The Indian bishop, Franco Mulakkal, allegedly accused of rape last year has tendered his resignation letter on Thursday.
The Vatican announced that it has accepted
the resignation of the 54-year-old Mulakkal accused of raping a nun between
2014 and 2016.
Mulakkal, the bishop of Jalandhar in the
state of Punjab, who had denied the allegations was found not guilty last year
by a trial court in Kerala state, according to BBC.
The Vatican’s diplomatic representative in
India said that an appeal against Mulakkal’s acquittal had been admitted in the
high court in Kerala.
Mulakkal, yesterday, confirmed his
resignation and thanked his supporters for standing by him in difficult times.
Given the “still divisive situation”,
Mulakkal’s resignation was requested “for the good of the Jalandhar diocese”
and to make way for a new bishop, the Vatican’s diplomatic representative said
in a statement.
It was not a disciplinary action against Mulakkal,
he said.
The Joint Christian Council, a federation of
Christian organisations, said it 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 the assaults happened when he visited the convent where she lived in
the city of Kottayam, in Kerala.
She petitioned the Vatican and wrote an open
letter to the Pope’s representative in the Indian capital of Delhi in 2018 –
which she claimed was her fourth letter to them.
This led to unprecedented protests by nuns
and activists who came out in support of the woman.
Several other nuns who protested against the
bishop had accused the church in Kerala as well as Vatican officials of turning
a blind eye towards the rape allegations.
Mulakkal was arrested in Kerala in 2018. The
Vatican had temporarily relieved the bishop of his duties.
In 2022, after he was acquitted by the trial
court, the nun’s lawyers said they would challenge the verdict in the high
court.
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