Sister Lucy fights back, asks for audience with the Pope for her case

Just days after the Vatican rejected Sister Lucy Kalapura's appeal against her expulsion by the Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC), in continuation of her fight, she has written to Perfect Leonardo Cardinal Sandri asking for an audience with the Pope to present her case and to give a chance for her to appear before a tribunal to reconsider the expulsion decision. Meanwhile, Sister Lucy has also appealed to the Supreme Tribunal of the Signatura Apostolica against the ‘disciplinary action’ taken against her by the FCC. in her letter, she says,

"I am a collateral victim of this Franco Mulakkal scandal, in regard to which the mettle of the Church’s commitment to truth and justice is being tested in full public view."

READ: Sister Lucy to appeal against the rejection by the Vatican

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Renouncing the charges 

Standing her ground against the FCC, in her letter, Sister Lucy Kalappura alleges that another nun who stood by the rape survivor is being pressurised by the church to withdraw support and not pursue the case against Bishop Franco Mulakkal. Despite the Vatican dismissing her appeal challenging the FCC’s decision to expel her, she persists in renouncing the charges made against her.

"In my case too, what purports to be ‘disciplinary action’, and what in reality are reprisals, against me commenced only after I stood by the sisters of the Missionaries of Jesus in their efforts to secure justice for the outraged nun. This is amply evident from the show cause notice issued to me, a copy of which is attached for ready reference", she writes.

Even as the trial against Bishop Franco Mulakkal drags on, with the Church standing behind him steadfastly, Sister Lucy does not abate their campaign against him.

‘I wish to urge strenuously that the actions initiated against me, and the vindictiveness it reeks of, cannot be understood aright if they are seen in isolation from the Franco Mulakkal matter as the trigger. I fervently hope that the honorable members of the Tribunal would appreciate the truth that I am a collateral victim of this Franco Mulakkal scandal, in regard to which the mettle of the Church’s commitment to truth and justice is being tested in full public view’.

Sister Lucy was among the nuns from the Missionaries of Jesus Congregation who had dauntlessly staged a protest in Kochi, demanding the arrest of Bishop Franco Mulakkal whom one of their fellow nuns had accused of raping her on multiple occasions. Putting the onus on the Vatican, Sister Lucy urges them to reconsider the rejection and appeals, ‘The only thing that will salvage the credibility of the Catholic Church in this context is to be seen as committed to truth and justice, without fear or favor. Attempts to the contrary are sure to be self-condemnatory; a concern that I cannot disown.

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