India’s National Commission for Women has accused Catholic Church officials of failing to support and protect a nun who has accused a bishop of raping her.

Chairwoman Rekha Sharma told media in Kochi city on Dec. 1 that the official church was “glorifying” Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar while failing to protect the alleged victim.

“They [church officials] are glorifying the accused bishop,” Sharma said after meeting a delegation of Catholics who sought the commission’s intervention to provide security for the nun and her supporters in a convent.

Sharma alleged that church officials were not listening or acting to protect the nuns. The church has also failed by not having an internal system to report sex abuse, she said.

“There was nobody she [the nun] could go to and complain. We have also written to the church urging them to constitute internal complaint committees where women can complain,” she said.

The 48-year-old nun, former superior of the Missionaries of Jesus congregation, complained to Kerala police in July that Bishop Mulakkal raped her 13 times between 2014 and 2016.

Five other nuns, who be-long to the congregation that functions under the bishop’s patronage, held a public protest calling for the bishop’s arrest. He was arrested on Sept. 21 but a court bailed him on Oct. 15.

The biggest church in Arunachal Pradesh was blessed on December 5 in one of the last villages of the north-eastern India.

Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas, secretary general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, blessed the Sacred Heart Church at Neotan, a small village in Changlang district.

The marked, the day, the Neotan villagers accepted Catholic faith 19 years ago. Neotan sits on India’s border with Myanmar.

Msgr Elias Gonsalves, the new archbishop of Nagpur, will focus on dialogue as his priority.

Speaking to AsiaNews, he said he was “humbled” about his appointment because “the Archdiocese of Nagpur is an old diocese, with its own rich roots” and can be considered a “cultural, political and religious centre of India; hence, dialogue will be a priority in this multifaceted diocese.”

Intolerance towards religious minorities, especially Christians, is on the rise among young Indians, warns Michael Williams, dean of Mount Carmel Schools in India, during a meeting in the British House of Lords organised by a Christian group, the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International.

Citing government figures, the Indian educationist noted that attacks against religious communities have jumped by 30 percent in the past three years with around a thousand incidents in 2017, 111 people killed and more than 2,500 wounded.

According to Williams, India’s “fundamentalist” government is to blame for creating a climate of intolerance and violation of human rights in the country akin to the current radicalisation in Islamic countries and the rise of Nazism in Germany in the 1930s.

In his view, the modus operandi of the incidents is very similar and include the ‘return home’ movement to convert people to Hinduism.

Presentation Sister Dorothy Fernandes is among 70 people who will be honoured for promoting democratic and republic characte-ristics of the Indian Constitution.

The award titled “Neelkanth Samman” was presented on November 26, the Constitution Day, at Mavlankar Hall in New Delhi.

The day marks the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Indian Constitution, “a significant even in the political history of our nation,” says Sanjay Paswan, patron of Kabir ke Log and a former federal minister, in his invitation letter to Sister Fernandes.

The November 13 letter also says two NGOs — “Kabir ke Log” and “Centre for Dalit Studies, India Foundation”—decided to give the award to the Catholic nun for her “outstanding contribution towards democratic ethos and constitutional commit-ment.”

The awardees are scholars, activists and thought leaders, Paswan explains.

Sister Fernandes said she was surprised when she got a call on October 15 regarding the award. She was invited to New Delhi to receive the award.

The nun, a native of Goa, says she never thought that she would get an award although she has been advocating that Indians should be informed about their constitutional rights.

“I feel both humble and grateful to the Almighty who continues to journey with me,” she told Matters India on November 20. “It has strengthened my belief to continue to work with those who are on the margins — those who need a voice,” she added.

Dr. David G.K. Taylor, Associate Professor of Aramaic and Syriac and Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford University and Dr. Sebastian Brocke, Emiritus Professor in Oxford University and leading Syriac scholar were honoured by Cardinal George Alencherry, Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church at a conference in Birmingham, UK. The conference was organized by the Syro-Malabar Church at the Bethel Convention Centre, Birmingham, as part of the conclusion of the ‘Year of Children.’

Pope Francis has appointed Fr Albert Hemrom as Coadjutor Bishop of Dibrugarh on December 2 to succeed its present Bishop Joseph Aind. The 49-years old Bishop designate will be the youngest Bishop in the entire northeast. Currently, he is the Rector of St Joseph’s Seminary, Dibrugarh.

The Indian Women Theologians Forum (IWTF) has written to Pope Francis expressing deep concerns over the way the Church in their country handles sexual abuse cases.

Around 800 Catholics from around the world have endorsed the letter sent to the Pope Francis with copies to ecclesiastical leaders in India, says a November 20 press release from the forum.

The letter highlights the context and facts regarding the case of sexual abuse involving the bishop of Jalandhar. It also comments on the lack of response and the inappropriate handling of the case by the Church authorities in India.

As remedial measures, the letter requests the setting up of an impartial enquiry committee with at least 50 % women to study the allegations and taking adequate steps to support a fair trial in keeping with the Church policy of “zero tolerance of sexual abuse.”

It wants immediate implementation of the CBCI Guidelines, 2017 of the Church in India for addressing sexual abuse, in keeping with the civil laws applicable to grievance redressal mechanisms of the country.

The November 9 letter was endorsed by Catholics from 24 countries, with the United States topping the list, followed by Australia and Brazil.

The Indian signatories came from 15 states, including nearly 500 from Kerala, where the complainant and the accused of the Jalandhar case belong. The signatories included 71 priests from India, more than 50 women religious and 16 advocates.

“In keeping with the need to be transparent in our efforts this letter is also mailed to 250 representatives of the Catholic Church, including all the cardinals and bishops within India,” the press release says.

Christians in twin Telugu states have demanded laws to check increasing attacks on the community.

Leaders of the Federation of Telugu Churches (FTC), an apex body of the mainline Churches in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, made this demand in a memorandum submitted to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu.

The Andhra Pradesh government on November 17 organized an interaction between Naidu and Church representatives at Praja Vedika, the chief minister’s residence, an FTC press release said on November 20.

The Church leaders, led by FTC president Bishop F. Paradeshi Babu, applauded Naidu’s commitment in championing the cause of secularism, democracy, and for protecting the rights of religious minorities especially Christians.

They also thanked him for various welfare and development projects Naidu implemented through the A.P. State Christian (Minority) Finance Corporation and other government agencies.
The Christian leaders pointed out that their minority community contributes more than 25% charitable services to society.

About 600 people demon-strated near the legislative house of India’s Kerala State demanding bail be revoked for a Catholic bishop accused of raping a nun.

Protesters say the free movement of Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar, a native of Kerala, has become a threat to witnesses in the case and is working against the legal process.

“As long as Franco is out on bail, he can use his power to destroy evidence and influence witnesses. The lives of witnesses and sisters who publicly spoke against him are also at a risk,” said former Kerala chief minister and communist leader V.S. Achuthanandan, who launched the protest on Nov. 14.

Kerala’s High Court bailed Bishop Mulakkal on Oct. 15. He was arrested on Sept. 21 based on the July complaint of a 48-year-old nun of the Missionaries of Jesus, a diocesan congregation under the prelate, that he raped her multiple times between 2014 and 2016 while he was visiting her convent in Kerala.