Florine Roche
Mangaluru, Sep 16: God’s own country Kerala is beset with many problems these days - both natural and human made. The recent natural calamity of unprecedented deluge has devastated the country beyond imagination which could have been minimized if timely steps were initiated. Now that that the floods have receded and the state is trying its best to deal with the aftermath of the problems left by the floods, the state is in the news once again both globally and nationally for the sex scandals involving priests and nuns of the Catholic Church.
Bishop Franco Mulakkal
Land scams and sex scandals have plagued Christian churches from time to time in Kerala which has highest Christian population in India - nearing 6 million according to 2011 census. It may be recalled that sex scandals involving clergy of the Christian churches has brought disgrace to the all powerful church time and again. If we take our memories Sister Jasme who, after leaving the congregation of Mother of Carmel, had come out with a book back in 2008 – ‘Amen: The Autobiography of a Nun’ that gave lurid details of the abuse, sexual exploitation, bullying, homosexuality and mental agony she experienced from priest during the 30 years she spent in the congregation. Barely two years later another nun Sister Mary who had left the congregation disgusted, having spent 40 years of her fruitful years in the congregation, wrote an autographical book giving similar account of sexual exploitation and humiliation, thus rubbing more salt on the existing wounds of the Catholic Church.
In between there have been a few incidents that included the arrest of a 48 year old priest for raping and impregnating a minor girl which died down subsequently. The father of the minor girl in question was even forced to admit that he raped her own daughter in order to ‘protect the priest and the church’. One fails even gauge the mental trauma and humiliation the man must have experienced in doing so. Now once again the Catholic Church is finding itself in an ignominious situation with the rape complaint against a Bishop turning out to be a big storm if not Tsunami. Seven nuns of the Missionaries of Jesus congregation started a protest on September 8, 2018 demanding the arrest of Bishop Franco Mulakkal whom one of the nuns of the congregation accused of raping her. It is not often that we find nuns and priests protesting in public in India against their own ilk that includes the Vatican. The nuns have vowed to protest till rape accused Bishop is arrested based on their complaint. Two other nuns and an ex-nun also have come out about sexual harassment against the same Bishop.
The protesting nuns can now claim moral victory as Bishop Franco Mulakkal who steadfastly refused to relent despite protest by nuns and civilians, has finally stepped down as Bishop on September 15. He said that he is resigning as he is likely to be called for further clarification by investigating officers in Kerala. With the protest gaining worldwide publicity and with the intervention of the judiciary the bishop was forced to step down.
Bishop Mulakkal also belongs to the same congregation as that of the victim and the victim alleged that he visited her convent in Kuravilangad in Kerala in 2014 and raped her multiple times over two years. The victim had filed a complaint on June 29, 2018 against the Bishop which elicited no response either from the government or the police leaving her with no other option but to come out in protest openly. The victim in question had also tried to get justice by filing a complaint with the church authorities before going public. But her efforts proved futile.
The nuns of the congregation are not alone in their battle seeking justice against the powerful and the mighty Bishop who was the serving Bishop of Jalandhar till yesterday. The protest is spearheaded under the aegis of ‘Save our Sisters Action Council’, a conglomeration of eight independent church organizations in Kerala. There have been attempts by the powerful Bishop and his equally influential cohorts to belittle the protest and project it as a ‘fight against the church’ to dilute the issue. According to some media reports the Bishop even tried to bribe the family of the nun in question offering as much as Rs 5 crore to withdraw the complaint. Bishop Franco Murakkal got jittery as is evident from the contradictory statements he gave, which clearly show him in very poor light.
A series of scandals
Now that the issue is out in the public domain all the skeletons in the cupboard of the Catholic Church in Kerala and elsewhere are tumbling out one by one rendering a big blow to the reputation of the Catholic Church which is already facing a series of scandals. Not that complaint against sexual exploitation of nuns by priests is new as far as Kerala is concerned. Apart from this complaint against Jalandhur Bishop, there have been two other incidents of sexual exploitation in the recent months that rocked Kerala bringing a heap of ignominy. The case of four priests of Malankara Orthodox Syrian church who have been accused of allegedly blackmailing and sexually exploiting a married woman taking advantage of her confession, sent shock waves in Kerala and elsewhere. There was demand even to ban confession following this incident. There is also the case of sexual exploitation filed by a 39 year old woman of Alappuzha district against a priest of Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church.
