Vatican dismisses Kerala nun’s appeal challenging decision to expel her

The Vatican has dismissed an appeal by a Kerala nun challenging the Franciscan Clarist Congregation’s (FCC) decision to expel her for “failing to give a satisfactory explanation for her lifestyle in violation of FCC laws.”

Sister Lucy Kalapura, who took part in a protest seeking the arrest of Bishop Franco Mulakkal, accused of raping a nun, was expelled in August this year. The congregation had charged her with publishing poems, purchasing a car and taking part in a protest against the accused former bishop of Jalandhar diocese.

The nun said she got a communiqué from the Vatican with a covering letter by Ann Joseph, the superior general of FCC in New Delhi. “The recourse presented by Sister Kalapura stands rejected. If she considers the present decree is against her lawful rights, she can present a new recourse,” said the letter from Delhi.

“I have nowhere to go. I will remain at the convent and will send another letter to the Vatican to revoke the punishment,” she said. She is currently attached to the Mananthwadi diocese in Wayanad, north Kerala. She was issued four show-cause notices, had replied to all and even appeared before the superior general. She said her struggle was not against the church but against those who supported injustice.

In June 2018, a 43-year-old nun had filed a police complaint in Kottayam alleging Bishop Franco Mulakkal had sexually assaulted her after summoning her on the pretext of discussing an important issue in 2014 and it continued for two more years. Sister Kalapura was part of a protest by nuns when police failed to arrest the bishop.