The verdict acquitting Bishop Franco Mulakkal in the much-awaited case of the sexual abuse of a religious sister has been disappointing to many of us, and has made us suspicious.
“I write this for many reasons; first, because I have journeyed with this case from a distance; and because I feel the need for speaking up in defense of our sisters, and sounding a wake-up call for us as women religious.” Wrote Dorothy Fernandes
What has pained me more than anything else is that some women religious that I know have rejoiced about the verdict of acquittal of a Bishop who was accused of nothing less than rape — and worst of all, he happens to be the patron of that local congregation. We all know now that at Kottayam the Additional District and Sessions Court Judge G. Gopakumar acquitted Franco.
Some women religious raise very naive questions: Why was she silent for all these years? Why was there such a delay in reporting the crime? I am afraid those who say that lack empathy and can’t imagine the trauma she has been going through. As women religious, some think: “He is a Bishop — he obviously cannot do it!” Wait a minute, he is also a human being, a man invested in power.
For too long we women in the church have accepted dominance and hierarchy and never questioned this because of the socialization processes we have gone through. Right from our childhood and into our teens we have been taught to accept everything without questioning. Because “they” know and you don’t; this is internalized and every institution in our society has reinforced this belief.
I know that a very small number of sisters in India have moved out of institutions and are living among or working with those on the periphery. I have been living by myself for more than two decades in Patna, and many priests who know me say “not everyone can be like you.” As if finding my space was so easy! I have often been perceived as “aggressive,” and my responses are “assertive.” So – it seems our institutional church does not want assertive women.”

A Carmelite of Mary Immaculate priest was on February 26 conferred the honorary title of Colonel Commandant by the federal Ministry of Defense.
Father Abraham Mani Vettiankal, who serve as the vice chancellor of the Christ University in Bengaluru is the first Indian Catholic priest to get the honour for his outstanding contributions to the promotion of National Cadet Corps and National Service Scheme in the Christ University in the past decade.
The official piping was performed by Lt General Gurbirpal Singh, the director general of NCC at a ceremony conducted at the Parachute Regiment Training Center, Bengaluru, the capital of the southern India state of Karnataka.
Awarding this honor, Singh said the recognition was conferred to Father Abraham in recognition of being the first university in the country to introduce NCC as a credit course and for promoting its students to join the Indian Defense Service.
“The Christ University has promoted NCC as a priority program resulting its members joining the armed and paramilitary forces in significant numbers as well as for providing infrastructure and facilities for NCC training at the University Campus,” said the director general.

As many as 53 incidents of violence against Christians were registered in the first 45 days of 2022, says an ecumenical group based in New Delhi.
The United Christian Forum on February 15 said the incidents were recorded by its toll-free helpline number launched seven years ago. The 53 incidents were recorded as on February 14.
‘There has been a steady rise in incidents of violence against Christians,” says a press note from A C Michael, the forum’s national coordinator.
The helpline number (1-800-208-4545) aims to help Christians in distress, especially those who are not aware of the law of the land and the system. It guides people on how to reach out to the authorities, besides providing the way to legal remedies.
The helpline registered 505 cases last year.
A press release from the forum says its data is not exhaustive as many case have not been reported.
However, the helpline recorded 127 incidents in 2014, 142 in 2015, 226 in 2016, 248 in 2017, 292 in 2018, 328 in 2019, 279 in 2020, and 505 in 2021.
Michael narrated a mob violence in 2021. A group of radicals interrupted the Sunday service by loud abuse and physical assault at Wajidpur, Tendui, Gaya, Bihar.
“On July 11, 2021, a group of 20 attacked around 90 people praying together in a house. The victims sustained injuries and warnings that they should not conduct religious gatherings. The pastor fled the house to save his life. It took three months to file a complaint with the various government officials in the area,” Michael added.
Christians form just 2.3 percent of India’s population, according to the 2011 Census.
The forum released the data as elections are underway in five Indian states. None of the political parties in the fray has guaranteed protection for minorities, the forum regrets.
“We appeal to the government and all political parties as they contest elections in various states to ensure rights of all minorities within the framework of the Constitution of India,” the forum says.

