The Indian Christian Women’s Movement (ICWM) in Delhi called for the immediate reinstatement in her congregation of a Catholic nun who claimed to have been raped by a bishop.
The women’s group met with Archbishop Anil J Couto of Delhi on January 22 to present a statement for Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli, apostolic nuncio to India.
“As women, we are feeling completely outraged and humiliated by having to prove our pain and trauma, time and time again,” read the statement.
“We are sick and tired of proving why there was a delay in filing a report. Why there was a delay in speaking up? How could we endure it for such a prolonged period of time? Because it has been instilled in us to respect the men of cloth,” it added.
A court in Kerala on January 14 acquitted Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar who was accused of raping a nun multiple times inside a convent in Kerala.
The court said the prosecution failed to prove the bishop’s guilt.
The statement refers to the victim in the historic nun rape case where Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar was accused of raping the nun multiple times inside a convent in Kerala, southern India.
On January 14, a court acquitted the prelate saying the prosecution failed to prove his guilt.
In a statement, the Christian women’s group said it “stands in complete solidarity with the victim/survivor nun who broke the silence against continuous abuse and exploitation by Bishop Franco.”
The statement noted that the bishop and nuns have “a fiduciary relationship” and the prelate should have protected those serving the Lord under him.
“Instead, women in the Church are feeling unsafe and vulnerable, open to abuse in their congregations and churches. Anyone who dares to speak against the powerful men of cloth are isolated, neglected, and targeted for speaking up,” read the statement.
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