The Union of Catholic Asian News (UCAN) published a report on Friday where it was stated that Church activists suspect “political interference and sectarian hate” behind the refusal of the state to grant bail to the nun who was arrested last year after being accused of selling babies. The nun belonged to the Missionaries of Charity.

“I feel there is some strong element of political pressure in the case. Otherwise, the court has always granted bail in such cases,” said AC. Michael, a Christian leader and former member of the Delhi Minorities Commission, as per the report.

Jenis Francis, a Christian activist and lawyer, blamed sectarian hate for the nun’s continued incarceration. “A person is innocent until proven guilty. Why the nun continues to languish in prison is beyond one’s reach of reason,” Jenis said. “The prejudice against Mother Teresa is deeply rooted in the minds of Hindu fanatics. The name of Mother Teresa is deliberately being dragged into the case to defame her name and the work of her nuns among the poor,” Jenis told ucanews.com.

It appears rather bizarre that Church activists choose to blame ‘sectarian hatred’ and ‘political interference’ for the accused nun’s continued imprisonment given the extremely checkered conduct of the church in the past. Catholic-run institutions are known to shelter and protect paedophiles and sexual predators and indulge in a myriad of illegal activities. Under such circumstances, to blame ‘sectarian hatred’ appears rather revolting.

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Moreover, the nun is accused of a heinous crime. Selling babies is no small matter. In June, 22 files were recovered from the banks of the Swarnrekha river in Namkum. The files are believed to be related to the business of selling babies and the investigation has been handed over the CID. The investigative agency will now try to decipher what the files contain, why an attempt was made to dispose of them and where they came from.

The baby-selling racket was unearthed last year when the Police discovered that at least 4 babies were sold by the nun working at Nirmal Hriday, a shelter home run by the Missionaries of Charity. It was further discovered by the Police that there was no information about as many as 280 children born at Missionaries of Charity shelters in Ranchi. It is a huge scandal. Blaming ‘sectarian hatred’ for keeping people involved in such crimes inside prisons only betrays the Church’s involvement in it.

The Missionaries of Charity is currently under investigation in other matters as well. Last month, the Jharkhand state government recommended the Union Home Ministry to initiate a CBI investigation into foreign donations received and spent by Missionaries of Charity and all its subsidiaries.

It is not unheard for the Church to protect criminals in their midst. They have, after all, protected sexual predators and paedophiles for years. Even the Pope is accused of taking no action against a priest he knew was involved in abusing children sexually but instead elevating him to higher echelons of power. In India, the manner in which Bishop Franco Mulakkal, accused of raping a nun, was protected by the Church is well known to everyone.

Under such circumstances, for church activists to blame ‘sectarian hatred’ instead of reflecting upon the horrific crime allegedly committed by the nun is precisely why criminals will continue to have a free run in churches. As long as Christian activists continue to blame everyone else under the sun apart from the devils in their own midst, corruption in Churches will continue to run rampant.