By Jose Kavi

New Delhi: It was a historic protest with a difference. There was less sloganeering and no stone throwing. Protesters sang and danced and listened to each other.

Amid them were five members of the Missionaries of Jesus congregation who undertook a sit-in for 14 days at Vanchi Square (Boat Jetty), a busy intersection near the High Court of Kerala at Kochi, the commercial hub of the southern Indian state.

Their demand was simple: justice for one of their sisters, who had allegedly suffered sexual abuse multiple times at the hands of a Catholic bishop.

It was the first time in India that Catholic nuns, dressed in their habits or religious dress, came to the streets demanding justice from the Church as well as the government.

They ended their protest on September 22, a day after police in Kerala arrested Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar, the patron of their diocesan congregation. The prelate was arrested after three days of interrogation at Thrippunithura, some 10 km east of the nuns’ protest venue.

The police presented the prelate before a magistrate in Palai, some 60 km southeast of Kochi, who sent him to police custody for two days after rejecting a bail application. Mulakkal also underwent the mandatory potency test in a rape case.

The bishop’s arrest was received with great jubilation by the nuns and their supporters.

The nuns’ grit and determination stirred the consciousness of Kerala that traces its Christian roots to Saint Thomas the Apostle. Christians, who form 19 percent of the state’s 34 million people, play a significant role in the state’s political, economic and cultural fields. This was one of the alleged reasons for the delay in arresting the bishop.

The nuns’ protest eventually changed the public perception against Mulakkal, who claimed he was a victim of vendetta and forces inimical to the Church. He alleged used money, power and threats to quash the case.

He would have succeeded if the nuns had not come to the streets, several people have told television channels.

The protesting nuns were disowned by their superiors, the official Church and political parties in Kerala. Their superiors accused them of crucifying “an innocent bishop” and threatened disciplinary actions against them.

The Kerala Catholic Bishops’ Council said the nun’s protest was unacceptable as it had crossed the limit. It alleged the protest was-organized by vested interests and some media organizations, who used the five nuns as a front. The bishops also said some groups used the nun’s allegation as cover for their aim to destroy the Church. The bishops urged police not to succumb to such pressures and complete the investigation as early as possible.

A leader of the Marxist party, which heads Kerala’s ruling coalition, too took a similar line and alleged the protest was hijacked by Hindu radicals to destabilize the state government. The opposition parties also stayed away, saying they want the law to take its course.

However, the unprecedented popular support to the nuns made up for the rejection by the Church and the government. People cutting across religions and political affiliations came in large numbers to the protest venue to show solidarity with the nuns. Similar protests were staged at various parts of Kerala and in New Delhi.

Several civil rights groups in Kerala came together to launch a movement, “Save Our Souls,” headed by Father Augustine Vattoly, a priest of the Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese, to bring justice for the nuns.

Several people undertook hunger strike and some of them had to be hospitalized as their health deteriorated.

Father Vattoly on September 22 announced ending the protest but added they would continue their fight until the nuns’ get justice.

“The nuns lead a miserable life as slaves of the clergy,” the priest said added that the protest became possible only because of the survivor’s courage and determination. He also said uncertainty looms about the nuns’ future, but assured the movement’s support to them.

A biological sister of the survivor told the gathering on September 22 that the denial of justice on the part of the official Church had forced the nuns to come to the streets. “Nobody can deny justice with money and power,” she said and added the bishop’s arrest gives hope that an ordinary man could get justice however big his opponent is.

Sr Anupama, the spokesperson of the protesting nuns who has worked with the rape survivor for several years, said they were forced to come to the street as they were abandoned by the Church and their congregation. “We faced lots of pressure and tempting offers from the first day of our protest,” she said.

She also said their protest forced the government to act against Mulakkal. “We heard that the Joint Christian Council was planning a protest in Kochi demanding Mulakkal’s arrest. We decided to join them and discussed the matter with family members who extended their support,” she explained how they came to the streets. “We did not expect this kind of support for our cause,” she added.

Anupama and other pleaded the church to break its silence. “No survivor should be forced to seek justice in this manner. We have been forced to do so due to the laxity on the part of those who were meant to protect us and the government. If a nun speaks of abuse at the hands of priests before higher officials, they will try to hush up the matter and silence her. It should not happen again. There should not be another Franco,” she asserted.

After Mulakkal’s arrest, the Marxist leader changed track and hailed the nuns’ protest as historic that would usher reformation in the Church.

However, the nun’s superiors and the Kerala bishops have remained silent.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, the apex body of the Church in India, expressed sadness over the developments, prompting some to question whether its sorrow was for the bishop or the survivor. They pointed out that the conference had not reacted when the nun filed the case on June 28 and several groups demanded Mulakkal to step down temporarily to help the investigation.

Father Vattoly says the support to the nuns shows that people would always rally for a noble cause.

The nuns’ protest and its success invite the Church to rediscover its original message – stand with the poor and downtrodden.

But the Church leaders in India have failed miserably in their collective leadership once again. Why do bishops seem to rally behind abusive bishops and priests and ignore their victims?

The historic victory of the five nuns should shake the Church to shed its deadwood and nauseating patriarchal mindset.