The Vatican has upheld the order to expel Sister Lucy Kalappura, the nun who participated in the protests against rape accused bishop Franco Mullackal. She was expelled in August 2019 from Franciscan Clarist Congregation (FCC) citing “disciplinary grounds”.
The latest letter that she has received states that the Supreme Tribunal has rejected her recourse. This was the third time that sister Lucy had approached Vatican against her expulsion order.
She has now received a letter from the superior general of her congregation, asking her to vacate the convent room within a week.
Sister Lucy Says her side was not heard by the authorities. “I got the rejection letter from Supreme Tribunal in June 2021. But when I opened I realised the letter is dated May 27, 2020. I am getting this letter after one year. In the covering letter by superior of the congregation, my appeal was rejected in the court verdict. There is no completion of the trial or any other verdict. I have not got any information. I don’t have any proof of the verdict. I appealed in March 2020, due to Covid there was lockdown in whole world. Why are they giving me a letter that is dated a year back? I suspect this is drama to get me out of the convent,” she said.
The letter from the superior general of FCC congregation reads, “You have availed all three levels of appeals possible within the Catholic legal system and in all these levels your recourses against the decree of dismissal are rejected. I would like to bring to your 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. “
Some of the reasons cited in her letter for expulsion in august 2019 are “willful disobedience”, that she published a book, took the driver’s license, “defied the laws of the congregation, followed a lifestyle that does not abide by the practices of the church, purchasing a car and travels frequently without the permission of the congregation, does not give her salary to the congregation, let a person stay in the her room overnight , did not abide by the transfer order in 2015 and gave interviews to the media”.
In her appeal, sister Lucy has had alleged that actions against her began after she participated in the protest supporting the nuns of the missionaries of Jesus congregation who were demanding justice for a nun, allegedly raped by bishop Franco Mullackal.
A civil case is also pending where she has approached the court, stating she should be allowed to continue in the convent.
Sister Lucy told CNN-news18 that so far her side has not heard. “So far they haven’t heard my side … the truth from my side, it’s sad. They are only hearing the other side. The one who is suffering is not being heard. I supported the nun who is oppressed and isolated due to sexual abuse of Bishop Franco. Only in the last stage did I ask for help. Through media also I voiced the injustice. It was only after that I started facing all this trouble.”
She hopes to stay in the convent till her death. “I want to stand for truth and speak the truth. I am facing a lot of troubles in the convent, but I am facing all this because the truth should be heard,” sister Lucy said.
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