The common thread in all these complaints is that these victims filed police complaint only after they failed to get justice from the church despite lodging complaints seeking justice. The nuns from Missionaries of Jesus congregation commenced their dharna as the Catholic Church had failed to give them justice by acting on the complaint. The victim had written to Pope Francis in Kay and to the State Secretary Cardinal Pietro Parolin in June. Let alone taking action, the Vatican, the nuns allege, has even failed to acknowledge the complaint they lodged against the Bishop. Though the nun has once again filed her complaint to the Apostolic Nuncio she has pinned her hopes on Indian judiciary to give her justice.
Gender bias
As expected, the judiciary has come to the rescue of the protesting nuns. The nuns have pointed out that the police failed to initiate any action against the all powerful Bishop and even sabotage the inquiry. The victim was questioned by the police many times but the Bishop against whom the complaint is lodged was summoned for questioning on September 12, 2018. A clear case of gender bias or the too powerful Bishop wielding his power in the police department!
The nun had lodged complaint on June 27, 2018 and there has been action from the police. Rather the police tried to sabotage by first registering Bishop’s complaint against the nun. Considering that the incident involves the Catholic Church the state government decided to go slow on the matter for the fear of offending the sizeable catholic population. However, the delay to investigate the matter has prompted the Kerala High Court to intervene and asked the government to submit the progress made in the investigation. Following judicial reproach the police must have acted which must have prompted Bishop Mulakkal to resign. The judiciary has expressed satisfaction over the progress made in the investigation.
It was little surprise that the Missionaries of Jesus congregation been defending Bishop Franco Mulakkal who had shown no inclination to step down from his post till investigations were completed. Rather, the bishop insolent and was resorting to ‘victim shaming’ and character assassination to silence the voice of the protesters. Independent MLA of Kerala P C George calling the victim ‘a prostitute’ is a ploy used the powerful lobby of the bishop to shame victim and the protesting the nuns and to lower their morale.
According to available reports 12 priests have been arrested in the last 18 months in Kerala. While these are based on complaints filed, there might be many more incidents which go unreported considering that ‘shaming the victim’ is a powerful weapon used to silence women who complain about sexual abuse. Remember, there were efforts to declare Sister Jasme insane and the church even called her ‘sex worker’ after she came out with her telltale biography.
Overcoming fear and shame
Every time a rape victim comes out in the open about the rape many especially the men folk question the motive of coming out in the open not immediately but after a gap. It is easy for anyone to point an accusing finger at a woman especially when the victim and the accused are known to each other. In this case for the rape survivor nun it was not easy to come out of the trauma and take the bold step of waging a battle against the mighty institution.
Needless to say the victim nun who has lodged complaint against the Bishop has exhibited enormous courage and resoluteness to risk her own honour and character in her quest for justice. She has overcome her tremendous fear and ‘shame’ usually associated with rape victims. It is not just her reputation and that of her congregation which has come under public scanner following her decision to fight against the tyranny of the bishop but that of the entire community of Catholic nuns as there is a tendency to belittle their sacrifice and service. The protesting nuns have rightly said that the bishop has been using his political and money power to silence them. This is evident from the numerous defense mechanisms put into circulation by the bishop including the theory of ‘illicit relationship’ of the nun with her relative and the oft repeated ‘conspiracy theory’ to bring disrepute to the church.
Sexual exploitation and assault can be a humiliating experience to recount even privately let alone come out about it openly. No woman and that too, a nun would risk such high stakes of public shame by concocting lies or as an act of vendetta. Now that the Bishop has stepped down there should be an impartial investigation and law must take its own course despite the high profile of the accused. Hope good sense would prevail.