Jalandhar: In a clear vindication of our expose that the removal of Bishop Franco Mulakkal from pastoral duties as the Bishop of the Archdiocese of Jalandhar was merely an eye-wash by the Vatican and Catholic Bishops Conference of India, the Public Relations Officer of Jalandhar Diocese Fr Peter Kavumpuram has now come out with statement stating the Apostolic Administrator Bishop Agnelo Rubfino Gracias has no power to interfere over administrative affairs of the Missionaries of Jesus congregation.
This shocking and revealing statement comes at a time when the Apostolic Administrator Bishop Agnelo Gracias who was appointed by Pope Francis when Bishop Franco Mulakkal asked to be relieved of his pastoral duties in the Jalandhar diocese to attend to the summons of the Kerala Police, withdrew the transfer orders issued by the Mother Superior General of the Missionaries of Jesus congregation to the five nuns who have been standing in the defiant support of the 44-year old nun who has accused the senior clergy man of rape and sodomy.
Interestingly, the Missionaries of Jesus congregation was founded by the Jalandhar Diocese. Currently, according to the Vatican’s admission Bishop Franco Mulakkal has been relieved of his pastoral duties because Bishop Agnelo Gracias is now the Apostolic Administrator. Yet the PRO of the Jalandhar Diocese – a man known to be extremely close to Bishop Franco Mulakkal and has been at the forefront of the smear campaign against the nun who exposed the sadistic and rapist nature of the Bishop, decides to override the withdrawal order of the Apostolic Administrator.
When the fighting nuns questioned the authority of the priest to override the decision of the apostolic administrator, Kavumpuram told them that he had issued the clarification with the nod off the former Bishop of Jalandhar.
This step of Fr Kavumpuram, guided by the accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal exposes the double standards of the Catholic Church of India and moreover the Vatican in following the Indian authorities and courts, more importantly working on a sinister plan to harass and threaten the nuns.
