Sister Lucy Kalapura, who had invited the wrath of the Church leadership for participating in protests against rape-accused Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal, has been expelled from the Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC).
The dismissal order, issued by the congregation's Mother Superior Sister Ann Joseph, was handed to Sr Lucy on Wednesday. Sr Lucy has been living in FCC's St Mary's convent in Mananthavady in Wayanad. She has now been ordered to leave the convent within 10 days.
The nun can, however, appeal to the Apostolic Nuncio, the Vatican's representative in India, against the dismissal. “I have been asked to leave the convent in 10 days. I am really worried,” she said over phone from Mananthavady on Wednesday. “I have nowhere to go. I have devoted my entire life to the congregation, where I joined at the age of 17. I am old now. So I have no option but to fight to get a favourable order,” she said.
Sr Lucy said the Church officials brought the dismissal order on Wednesday morning and asked her to sign it immediately. “They did not allow me to read it. They asked me to sign it immediately,” she said.
She said she has full faith in the law of the land and she will fight for justice. “I have not sinned, so I will continue my fight. I am sure that truth will prevail in the end,” she said.
Pressure tactics
The Church has been exerting pressure on Sr Lucy to quit after she participated in the protests against rape-accused Bishop Franco. She has been asked to submit explanation for several show-cause notices, too.
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Sr Lucy actively participated in the street protest against Bishop Franco in Kochi along with nuns belonging to the Missionaries of Jesus demanding his arrest.
Bishop Franco was arrested last year following allegations by a nun that he had repeatedly raped her at a convent in Kerala's Kottayam district between 2014 and 2016. The bishop had denied all the charges.
The congregation had accused Sr Lucy of leading a life that was against the 'principles of religious life' and the rules of the congregation. The congregation had admonished her for taking a driving licence, buying a car, availing finances for it and publishing a book without permission from her superiors.
