By Matters India Reporter
New Delhi: A Catholic nun, who has exhausted all avenues of appeal against her dismissal from her congregation, says she will not leave her convent until an Indian court decides her petition.
The Franciscan Clarist Congregation on June 13 ordered Sister Lucy Kalapura to vacate the convent in Kakkamala in the Wayanad district of Kerala after the Vatican’s Supreme Tribunal categorically dismissed her revision petition against her dismissal.
“My case will come up in the Indian court in June or July this year,” Sister Lucy Kalapura told Matters India June 14 through a WhatsApp voice message.
Kalapura said the court could not take up her case of the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent lockdown. “The judge was not available so far,” she added.
Two years ago, a court in Wayanad reportedly stayed Kalapura’s eviction from the Kakkamala convent. The Kerala High Court on July 9, 2018, granted her police protection.
Commenting on the Vatican’s latest action, Kalapura told reporters, “The letter is in Latin but the covering letter spells out the decision. The details will be available only after the letter is translated but it is dated 2020.” She further said, “The recent revision of Church laws regarding abuse of minors, vulnerable adults, and fraud gave us hope. But it seems the papal head is not getting a clear picture. ”
Kalapura said she will continue her battle against the “corrupt practices” of the Church. The 55-year-old nun alleged that she was targeted after she demanded the arrest of Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar Mulakkal, who was accused of raping a nun multiple times. The case is being tried in a court in Kottayam.
Kalapura had joined a sit-in demonstration organized by the alleged rape victim’s supports in September 2018 near the Kerala High Court in Kochi. The congregation alleged moved against her after this public protest.
Sister Ann Joseph, the superior general of the Kerala-based Franciscan congregation, wrote to Kalapura June 13 explaining that the Vatican Supreme Tribunal’s May 27 judgment “means that there is no further legal remedy available to you to challenge your dismissal within the Catholic legal system.”
Sister Joseph’s letter further pointed out Kalapura has exhausted all the three levels of appeal within the Catholic legal system.
“I would like to bring to your kind attention the fact that your right to continue as a member of the FCC is now definitively and irrevocably extinguished, and hence you lost your right to use the suffix FCC to your name and you no longer have the right and duty to wear the religious habit of the Franciscan Clarist Congregation hereafter,” the superior general asserted.
Sister Joseph also told Kalapura that the congregation cannot allow a “non-member” to live in its convents and that her continued stay in the convent is unlawful.
“There are only two exceptions possible: (1) our workers can be permitted in the quarters demarcated for them; (2) in our guest rooms attached to our houses, if any, our guests can be permitted to stay for a while. You are no more a member of FCC, and you are not one of our invited guests and you are not in the list of our workers,” the superior general explains in the letter.
Kalapura told media persons on June 14 that it was two days back that she received a letter from her higher ups that her appeal to the Vatican was dismissed.
“How is it possible when the letter that I was given was dated May 27, 2020. I was not even heard by the Vatican, which is a denial of natural justice. I have been asked to move out from the Convent where I am staying in a week’s time. I am not going to move out,” she added.
She is encouraged by some persons just to enjoy some fun. They have no faith in rules, discipline, religion, secularism etc. She is a foolish person and they are watching the fun. Funny suggestions that Church should pay back the salary she deposited with the convent. She is but entitled to food, accommodation and clothing. So if she gave money to her mother , poor old lady has to refund ? Church is all the culprit according to Some who pretend to be holy saintly people
Sr Lucy must fight for suitable compensation for the services rendered that included handing over her salary paid by the government to the church. Church must be asked to pay it back, every rupee of it to Sr Lucy. Church may not deduct anything towards boarding and lodging as they were part of the overall package. I believe that she gets pension paid by the government. With compensation and pension she can get by well giving her ample opportunity to be of free service to the poor in the area where she lives. I believe that she is a maths teacher, a most wanted knowledge line.
All the best to her for a successful outcome of the case. It is not for the court to get involved with religious matters but it can with respect to human rights and abuse of powers by those in authority.
Sr. Lucy’s legal battle is like the “fight between David and Goliath”. Sr. Lucy is in the place of David. Franco, Vatican and Sr. Lucy’s congregation are in the place of Goliath. Who will win? We need to wait and see.
