenomenon is particularly acute in Africa—where some Bishops have come to the defense of clergy convicted of serial rape. Tragically, this behavior is simply a reflection of societal standards.

The latest from america

July 16 marks 80 years since the first atomic bomb was detonated. The specter of nuclear annihilation has been with us ever since.
James T. KeaneJuly 15, 2025
David Corenswet in a scene from "Superman" (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)
The first time we see the titular hero of James Gunn’s new film “Superman,” he doesn’t descend from the heavens. He plummets.
John DoughertyJuly 15, 2025
If we imagine ourselves as satisfying a God who will “give us” things only if we do the “right things,” then our relationship with God becomes less a friendship and more a chore.
James Martin, S.J.July 15, 2025
For 13 years, Josep Lluís Iriberri, S.J. has guided pilgrims along the same trail St. Ignatius walked over 500 years ago.