Bishop Franco Mulakkal's birthday is printed on the calender.

KOCHI: Come March 2019, Christian families who subscribe to Catholica Sabha — the official mouthpiece of Thrissur archdiocese — and have availed its calendar, would have the image of Jalandhar bishop Franco Mulakkal staring at them from their wall. The rape accused bishop is currently out on bail.

Normally, only pictures of bishops of the archdiocese are printed on the calendar and March 25 is the birthday of the bishop. “It is highly improper and callous on part of the church as they should never have printed the image of a person undergoing investigation for a heinous crime like rape,” said a member of the laity from Thrissur.

There were several social media posts criticising metropolitan Mar Thazhath Andrews for allowing this to happen. “This could be seen only as an attempt to whitewash the crimes of bishop Franco Mulakkal,” said a Facebook post by Lukose Joseph.

Official spokesperson of Kerala Catholics Bishops Council Fr Varghese Vallikkatt said he was unaware of such a calendar published by the Thrissur archdiocese. “KCBC has not issued any directive to withdraw the calendar,” he said. Sources said the calendar is likely to be delivered to subscribers on December 1.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Church could oust a senior priest of Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese Fr Augustine Vattoly for attending a protest against Father Fanco Mulakkal, who is accused of repeatedly raping a nun between 2013 and 2016.

In a letter addressed to Fr Vattoly — who is also the general convener of the Save Our Sisters (SOS) action council which was set up to expand the reach of the protest by nuns — Mar Jacob Manathodath, the apostolic administrator of the archdiocese, has warned of strict actions if the priest fails to obey the Church. The letter, dated November 12, had warned the priest from attending the protest conducted by the SOS in Thiruvananthapuram on November 14 to demand cancellation of bail for Mulakkal. The priest has been asked to submit an explanation before November 25.

The letter further said, “It is reported that you celebrate Holy Qurbana only rarely and your public expression of priestly prayer life and faith is in question.“

