Amidst attempts of the Christian congregation, Missionaries of Jesus to shunt out four nuns for supporting the victim nun who had accused Bishop Franco of rape, another nun has been issued a notice to shed her “rebellious attitude”, reported Indian Express.
Reportedly, Sister Neena Rose, who had actively taken part in the protest in Kochi last September demanding the arrest of rape accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal in the rape case has been issued a letter to appear before the congregation.
Regina Kadamthodu, the congregation’s superior-general, has asked Sister Rose to report at their headquarters in Jalandhar on 26 January to justify her case for “for abdicating the basic tenets of religious life and resorting to activities which amount to the sheer violation of congregation rules.”
The letter further added that failure to report before Regina Kadamthodu on 26 January would be construed as challenging the authority of the superior. The letter from the superior-general reportedly accused Sister Rose of not cooperating with her local convent head and for her “revolutionary approach”. It further says the nun’s refusal to “fall in line” raises severe questions about her commitment to the vow of obedience.
Sister Rose has, meanwhile, said she is not sure about going to meet the superior- general on 26 January. “They have threatened to take further action if I fail to report in Jalandhar,” she said.
On 16th January, four out of the five nuns who had supported the rape survivor nun were asked to leave the Kuravilangad convent, and go to convents, previously assigned to them. The letter accused nuns of ‘issuing malafide statements’, and spreading baseless stories to ‘tarnish the image’ of the Missionaries of Jesus congregation. Sister Anupama, one of the four nuns served transfer notice, had slammed the notice and alleged that this is a ploy to break a unity of nuns to save Bishop Franco, who is facing rape allegations from one of their colleagues.
Apart from threats and intimidation, Father Kuriakose who had testified against Bishop Franco was found dead under mysterious circumstances. One the nuns who were protesting against the rape accused Bishop was relieved of her duties by the Syro-Malabar Church.
Bishop Franco Mulakkal, Archdiocese of Jalandhar, Punjab, was arrested by the police officials on September 21st after the investigating team finally found evidence that linked him in the sexual harassment case. A nun from Kerala had accused a Bishop from Jalandhar of raping her. The accused, Franco Mulakkal, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jalandhar, is said to have raped her at a guest house in Kuravilangad in May 2014 and exploited her sexually on several other occasions.