Babu K Peter By

KOCHI: Amidst the heated debate over headscarf, the Kerala Ex-priests and Nuns Association has come up with the demand that nuns be liberated from the custom of wearing veil.

Leaders of the organisation, which is part of the Kerala Catholic Church Reformation Movement (KCRM), have also urged the Church authorities to conduct a referendum among nuns on making veil mandatory. “It may seem that the Church is politically utilising the recent incident in which a nun who refused to remove her veil was denied permission to attend the All-India Medical Entrance Examination. The Church has to follow the rule of law in the country,” they said.

“It may be noted that nuns of certain congregations, such as Holy Cross, Notre Dame and the Congregation of the Sisters of St John of God do not wear veil. Another fact is weather - practically it is not comfortable to wear veil in places where the atmospheric temperature is high. While nuns have been asked to follow a certain dress code, priests, who have also chosen a religious life, are free from such restriction and are allowed to wear pants, shirt and jeans instead of cassock, as per their convenience. This is nothing but a step-motherly attitude towards nuns,” pointed out office-bearers of the Association. Meanwhile, Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC) deputy secretary and spokesperson Fr Varghese Vallikkatt said it was not necessary to give up the custom of wearing veil.

“The nun decided to skip the exam. The veil itself is a symbol of renunciation. Wearing veil is not a practice that has to be compromised on for such a reason. Let the government bring in a legislation stipulating that those who wear veil would not be allowed to write examinations,” added Fr Vallikkatt.