3 min readThiruvanthapuramJun 2, 2023 02:38 AM IST
First published on: Jun 1, 2023 at 05:28 PM IST
Franco Mulakkal, who was acquitted by a court in Kerala last year in connection with the rape of a nun, has resigned as bishop of the Jalandhar diocese, the Vatican’s mission in India said on Thursday.
The Apostolic Nunciature to India — the Vatican’s mission in the country — said in a release that Pope Francis accepted the resignation.
The communication from the Nunciature in Delhi said the Holy See respected the verdict of the Additional Sessions Court in Kottayam that acquitted the bishop, as well as the appeal against the acquittal that has been admitted by the Kerala High Court.
According to the Vatican’s representative, the resignation was requested of Mulakkal for the good of the diocese, which needs a new bishop, and not as a disciplinary measure.
After the announcement, Mulakkal, in a video, thanked all those who stood with him. “The Pope on Thursday accepted my resignation letter, which I had written after consulting with my superiors. I submit to God all the troubles which I had suffered. Let my tears help the reformation of the Church,” he said.
Bishop Agnelo Gracias, the apostolic administrator of Jalandhar diocese, released a statement thanking Mulakkal for “all that he has done” for the diocese. “…We express our appreciation for his decision to resign for the good of the Church and of the diocese, thereby paving the way for the appointment of a new bishop,” the statement added.
The case against Mulakkal is related to the alleged rape of a nun belonging to the Missionaries of Jesus — a Catholic congregation for women under the Jalandhar diocese. The allegation was raised by a nun who was part of the congregation’s unit in Kerala.
In June 2018, the nun in Kerala’s Kottayam district complained to police that the bishop had repeatedly raped her. The nun had alleged that the incidents happened from 2014 to 2016 at the congregation’s house in Kottayam.
In early September 2018, the nun’s colleagues, with the support of members of the civil society, launched an agitation in Kochi demanding the arrest of the bishop. On September 21, police arrested Mulakkal, who was jailed until October 17. The Vatican had also temporarily relieved him of his responsibilities as the bishop of Jalandhar.
In January 2022, the Additional Sessions Court in Kottayam acquitted him of all charges. The state government’s appeal, challenging the session’s court verdict, is pending in the high court. Mulakkal, 59, was the first Catholic bishop in India to be arrested in a rape case.
Catholic bishops can usually continue in their post until the age of 75.
A native of Thrissur in Kerala, Mulakkal had been appointed as bishop of Jalandhar in 2013. Prior to that, he had served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Delhi.
(– With inputs from ENS, Jalandhar)
In September 2018, Franco Mulakkal was temporarily relieved of his responsibilities of the diocese by Pope Francis after Mulakkal was questioned by the Kerala police over rape charges levelled by a nun. (Express Photo/file) 
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