Sr. Lucy must realize that she is breaking her head with “iron walls” (Franco, Vatican and her congregation). It is high time for her to quit and continue to lead a committed life of service. The ball is in her court.
when we talk about forgiveness, feeding poor, housing homeless. The remarks of the superior general are anything but that. Without going into the merits of the case, should there not be some consideration. The Church fights for homes for those evicted when a redlight area is demolished. Yet when it comes to their own case they want the person out and within a week. Or is this largesse only for those who toe the line or are more powerful. Why is the decision dated 2020?
If you support a helpless rape-victim you are dismissed. What message is this congregation giving to the world? Should you instead support the rapist? If Sr Lucy Kalapura did any thing wrong, why didn’t you dismiss her earlier? Why this dismissal comes after her protest against a rapist? Why do you now produce engineered documents and dismiss her? Why don’t the nuns of the nation raise their voice unitedly against this mindless injustice???
Very good decision by Sr Lucy Kalapura to move the Indian courts to get justice to her. The Catholic Church leaders preach justice to the public. When it comes to practice what they preach to others, the Catholic Church leaders fail miserably. We need sisters like Lucy Kalapura to remind the Catholic Church leaders to practice what they preach. It is not enough to announce and proclaim in the open, that God is ever merciful and Jesus is always forgiving. If God of Jesus is ever merciful and forgiving, then, why did the Catholic Church leaders not apply the mercy of God to Sr Lucy Kalapura? Mercy is mercy, when it is applied to the one who does not deserve justice. Let the Vatican consider Sr Lucy Kalapura as the one who does not deserve justice, but she is completely eligible to be the recipient of the mercy of God, and hence let the mercy of God be her only guarantee to reside in the convent, where she is at present. Will the rich church of the poor Jesus pay attention to people like Sr Lucy Kalapura?
Canute Barboza
She is capable of implicating others in false cases. So she is a dangerous person. She can spread rumours against any one, whom she dislikes, can convince the public About her convictions and so on. Why can’t she, who has an income of her own, stay independently and fight against injustice in the society?
Let us be unbiased and without preconception. Whatever it is, there are certain rules for the nuns in different congregations. There are cases of breaches on her part and warnings by her Superior. It is not for her accusing Franco that she is punished. . If the rules of the congregation are agreed to by a person , does she not have the obligation to abide by them ?
If the rules of the Church or congregations are questionable because they violate the laws of the land, or human rights or national security, anybody can question and even go to court for justice. . Here the issue is simple and there is no need to complicate it
George Neduparambil being an ex-banker himself, is absolutely right about final settlement to be paid to Sr Lucy if she is forced to leave her congregation bag and baggage. After all Sr Lucy dedicated the prime of her life for her congregation. She merely followed the teachings of the Church – she fought for justice for the weak. She fought the system. Clearly the Vatican is not clean as it has decided on Sr Lucy’s case without giving her a chance of personal or online appearance – which she had requested for. Nuns throwing out another fellow nun is like crow eating crow’s meat (not done ever). Even the Vatican’s letter upholding Sister Lucy’s eviction is written in Latin – a language which is Greek to her and the high-point of irony is the letter is dated May 2020, one year ago, in today’s supersonic speed of communication!
The Vatican has condoned Cardinal Marx’s turning a blind eye to decades of sexual abuse in the Church of Germany. It has also totally overlooked the carnal adventures of Frightening Franco Mulakkal and has thus paved the way for letting loose more Mulakkals into convents. Indeed the Catholic Church is at a “Dead End”, as the Pope’s blue-eyed boy Cardinal Marx himself certified. The Catholic Church including India, is crucifying Christ everyday.
Indian Law is above all other quasi-legal systems and has 100% jurisdiction. Sister has full rights to take this to the courts in India. Please consult any lawyer of your choice if you still have any confusion in the matter.
Lucy seems to be thinking that she is fighting against all kinds of wrongs and corruption. But she wants to be above all rules. Lucy, You say that you love Jesus. Then become humble and converse with him in your private room. Think whether you can be loyal to him by disobeying the rules of the congregation ? Be humble dear daughter
This lady cannot eat her cake and keep it too. I don’t think a civil court has jurisdiction or competence to decide if she is fit to continue as a member of her congregation.
She is also not the only one to have spoken against Frightening Franco. Many of us have. The Church has not acted against anyone else. Obviously this lady is trying to cloud the issue. Recently she wrote a book in Malayalam that is reportedly for classification as pornography!!