The Vatican said seeking his resignation was not a disciplinary action, and there are no canonical restrictions on the ministry by Mulakkal.
File photo of Franco Mulakkal. (Supplied)
Franco Mulakkal, against whom an appeal is pending in the Kerala High Court in the sensational nun rape case, has relinquished his post as the bishop of Jalandhar in Punjab after Pope Francis accepted his resignation on Thursday, 1 June.
The 57-year-old Latin Catholic priest from Thrissur in Kerala will now be known as Bishop Emeritus of Jalandhar.
Confirming this through a statement issued in New Delhi, the Apostolic Nunciature of the Holy See to India, which represents the Vatican in the country, said the resignation was not “requested” as a disciplinary measure, and there would be no canonical restriction on ministry by Mulakkal.
In place of Mulakkal, Bishop Agnelo Gracias will now onwards lead the Jalandhar diocese as an apostolic administrator.
The Apostolic Nunciature clarified further that Mulakkal’s resignation was requested as “pro bono Ecclesiae” for the good of the diocese, which needs a new bishop.
Pope Francis temporarily relieved Mulakkal from his pastoral responsibilities in 2018 after the rape allegations caught worldwide attention and resulted in his arrest, judicial remand, and trial.
Mulakkal’s pastoral responsibilities were not restored despite the additional district and sessions court in Kottayam acquitting the bishop of rape charges last year.
In February this year, Mulakkal visited the Pope at the Vatican and held talks with him.
In a video message released soon after the official confirmation of the Vatican accepting his resignation, Mulakkal said he had informed the Pope during the meeting about his decision to step down.
“I resigned for the sake of the Jalandhar diocese and the appointment of a new bishop,” he said in the video.
In its statement, the Apostolic Nunciature specified that the Pope respected the Kottayam trial court’s verdict and the appeals.
The Kerala government and the rape survivor filed appeals challenging the trial court verdict, and they are pending in the Kerala High Court now.
In its appeal, the Kerala government pointed out that the evidence given by the survivor and corroborated by several witnesses and documentary evidence proved that the then mother superior of St Francis Mission Home in Kuravilangad in the Kottayam district of Kerala was subjected to offences against the order of nature and rape by Bishop Mulakkal, who wielded power and control over the home.
The prosecution proved through documentary evidence the presence of the accused there on the days when the rape and sexual assault took place.
However, without appreciating the evidence from the correct perspective, the trial court misconstrued facts and the law, and acquitted him of the charges of rape, the state said.
The appeal also alleged that the trial judge approached the evidence presented by the prosecution with a predetermined mindset.
The judge attempted to discredit the survivor by wrongly considering the evidence, the appeal alleged.
In her appeal petition, the survivor accused Mulakkal of raping her multiple times during his visit to the convent in Kottayam between 2014 and 2016, when he was the bishop of the Jalandhar diocese.
The nun is a member of the Missionaries of Jesus, a diocesan congregation under the Jalandhar Diocese.
Mulakkal’s acquittal in the case had led to large-scale outrage across Kerala and landed the Catholic Church in a tight spot.
Women’s groups, rights activists, and legal luminaries who forced the state government to appeal against the trial court verdict blamed the Church for the cruel way it was treating the survivor and nuns who supported her.
Meanwhile, the six nuns who opposed Mulakkal and thus invited disciplinary action by the Church were unavailable to comment on Mulakkal’s resignation despite South First attempting to reach out to them.
Earlier, they clarified that they would go to any extent and ensure maximum punishment for the bishop.
Confined to a convent near Kottayam, the six nuns — whom the Church considers rebels — told investigating agencies that the top clergyman had engaged in continued sexual assault and rape, using threat and intimidation as cover.
The six nuns include the 46-year-old who accused Mulakkal of forcibly entering her room and raping her multiple times over two years.
They alleged that they had been experiencing extreme isolation from the Church leadership since their testimony against Mulakkal.
The isolation would further aggravate if the appeal courts failed to ensure justice for the victim, they said.
After they levelled allegations against Mulakkal, other nuns in the convent gave them the silent treatment, they said.
The six nuns are kept in the dark about the activities of the entire congregation to which they and the accused bishop belong.
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