A Catholic archbishop in southern India has appealed to the provincial government to protect Christians, their places of worship, religious symbols and sacred structures.
Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore said the Feb. 15 demolition of a statue of Jesus and Stations of the Cross at Gokunte in Kolar district of Karnataka state “had not only affected the sentiments of the Christian community but also the people of other faiths.” “It was heartbreaking to see hundreds of people shedding tears,” Arch-bishop Machado said in a press statement on Feb. 17. A dispute over the possession of the land was pending in Karnataka High Court but officials went ahead with the demolition even before the court could pass a final order. The archdiocese had also filed a petition in the high court challenging the demolition of the Christian structures on Feb. 19.
Archbishop Machado noted that in the past two years the state had “seen demolitions occurring at six such places on the hills and systematic attacks on churches across the state.”
These religious places were patronized and maintained as places of devotion in Bangalore and its surroundings for decades, he said. “We only fear that many more such harsh, orchestrated and insensitive attacks are sure to happen in the coming days,” the prelate added.
Archbishop Machado hoped and prayed that the government will protect Christian places of worship, religious symbols and sacred structures.

Officials have destroyed a 20-foot-tall statue of Jesus that has been standing in a village in India for 18 years.
The local administration said the statue was built on land reserved as an animal pasture, and claims its destruction was ordered by the High Court. However, Christian leaders from the region say the case was still pending.
The statue was destroyed on early Tuesday in Gokunte village in Karnataka state, in south-western India.
“We demolished the statue based on the High Court order. After seven to eight hearings, the High Court had ordered the demolition of the statue as it was constructed on government land. We had issued a notice to the church regarding the demolition. We had to submit the compliance report to the High Court on Wednesday and hence it was demolished,” said a local official.
Father Theres Babu, who is also a lawyer, said that the demolition letter was never shown to them.
“The government has been repeatedly saying that the demolition letter was issued. We have been asking her to show the demolition order. It is not clear if it was a judgement. But [the government official] never show-ed us the order. She has been claiming that the government advocate has sent her an email, saying that the High Court has given an order and based on that she went ahead and demolished the statue,” Babu told journalists.

The recent Hunger Watch Survey reveals an alarming state of food insecurity and economic distress in India.
The study was conducted by the Right to Food Campaign India along with a number of associated organizations and the results were released February 23 at the Press Club of India, New Delhi.
According to the study, close to 80% of those surveyed report-ed some form of food insecurity. A staggering 25% reported severe food insecurity for six months after the devastating second wave of the corona pandemic.
The survey also revealed that more than 60% were unable to eat healthy or nutritious food, or could eat only a few varieties of foods in the month preceding the survey.
The survey says that about 45 percent respondents reported that their households ran out of food in the month preceding the survey. A third of the respondents reported they or someone in their household went to bed hungry.
Other findings are:
As many as 66% said their income decreased as compared to the pre-pandemic period.
Overall, 40% households with working members, and 31 percent of the total Hunger Watch-II sample reported that current incomes are less than half the pre-pandemic levels.
The report says, close to 45% households had some outstanding debt. Around 21% respondents have a total debt of more than 50,000 rupees.

Fr John Purakkattuputhenpura was among several young professionals who are being ordained Catholic priests this year as the Church in India struggles with clergy abuse and other scandals.
These young men have ignored negative reports about priesthood to leave their lucrative and promising careers. All that mattered to them was their inner call, says Father John, who joined the seminary while working as a software engineer (iOS developer).
He was among the 12 deacons who are being ordained priests this year for the diocese of Palai.
Bishop Joseph Kallarangattu of Palai ordained John January 14 in his native parish St Thomas Church, Cheenkallel under the Syro-Malabar diocese.
Sr Lissy Maruthanakuzhy, a special correspondent of Matters India, spoke to Father John. “My course was Electronics and Instrumentation which had a lot of job opportunities in India and overseas. Many of my colleagues are now working abroad. Unexpectedly during campus selection, I was the only one selected. Again it was May 16. God kept his promise. I believed God was giving me the opportunity to reflect and prepare myself for my future.”  “ As long as a human being is in need of God, Catholic priesthood is relevant. Jesus said, “Do this in memory of me.” Only a priest can do it. A priest is the heart, and mind of Jesus in the world. People love priests. What they hate are the actions that do not go along with the priesthood.”

