Franco Mulakkal: Kerala priest revokes ban on nun who joined protest
Thiruvananthapuram, Sept 25 (IBNS): A Catholic priest in Kerala’s Wayanad district, who had barred a nun from church duties after she had participated in a protest to demand the arrest of a rape accused Bishop, recalled his decision on Tuesday, media reports said.
He was forced to recall the decision after facing opposition from angry members of his own parish.
On Sunday, Father Stephen Kottakkal of St Mary’s Church in Karickamala had ordered Sister Lucy Kalappura to keep away from distributing Holy Communion and holding Catechism classes, The Indian Express reported.
On Monday, the church under the Mananthavady diocese witnessed unprecedented scenes: Around 200 parishioners, mainly farmers, stormed in and forced the priest to lift the ban on Sister Lucy, 52, who belongs to the Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC), reported the newspaper further.
“The direction to Sister Lucy to keep away from church duties has been withdrawn according to the demand of the people. On Sunday, I was forced to issue such a direction after a few parishioners demanded that Sister Lucy, who had supported the nuns’ agitation, should not be allowed to assist at the church,’’ the priest was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
Sister Lucy was part of the nuns who were protesting against the arrest of Jalandhar-based Bishop Franco Mulakkal.
Mulakkal, who is accused of raping a nun, was arrested on Friday.
He has been sent to a 14-day judicial custody by a Kottayam district court.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
