WAC International Press Release: Support appeal against acquittal of Indian bishop
We strongly support the appeal against the acquittal of the Indian Bishop on 13 charges of raping a religious sister
Press Release
21 January 2022 In Kerala, India, Judge Kottayam G. Gopakumar delivered a 289 page judgement acquitting Bishop Franco Mulakkal of 13 charges of raping a religious sister in an order of which he was the patron.
This judgement has very serious implications for women and women religious in our many patriarchal societies.
In the church, where does a woman turn when the leadership is all male, men who protect each other and stand by each other to defend the crimes of their brother priests? The Catholic Church has known for decades about the sexual and spiritual abuse of women religious but has failed to provide any effective mechanism or structure to handle complaints of abuse of women within the institution.
We offer our prayers and full support to the sister who has suffered this ongoing traumatic ordeal and to the Sisters in Solidarity, the group of women activists, nuns and lawyers who are accompanying the sisters.
We strongly support the appeal against this acquittal.
Colm Holmes
Chair, We Are Church International
M +353 86 606 3636
We Are Church International (WAC) founded in Rome in 1996, is a global coalition of national church reform groups. It is committed to the renewal of the Roman Catholic Church based on the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) and the theological spirit developed from it.
Women are a problem for the Catholic Church, an institution with ingrained misogyny - Soline Humbert
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