Sister Lucy Kalappura writes to Pope Francis, seeks Papal intervention

Sister Lucy Kalappura, the nun who stood by the raped nun against the then Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mullackal, wrote a letter to Pope Francis apparently seeking his intervention. In the letter, she had sought permission to clarify herself before the Pope and his intervention in recent developments.

Sister Lucy had recently received a letter from the Vatican dismissing her plea to revoke her expulsion from the FCC(Franciscan Clarist Congregation). The nun clarified that only one page of the letter was in English and the rest was scribed in the Latin language which was not understandable to her. She had requested a copy translated to English for the letter. The letter though rejecting her appeal gave her a single chance to raise her concern again.

After Vatican’s rejection of her plea, Sister Lucy Kalappura had received a letter of threatening tone demanding her to request forgiveness unconditionally and to revoke complaints given by her against some pastors trying to defame her in social media by means of video clips misrepresenting her accompanied by derogatory commentary. Sister Lucy rejected the letter and continued her fight saying “Justice is getting denied” and argued the congregation should stand by the victim, instead of harassing them.

A recent development also saw MC Josephine, Chairperson of Kerala Women’s commission denouncing Lucy for her absence during a hearing session held a week ago. Sister Lucy reacted by saying the Chairperson is acting on behalf of Congregation heads and a hearing is absurd.

The case started when a nun filed a complaint at Kottayam police station in June 2018, charging the Bishop of sexual harassment for up to two years. She alleged the Bishop used his position to summon her alone to his chamber to discuss an important issue and took advantage of her vulnerability, proceeding to harassment of sexual nature for up to two years. Sister Lucy supported the raped nun drawing the ire of the congregation.

Sister Lucy Kalapura was part of a protest by nuns when police failed to arrest the bishop.