Vatican City, Oct 17, 2019 / 02:22 pm (CNA).- The Congregation for the Oriental Churches has rejected the appeal of Sister Lucy Kalapura, who was dismissed from religious life in August for several acts of disobedience, including a protest of the handling of another nun’s accusation that a bishop serially raped her.
The congregation’s Sept. 26 decree denying recourse to the nun of the Franciscan Clarist Congregation was conveyed in an Oct. 11 letter from the apostolic nunciature in India.
Sr. Lucy has the right to further appeal to the Apostolic Signatura.
However, she told the BBC that “I don’t see any point in doing that since they have made up their mind. I will now go to court on behalf of all the people who are being suppressed and facing illegal behaviour from authorities of the congregation.”
She maintained: “I am not going to leave the convent. The lifestyle I lead is as per the rules and regulations.”
Sr. Lucy was sent a letter Aug. 5 from the superior general of the FCC, Sr. Ann Joseph, notifying her she had been dismissed from the community, which decision had been confirmed by the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.
Sr. Lucy has led a life against the principles of religious life, the community says, by disobeying a transfer order, publishing poems after having been denied permission to do so, buying a vehicle, withholding her salary from the congregation, and participating in a protest against Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jullundur, who has been charged with several instances of raping a nun of a different congregation.
The letter from Sr. Ann Joseph said that Sr. Lucy “did not show the needed remorse and you failed to give a satisfactory explanation for your lifestyle in violation of the proper law of the FCC.”
Sr. Lucy had been sent a letter of warning Jan. 1, asking that she appear before Sr. Ann by Jan. 9 to explain her disobediences, or face expulsion from the congregation.
In January Sr. Lucy said that the congregation was trying to silence her, and denied any wrongdoing.
She was sent a second letter of warning in February, and India Times reported that she “failed to respond to a notice issued against her in March”.
The congregation’s General Council, held May 11, voted unanimously to dismiss Sr. Lucy, and asked for confirmation from the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.
In the January letter of warning sent to Sr. Lucy, the superior general wrote that she joined a protest regarding Bishop Mulakkal “without the permission of your superior. You have published articles in some non-Christian newspapers and weeklies … gave interviews to ‘Samayam’ without seeking permission from the provincial superior. Through Facebook, channel discussions and the articles, you belittled the Catholic leadership by making false accusations against it and tried to bring down the sacraments. You tried to defame FCC also. Your performance through social media as a religious sister was culpable, arising grave scandal.”
The letter also said Sr. Lucy failed to obey a transfer order given her in 2015 by her provincial superior, and that she published a book of poems despite being denied permission to do so, and used 50,000 Indian rupees ($700) from the congregation’s account “without proper permission” to do so.
Sr. Kalapura is also accused of buying a car for about $5,670 and learning to drive without permission, and failing to entrust her salary from December 2017.
Sr. Ann Joseph called these acts “a grave infringement of the vow of poverty.”
The superior general added that Sr. Kalapura has been corrected and warned several times by her provincial over her “improper behaviour and violations of religious discipline.”
“Instead of correcting yourself, you are simply denying the allegations against you stating that you have to live your own beliefs, ideologies and conviction. You are repeatedly violating the vows of obedience and poverty. The evangelization and social work you do should be according to the FCC values, principles and rules. The present mode of your life is a grave violation of the profession you have made,” Sr. Ann Joseph wrote.
Another nun of the FCC, Sister Lissy Vadakkel, was transferred earlier this year from Muvattupuzha to Vijawada.
Sister Alphonas Abraham, superior of the FCC’s Nirmala Province, said in February that Sr. Lissy’s transfer was unrelated to her acting as a witness in the case against Bishop Mulakkal.
In April, Bishop Mulakkal was charged with rape.
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Had to refresh my memory.
Yes. In 1917, some former members of the Pontifical Academy for Life set up the John Paul II Academy for Human Life and the Family.
“maintain a dialogue with universities”: weak but better than nothing. The rest of Msgr. Pegaoraro’s remarks were fine. I keep looking for leadership and I keep finding “dialog”.
