The voice of the six bells of St Peter's Basilca announced that the Church has its new Pope.
Slamming the public outcry over the alleged delay in action against Jalandhar Bishop, Auxilary Bishop of Changanassery Archdiocese, Thomas Tharayil sought to know whether declaring a person guilty without an investigation and trial was also a new Kerala model.
Father Sarto, who visited the affected areas along with a team comprising clergy and lay volunteers, said that most of the families, especially children, were still traumatised after the March 14 firing and the violent incidents that followed.
The nun alleged that she was subjected to sexual abuse 13 times.
'Senior Vatican officials were pleasantly surprised at the number of Indians who had come to witness the ceremony.'
Police have initiated action against independent MLA P C George who had levelled derogatory charges against the victimised nun.
She alleged that by continuing in the position of Jalandhar diocese Bishop, Franco Mulakkal and his close associates "are using the wealth of the diocese to divert" the course of the police investigation.
As the prosecution failed to produce evidence against the accused, the Additional District and Sessions Court II acquitted the Bishop.
They alleged that the police probing the case was trying to sabotage the investigation.
Pope Francis has died, the Vatican said on Monday. The Pope passed away on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, at the age of 88 at his residence in the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta, according to a statement from the Vatican.
Even as the victim-nun moved the high court to set aside the acquittal, the state government on Wednesday granted sanction for filing an appeal against the trial court's January 14, 2022 decision.
Franco Mulakkal, accused of raping a nun several times between 2014 and 2016, is currently out on bail.
Sister Lucy Kalappura, one of the nuns who protested against rape-accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal, in her autobiography titled 'Karthaavinte Naamathil' (In the name of the Lord) writes that even church leaders who supported the sisters, the victims of sexual abuse, have now started supporting the accused.
The court cancelled his bail, considering the prosecution argument that the accused was trying to delay the trial, and posted the case to August 13.
Roman Catholic bishop Franco Mulakkal was arrested on September 21 after being accused of repeatedly raping and sexually abusing a nun between 2014 and 2016.
She alleged that she has been isolated and humiliated by fellow inmates of the convent.
Granting bail, the court directed him not to leave the state till the chargesheet is read out to him on August 13 and to be present court on the dates of hearing of the case.
The protest led by the nuns and Catholic reformist forums in Kochi in September had led to a public outrage and demands for action against the bishop.
A group of nuns of Kuravilangad convent in Kottayam district of Kerala, who have been standing with the survivor in her fight, were on the verge of tears when they said they were yet to believe such a verdict came out from the court and they did not know what has happened.
Pope Francis shaped the Church he led. And in death, his reforms shape his farewell.
The clergyman has been shifted to the sub-jail in Pala after completing his medical examination at a government hospital.
The Additional Sessions Court Judge read out to Mulakkal, who was present in the court, the charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code including the punishment for offence for rape as it commenced trial proceedings in the sensational case.
At least 15 persons were killed and 80 others injured when Taliban suicide attackers targeted two packed churches during mass on Sunday in Pakistan's biggest Christian neighbourhood in Lahore, the capital of Punjab.
Bishop Mulakkal, a senior member of the Roman Catholic clergy in India, was arrested last year following allegations by the nun that he repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted her at the Kuravilangad convent between 2014 and 2016, a charge denied by him.
Police had said the nun was subjected to rape and unnatural sex by the accused at the guest house of St Francis Mission Home 13 times between 2014 and 2016.
The Bishop will have to surrender his passport and his entry to Kerala will be restricted.
Nuns doubt Bishop Franco still wields power in the diocese.
After two years of muted festivities due to COVID-19, crowds thronged churches across the country this Christmas on Sunday for special prayers as people celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ.
The nuns -- Alphy, Anupama, Josephine and Ancitta -- were served notice by the superior general of the congregation, Regina Kadamthottu, urging them to take up their assigned responsibilities as befitting members of the Missionaries of Jesus congregation.
'The problem is not lack of evidence, but the unholy alliance between political parties and church authorities.' 'If you are raising a voice against the priest, you and your family will suffer.'
Mother Teresa will be declared a saint by Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church in a canonisation ceremony in Vatican City on Sunday in the presence of over a lakh of her followers from all over the world.
The 54-year old Mulakkal was arrested by Kerala police after intense interrogation in Kochi over the last three days.
Anti-conversion laws are needed since thrusting the idea of a competitive battlefield of religion onto India's pluralistic traditions can only lead to greater communal conflict, says Sankrant Sanu
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