Nuns who supported Bishop Franco to hold prominent posts at Kerala convent

The 3 nuns from the Jalandhar diocese have arrived in Kerala and will take up their posts at the Kuruvilangad convent where the survivor nun resides.

news Controversy

The Syro Malabar Church, in yet another indication that it is still with the rape accused Bishop Franco Mullakal and not with the survivor nun, has posted nuns from the Jalandhar diocese in prominent posts at the Kuruvilangad convent under the Missionaries of Jesus. The survivor nun and the nuns who supported her, live at Kuruvilangad convent at Pala in Kottayam district. Franco Mulakkal is the bishop of the Jalandhar diocese of the Church.

The three nuns who have been assigned to take charge of the posts are C Jyothis, C Lisyu and C Anitha.

Anitha is an aspirant mistress, Jyothis is mother superior of Sacred Heart Convent Beas, Punjab and Lisyu is novice mistress of Missionaries of Jesus. After taking charge, they will replace mother Sophy, who used to head the convent affairs.

"The sisters have reached the convent, however they haven't taken charge yet," a source close to the convent said.

Two months ago, two other nuns- Aneet and Stella, had come to the convent from Jalandhar. Sister Aneet still stays at the convent though Sister Stella had returned.

Aspirant mistress is a senior nun who trains the nuns who get admitted to convents, while novice mistress is one who trains nuns during the noviate period. Noviate period is the period of training and preparation that a nun undergoes prior to taking vows, to discern whether she is fit for avowed religious life.

By appointing the nuns close to Franco, who are in the good books of the Church heads, the aim is to make the junior nuns subservient to them and to an extent, answerable for the entire affairs.

The nuns reached the convent on Tuesday and a day later, sister Sophy left for Punjab.

The survivor’s act of lodging a police complaint against Bishop Franco had challenged the patriarchy of the Church and is the first of its kind in the history of the Church. The five nuns who supported the survivor and came out with public protests, have shaken the very base of male domination and ever since, the nuns have been subjected to isolation, and the mental torture of being alienated.

“The nuns didn’t have any clue that there will be such a change. Even after Jyothis, Anitha and Lisyu came to the convent, the nuns were not aware of the exact intention. Only after one of the three sisters began running the daily affairs, the sisters became aware of the change.

Sister Sophy too didn’t like the survivor and supporting nuns. However, the three nuns who came now are even more critical of them. Sister Anitha and sister Aneet were in the team who visited Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Delhi pleading innocence of Franco,” a source close to the nuns said.

“The sisters fear it is an agenda to put pressure on them to leave the convent themselves or to mentally harass them,” the source said.