On the subject of leadership, “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.” How do you induce someone to drink?
Dialogue…says the Vatican. I have discovered that the Pachamama, brought to the Vatican under the auspices of Pope Francis, is a Peruvian deity, the land where the present Pope was for years. It accepted children as sacrifice:
“How Was Pachamama Worshipped?
Understandably then, avoiding earthquakes was a priority among the ancient Incas. To ensure that Pachamama would smile upon them, the ancient Incas made regular offerings to her. These ceremonies were known as pago a la tierra, or payment to the Earth. Traditional items offered to her consisted of coca leaves, chicha (a corn beer), and huayruro seeds.
There were occasions when the price of Pachamama’s favor was dire. Sometimes her smile came at the cost of sacrificing animals like guinea pigs or llamas. Other times she demanded sacrifices as valuable as the lives of children in a ritual known as Capacocha.
One of the most well-known documented instances of this ritual was the discovery of a 15-year-old Inca girl who was sacrificed more than 500 years ago on the top of a 22,000-foot volcano in Northern Argentina.
Her body was discovered in 1999 and is now on display in a museum in Argentina. She was apparently left to freeze to death. She was given coca leaves and alcohol—evidently to ease her passing. Modern readers have a difficult time understanding why the most advanced, accomplished, and sophisticated culture of the New World would bring such a fate upon their children.
https://www.tourinperu.com/blog/the-incas-and-pachamama
A very useful comment, Oscar
Excellent idea: “a dialogue about abortion!”
But how, exactly, does one recognize a voice in the dialogue from such stakeholders (!) as each child terminated in each act of abortion/fetal infanticide?
A short life ended; and a long life not lived. Maybe what is meant is still only a ventriloquist’s monologue, or maybe an administrators’ synod(!)—-intent on deflecting attention from our culture’s schizophrenic and moral blindness (morality!) toward what cannot be reframed as simply a need to “stress more the ethical and some social aspects, not immediately only the legal aspect of the problem.” (Say what?)
The “problem?” Convince the reader that Monsignor Renzo Pegoraro is not wandering in a fog carried over from parts of the past thirteen years. Some might even say Pope Paul VI’s detection that “the smoke of Satan has entered the Church.” Or, instead, as recently as last Sunday’s Gospel (Mt 5:37): “Let your ‘yes’ be yes, and your ‘no’ be no [….]”
“Debate,” what debate is that? The optics of word salad.
About “the debate,” perhaps red faces under red hats could “dialogue” the meaning of Ex Corde Ecclesiae (St. Jonn Paul II, August 15, 1990)—as compared to, say, the 1967 Land O’ Lakes Declaration of academic “autonomy,” or as compared to the hijacking of Catholic university classes by the Administrative Class?
“What is at stake is the very meaning of scientific and technological research, of social life and of culture, but, on an even more profound level, what is at stake is ‘the very meaning of the human person’[italics]” (Ex Corde Ecclesia, n.7).
In the Catholic Church abortion has always been strictly forbidden, is now and will remain so.
Q: Do Catholic Universities have a responsibility to uphold Church teaching on unborn life?
A: Yes, and yet – there arises the need for ‘dialogue’.
With all due respect – Monsignor Pegararo seems to be a bit of a ‘yada yada yada’ type.
Dialogue? With a supposedly “Catholic” institution that should know better?
.
This is why I can’t get upset that this or that politician (say, Trump or Vance) isn’t 100% on board with “pro-life.” Heck, the Vatican isn’t 100% on it.
It really is quite bizarre if you think about it. My sense is the call to “dialogue” is actually nothing more than a manipulative attempt to avoid taking a clear stand to defend and protect life. It’s not as if the issue isn’t crystal clear. Why church leaders feel the need to accommodate evil is puzzling, to say the least. Could it be that their moral compasses are so broken that they cannot even tell the difference between good and evil anymore? A frightening prospect.
MrsHess: So true.
Dialogue? Right. Why didn’t I think of that?
The controversial ND professor has denounced crisis pregnancy centers in print. She doesn’t appear to be interested in offering women alternatives to abortion, just free access. So what the proint of “dialog” with people holding such views?