The Sisters in Solidarity, a national forum of Catholic women in India, on February 6 demanded “absolute transparency and accountability” in the way the Church handles sex abuse cases.
The group, comprising religious and lay women, stresses revising canon law and the “theology of priesthood” to cleanse the Church of “elements that breed clericalism, which is an enabler of clerical sexual abuse.”
Such steps would prevent the recurrence of sexual harassment, abuse and abuse in the Church, asserts the solidarity in a letter sent to the Church hierarchy in the Vatican and India. The letter is written in the backdrop of the acquittal of Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar in the historic nun rape and the continued victimization of the accuser and her supporters.
The letter, signed by 15 women and endorsed by 1,263 men and women from around the world, expresses their deep concern and shock at the judgement and the court casting “aspersions on the character of the Sister survivor.”
Judge G Gopakumar of the Additional Sessions Court in Kerala’s Kottayam town on January 14 acquitted Bishop Mulakkal saying the prosecution had failed to prove the prelate’s guilt.
The accuser, a former superior general of the Missionaries of Jesus, a congregation under the diocese of Jalandhar, in June 2018 filed a police complaint alleging the bishop had sexually abused her multiple times between 2014 and 2016.
The group urges the Church authorities to keep Bishop Mulakkal away from any administrative responsibilities and spiritual leadership until the case is decided in appellate courts.
The defence lawyers in the case and groups such as the Save Our Sisters plan to appeal against the verdict in the Kerala High Court within two months’ time given by the trial court.
The group also also want the Church to keep Bishop Mulakkal away from Jalandhar lest he uses his “powerful influence to intimidate the sister survivor and her companions.”
All this will uphold the integrity and credibility of the Catholic Church, the women assert. They regret that the judgement over-looked that the bishop was “within a fiduciary relationship of power and authority over the victim as the patron of her congregation.”
The group says the judgment does not take into account the accuser’s “multiple vulnerabilities as a religious nun .Minor discrepancies in her statement are relied upon to project the survivor as a manipulator and a power hungry person who has filed a false complaint only to tarnish the image of the bishop at the instigation of his rivals.” Thereare are 1263 signitaries.

The top court in the western Indian state of Maharashtra has served notices on government officials seeking an explanation for the lack of burial grounds for Christians in Thane district.
The officials have been directed to file their replies on the contention that local Christians lacked sufficient space for burying their dead made in a public interest litigation by Melwyn Fernandes, a member of the Association of Concerned Catholics.
The bench of Chief Justice V.G. Bisht of Bombay High Court in its Jan. 31 order asked the officials to file their affidavits on or before March 11.
Christians in Thane, adjoi-ning the state capital Mumbai, formerly Bombay, are facing a severe lack of burial grounds, though some 10 plots of government land are earmarked for Christian cemeteries, Fernandes told on Feb. 2.
A right to information query filed by him revealed the reserved plots were located in Kalwa, Kopari, Navpada, Dawale and Daighar under the Thane Municipal Corporation, which had failed to allot them to the community.
Fernandes said these plots were now “either encroached by slum dwellers or handed over to builders, apparently in connivance with the government officials.” Christians, he said, approached the local authorities for releasing these reserved plots to the community but to no avail. “I was thus forced to move the high court seeking its intervention,” he said.

Christian leaders in India have lamented the dropping of the hymn “Abide With Me” from the annual celebrations marking Republic Day. The song is traditionally played during the Beating Retreat that takes place on Jan. 29, three days after Republic Day, which is observed Jan. 26.
The Beating Retreat is a special performance by military bands common in former British colonies belonging to the Commonwealth of Nations.
“Abide With Me” – written by Scottish composer Henry Francis Lyte in 1847 – was the favorite Christian hymn of Mahatma Gandhi and has been a fixture in the Beating Retreat ceremony since 1950. It is famous for being played at Elizabeth II’s wedding to Prince Philip in 1947 and is said to have been played by the band on the Titanic as the ship sunk in 1912.
The Christian hymn was dropped by Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi in favor of Kavi Pradeep’s “Aye Mere Watan Ke Logon,” a patriotic song written after the 1962 India-China war.
Government officials have said there was no reason to play a British hymn 75 years after independence, despite its connecting to Gandhi. Archbishop Emeritus of Guwahti, Thomas Menamparampil, told Crux that an average Indian would “be severely hurt at any effort to downgrade the image of Mahatma Gandhi,” who popularized “Abide With Me” in India. “And yet there is fringe element in Indian society today that is dead set on doing precisely this.