The Catholic Church gears up to shrug off the embarrassment it faced from the arrest and imprisonment of Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal. The Kerala Catholic Bishop Conference (KCBC) came down heavily on the “attempts to tarnish the image of the Church after the arrest of Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal on rape charge, while hundreds of bishops and priests led saintly lives”. KCBC is the apex body of the Catholic Church in Kerala.
KCBC spokesperson Fr. Varghese Vallikkatt’s statement says that “people who oppose the Church are jealous; there are also media persons with a hidden agenda as well as vested interests; three are some with grievances within the Church. We should be vigilant about those who try to put down the Church due to an accusation against an individual”. It said: “The faithful should discern those people who try to destabilize the Catholic Church and malign the bishops”; they make use of this case. The statement adds that when a journalist was accused in a sex scandal, no one accused all mediapersons.
KCBC admits that the series of events has caused a “matter of great pain for the Church”. But since the case is under court’s consideration, the KCBC is not commenting on its genuineness. They are for impartial inquiry into the allegations. However KCBC sees an attempt of demolishing the Church’s discipline.
The statement does not agree to the nun’s allegation that the Church did not act on the nun’s complaint. KCBC says, it was not proper to act since the case was being considered by the police.
The KCBC statement is a desperate effort to save the skin of the Church while people of Kerala, cutting across party-religious-caste lines, are up in arms against the sexual misconduct of the Bishop and the Church. The Church has invited the wrath of the people due to its inaction to ensure justice to the victim nun. The rank and file of all communities and political parties ignored their leaders and moved in the right direction, that is, “We Support Nun” ! Vote bank politics is not their cup of tea.
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