I think dialogue/ looking for any common ground is fine. Hiring is not.
My Catholic Church has gone “woke” in oh so many dioceses.
Let me put it this way: If your diocese is not growing in measureable and meaningful ways, your diocese is dying.
As for Notre Dame University, I would have to say that the faith is dying on that campus. They are simply breathing the fumes of the Catholic faith left over from yesteryear. Notre Dame is more notable in 2026 for its football teams than for its adherence to the Catholic faith. Pity.
Terence above (4:47 p.m.) – “yada, yada, yada” – See my earlier comment.
And the contingency plan should /when Notre Dame stand their ground promoting and sustaining abortion?
I don’t remember the part in the Bible where Moses came down from the mountain with the Ten Suggestions and calmly set them down and had an espresso while he texted those worshipping the golden calf that he’d like to start a dialogue with them about anything whatsoever.
My recollection is that he pretty clearly drew a line in the sand such that there was nothing to synodal about!
Apart from Moses and consulting the more recent sacred scriptures of American writer Mark Twain, we have the following….Even Twain’s oracle, runaway-slave Jim, understood what was self-evident in the “debate” about babies as set before Solomon:
“De’ spute warn’t ’bout a half a chile, de ’spute was ’bout a whole chile; en de man dat think he kin settle a ’spute bout a whole chile wid a half a chile, doan’ know enough to come in out’n de rain” (“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” 1884 ).
Monsignor Pegoraro stated and quoting the article, “it is the responsibility of not only individuals but also of society to help women and couples ‘avoid the idea that abortion could be a solution to a difficult pregnancy or a problem.’” No, this putting one’s feet on sand. The Church has clearly taught the sanctity of life. Our objective is to continue to support true doctrine without compromise. Perspective is everything in this debate and it is imperative that the Church does not move away from the conversation in and about the inherent sanctity of life.
Ah yes, the Vatican’s “need for dialogue” response. They will dialogue with China’s diabolical organ-harvesting, totalitarian regime. They will dialogue with the soul-destroying advocates of sodomy, like James Martin. They will dialogue with the agnostic German bishops. They will dialogue with the fanatical Muslims of Arabia, Africa and Europe. They will dialogue with the communists of Nicaragua, Cuba, and Venezuela. And above all, they will dialogue with “catholics” who reject all Church teaching, even to the point of advocating infanticide. In short, they will dialogue with anyone who hates the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But for believing, practicing, faithful Catholics, the Vatican will only issue threats and demands for obedience to modernist “reforms.” The Church hierarchy has lost all credibility, especially with Catholics.
Very good William. Pope Francis dialogued in the Vatican with the Pachamama, a goddess of the Indigenous People of Peru that accepted children as sacrifice to her. I just learned that even John Paull II dialogued with Aztec dancers at a mass in Mexico. There is a video in youotube of John Paul and the Aztec dancers dancing a traditional Aztec religious dance. Francis later did the same. The Aztecs, too, sacrificed children, as did the Maya. But we have to be nice, inclusive and inculturated, even with demons.
I would so welcome a bishop who says, “we are clear what Catholics believe — and don’t.” Nobody would have a “dialogue” with a racist, in the remote event he managed to get a job at Notre Dame. Why with an advocate of child killing? Neither “position,” after all, is directly relevant to running a Far Eastern studies institute, but I suspect we know which position would nevertheless be disqualifying — and which wouldn’t — to the UND leadership. The only thing missing is ex-President Fr Jenkins putting on a concerned look.
Amen. How did so many of the Church’s prelates become sycophants of the modernization? How did the Church bow before the alter of racism – being so deathly afraid of it – and so easily accept that abortion is not so bad as long as the activist takes communion (standing up, definitely in their hand, and never thinking for a moment of who is found in the host in their filthy palms.
Yes, I recognize how harsh that is, but the Vatican has forgotten who they are. Some draw nigh to the Him with their lips, but their hearts are far from the Holy One of Israel.
Even if a person does not believe that “growth” is a person, it’s hard to fathom the lack of respect for the sheer potential of that life.