Pope accepts resignation of controversial Indian bishop acquitted of raping nun

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of an Indian bishop who was acquitted of raping a nun.

Franco Mulakkal, 59, had been accused of raping a nun between 2014 and 2016. He had denied the allegations and was found not guilty by a court in Kerala in southern India last year.

Mr Mulakkal was a bishop at the Diocese of Jalandhar city in northern India’s Punjab state.

The Vatican on Thursday confirmed Mr Mulakkal’s resignation and said it was not over any disciplinary action against him.

Mr Mulakkal’s resignation was requested “for the good of the Jalandhar diocese” and to make way for a new bishop, said a statement by Apostolic Nunciature, the Vatican’s diplomatic representative in India.

“Given the still divisive situation about the aforesaid matter in the Diocese of Jalandhar, the resignation has been requested from the Rt Rev Mulakkal not as a disciplinary measure imposed upon him, but as pro bono Ecclesiae, especially for the good of the Jalandhar diocese, which needs a new bishop,” said the statement, according to The Times of India.

Mr Mulakkal shall hereafter be known as bishop emeritus of Jalandhar.

In 2018, a nun from Kerala filed a case against Mr Mulakkal, accusing him of raping her multiple times during his visit to her convent in Kerala’s Kottayam city between 2014 and 2016.

He was temporarily relieved of his duties as a pastor in 2018 following allegations of rape by the nun.

In October that year, a key witness in the case had died. Kuriakose Kattuthara, a priest who worked in Punjab, had died in his room just weeks after providing testimony against Mr Mulakkal.

The priest’s brother, Jose Kurian, had petitioned Kerala’s chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan to probe Kattuthara’s death, The Hindu newspaper had reported.

“During the course of the investigation, my brother was repeatedly threatened by persons close to bishop Mulakkal,” he had alleged in his petition after his brother’s death. “They damaged a car and threw stones at his house in Jalandhar.”

“He even feared for his life. Our family have strong suspicions regarding the mysterious sudden death of my brother,” he had said.

In 2019, it was reported that the nun who accused Mr Mulakkal of raping her had alleged church officials had urged her to keep silent about the case.

The church had acknowledged the allegations only after five of the woman’s fellow nuns had mutinied and rallied to her side publicly. They had said there was heavy pressure on her to remain silent.

“How can I tell my son about this, that the person teaching us the difference between right and wrong gave him his First Communion after committing such a terrible sin?” one of the nuns had been quoted as saying by the New York Times.

In January last year, the trial court in Kerala acquitted Mr Mulakkal of rape and sexual assault charges. Despite the verdict being in his favour, he was not given any new responsibilities in the Jalandhar church.

In a video message, the bishop emeritus thanked his supporters for backing him during “difficult times” and confirmed that he has resigned.

Bishops traditionally resign when they turn 75.

Meanwhile, the nun who had accused Mr Mulakkal of rape has moved Kerala’s state high court against the trial court verdict.