Church losing its credibility, worried clergy tell CBCI

LDUKKI: Several senior priests, nuns and lay leaders from various parts of the country have written to Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI ) president Oswald Gracious and Vatican Nuncio Giambattista Diquattro to remove bishop Franco Mulakal of

Jalandhar

diocese who has been accused of raping a nun of the same diocese.


"We are particularly concerned about the mud-slinging going on between the bishop and his priests on the one hand and the aggrieved sister and her family on the other that has turned the Church into an object of ridicule for people of the entire country, thus causing a lot of harm to the Church and in particular to the faith of the people. The accused bishop continuing to remain in his position will erode the faith of the people in the credibility of the Church to implement its policy of zero tolerance and act justly in abuse matters," said the letter to the Vatican Nuncio.

The letter to CBCI president also seeks implementation of the CBCI guidelines on minors and sexual harassment cases in India.

" In now that the case has gone to the courts, we urge you to please advice Pope Francis to relieve the bishop concerned of his pastoral responsibilities, so that the Church is seen to actually practice the 'zero tolerance' it professes to observe in abuse cases. With the accused bishop continuing to remain in his position, it will continue to erode the faith of the people in the credibility of the Church to implement its policy of zero tolerance and act justly in abuse matters," said the letter to the CBCI president.

Virginia Saldanha (Mumbai), former secretary, CBCI Women's Commission & FABC Laity Commission, said in the letter, "There are some who feel that the sister is cooking up the story. I would like to remind you that even the courts are accepting the woman's word as evidence. No woman is going to come out with a fabricated story against the power of the Church, knowing its consequences."

"For the past five days, we have been collecting signatures and they will be submitted to the Vatican Nuncio and CBCI president soon. We hope the Pope will remove the bishop from his post," said a senior priest from New Delhi.