DELHI: The Vatican has announced that it has accepted the resignation of an Indian bishop accused of raping a nun between 2014 and 2016, an allegation Bishop Franco Mulakkal always denied.
Franco Mulakkal, 54, was the bishop of Jalandhar in the state of Punjab was found not guilty in a last year court trial in Kerala state. The Vatican’s diplomatic representative in India said that the high court in Kerala admitted an appeal against Mulakkal’s acquittal.
On Thursday, Mulakkal confirmed his resignation and thanked his supporters for standing by him in difficult times.
The Vatican’s diplomatic representative said, given the “still divisive condition”, Mulakkal’s resignation was requested “for the good of the Jalandhar diocese” and to make way for a new bishop, The Times of India reported. He said It wasn’t a disciplinary action against Mulakkal as the Joint Christian Council, the Federation of Christian Organisations, welcomed the decision.
The nun who accused Mulakkal of rape belonged to the Missionaries of Jesus, a congregation in Kerala that is part of the Jalandhar diocese. She had alleged that the bishop raped her 13 times, and assaults happened when he visited the convent where she lived in Kottayam.
She petitioned the Vatican and wrote an open letter to the Pope’s representative in Delhi in 2018 – which she insisted was her fourth letter to them. This led to protests by nuns and activists who came out in support of the females.
Mulakkal was arrested in 2018. The Vatican had temporarily relieved the bishop of his duties. In 2022, after the trial court acquitted him, the nun’s lawyers said they would challenge the verdict in the high court.
