Bishop Franco Mulakkal was recently in the news with the reports stating that he is likely to be reinstated as the Bishop of Jalandhar after Vatican is ready to accept the verdict by an Indian court acquitted him in a rape case. However, sources at the church in Kerala as well as Jalandhar say that the news is a ‘self-generated’ propaganda by Bishop Franco and his supporters, and there is no move to reinstate him.
Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli, apostolic nuncio to India and Nepal, reportedly said on June 11, that the Vatican has accepted the Kottayam Additional Sessions Court’s order dated January 15, 2022, acquitting Bishop Franco in the rape of a nun between 2014-16. The nun is from the Missionaries of Jesus convent in Kuruvilangad, in the interior in Kottayam district of Kerala, and filed an appeal against Franco’s acquittal in the high court in March.
"Accordingly Bishop Franco is innocent and free of all charges. He is an Indian citizen and the Vatican goes by the decision of the local court," a report in Matters India quoted the nuncio as saying. Bishop Franco headed the Jalandhar diocese of the Syro-Malabar church, headquartered in Kochi, Kerala. The Apostolic Nunciature (Pope's Ambassador) to India in September 2018 had accepted the request of Franco to relieve him of his religious duties temporarily.
However, James Sandhu, Ex-Parish Council President at the Holy Trinity Church, Jalandhar, who was present during the nuncio’s two-day visit at Jaladhar, told TNM that the Franco case was not even on the agenda. “Here in Jalandhar, there are some priests who are supporting Franco, and I believe that this is propaganda planted by them,” he alleged. “Franco’s reappointment is pending with the Vatican. And as long as the case is pending with the high court or Supreme Court in India, he cannot be reinstated,” he added.
“If anyone is lobbying for Bishop Franco, it’s him. The nunico’s visit was a friendly one. One of the priests asked the nuncio that while the court was checking if that was rape, will the church will look into it as the violation of the sixth commandment (celibacy). The priest also asked how a Bishop can continue in the post if there was violation of the sixth commandment. Then the nuncio said that the church will accept the court order as he (Bishop Franco) is an Indian citizen, but since there is an appeal that will be looked upon in that way. Then, the priest asked a second question: what is the church’s stand on the sixth commandment, since this could set a precedent. Then the answer was that the church will look into the matter,” a source in Jalandhar church told TNM.
The source added, “In all the conversations, there was neither an intention expressed that the Vatican will reinstate him or give him a clean chit, nor that he will be eligible to come back. This is pure hoax planted by Bishop Franco to make him a saint. It’s true that the nuncio said that the court order will be respected as Bishop Franco is an Indian citizen, but the nuncio said nothing about reinstating him; that is Bishop Franco’s own creation. The nuncio is also said that the case is in the court (referring to the appeal) and that the church also accepts that. In Jalandhar, no one is interested in him coming back.”
Meanwhile, Save Our Sisters (SOS), a forum formed to support the survivor nun and those who support her, wrote to the Vatican requesting it not to reinstate Franco as the Bishop of Jalandhar, until the appeal against the lower court’s judgment is heard and decided by the High court of Kerala. The letter is addressed to Pope Francis.
“The nun narrated the acts of rape and unnatural sexual acts perpetrated on the person of the nun. The Bishop by the plea of alibi says that he did not stay in the convent on the 5th and 6th is proved to be false. So, the case stands proved without any need of further evidence. But, there are numerous other evidences, by the oral and written admissions of the Bishop. So, the rape case remains proved absolutely and the ‘abduction and attempt to murder case' of the accused Bishop stands dismissed being totally false,” SOS has argued in the letter. “All the eminent lawyers who studied the judgment (of the lower court) are of unanimous opinion that the judgment is very bad and will have only a short life as it will be reversed on appeal,” it added.