Bishop Mulakkal trial

A group of Catholic women in India has expressed distress about Bishop Franco Mulakkal visiting Pope Francis in the Vatican.

The prosecution formally appeals acquittal of an Indian bishop, Franco Mulakkal, in a 2018 rape case. The appeal claims the trial court downplayed the evidence the Catholic sister and witnesses provided.

The acquittal of Bishop Franco Mulakkal was disappointing to many of us. I feel the need for speaking up in defense of our sisters, and sounding a wake-up call for us as women religious.

A national forum of Catholic women in India demanded "absolute transparency and accountability" in the way the church handles sex abuse cases, via a letter sent to the church hierarchy in the Vatican and India.