About five months after a trial court acquitted him of rape charges raised by a nun, decks have been cleared for Bishop Franco Mulakkal to take up pastoral responsibilities once again.
A senior priest associated with Syro Malabar church said that during a visit to Jalandhar a couple of days ago, Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli, apostolic nuncio to India and Nepal, informed that the Vatican had accepted the court’s decision on Bishop Franco. The holy seat is also learned to have acknowledged the right of the survivor to approach higher courts for justice.
“Vatican reserves the right to issue an order that endows with the Bishop administrative powers of the diocese. It is, however, yet to be known whether the Vatican will wait for the HC order'', said the priest.
The Bishop, who was relieved of his pastoral responsibilities by the Pope in 2018, currently holds the title but with no administrative powers. The Pope had taken the decision in response to a letter sent by the bishop offering to “step aside temporarily” as the Bishop of the Jalandhar diocese.
The bishop was arraigned as an accused in the case under Indian Penal Code Sections 342 (wrongful confinement), 376 (2k) (rape on a woman incapable of giving consent), 376 (2n) (causing grievous bodily harm during rape), 376 (c) (a) and 377 (unnatural offence), and 506 (1) (criminal intimidation).
The charge sheet against the bishop, which consisted of 2,000 pages in three volumes, was submitted on April 4, 2019. The trial in the case commenced in November 2019 and concluded on January 10.
The survivor nun, meanwhile, has moved the Kerala High Court against his acquittal in the case by a trial court.
