Indian bishop arrested on charges of raping nun - police

 

Bishop Franco Mulakkal (2nd R), accused of raping a nun, is escorted by police outside a crime branch office on the outskirts of Kochi in the southern state of Kerala, India, September 21, 2018. REUTERS/Sivaram V

 

KOCHI, India (Reuters) - A Roman Catholic bishop was arrested in the south Indian state of Kerala on Friday on charges of raping a nun, police said, a day after the Vatican accepted the bishop's request to be temporarily relieved of his duties.

 

There was no immediate comment from Bishop Franco Mulakkal or his lawyers - though he has denied the charges in interviews in the past.

 

Mulakkal, who heads the diocese of Jalandhar, wrote to the Vatican on Sunday asking to step down temporarily as protests and calls for his arrest grew. The Vatican accepted his request on Thursday.

 

"He is charged with rape," said Kochi's inspector general of police, Vijay Sakhare.

 

A Vatican spokesman said he had no immediate comment on the matter.

 

The arrest comes at a time when the state's Christian community is reeling from a string of cases - including the arrests of five priests last month on allegations of sexual assault. Their church said it believed the priests were innocent.

 

Outside India, the Catholic Church is facing sexual abuse scandals in the United States, Chile, Australia, Germany and other countries.

 

Pope Francis has summoned the heads of national Catholic bishops from around the world to the Vatican to discuss the protection of minors at an extraordinary meeting from Feb. 21-24.

 

Mulakkal, 54, was ordained as a priest in 1990 in the northern Indian Punjab state and was elevated as the bishop of the Diocese of Jalandhar five years ago.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-09-22

This kind of stuff has been going on for centuries.....usually it's a boy though.

There is something funny about the OP photo.. the guys at the back look like they are about to jump on the guy.

2 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Their church said it believed the priests were innocent.

Yes. They would say that, wouldn't they!

 

The more exposure that religions get of this nature and the more denial they retreat into, the more they become discredited.

 

I have no time for this religion rubbish. None of it!

 

..what if the bishop simply wanted to reproduce and give life to new candidates for "vocation"? ?

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Pope Francis has summoned the heads of national Catholic bishops from around the world to the Vatican to discuss the protection of minors at an extraordinary meeting from Feb. 21-24.

Peter Isely, co-founder of SNAP a network of victims, said the Vatican has profound knowledge of around 5,000 clerics who abused children. 
But that won't keep “Francy”, self-proclaimed God's representative on earth, from traveling through the world, kissing minors on any possible occasion  tzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

            

relieved from his duties and moved to an inactive post, 
( this inactive post suitably being an Indian prison, what is a few stars less than the Bangkok Hilton. )
for many years I hope, how low can one go

5 hours ago, rooster59 said:

A Vatican spokesman said he had no immediate comment on the matter.

 

They're going to look into it and take serious action. Just kidding.

 

 

The Catholic Church should offer a week of holidays every year in Phuket or Pattaya to all its priests ... as a preventive to calm them down for the rest of the year?