Accused of rape, Kerala bishop becomes face of church calendar

Kochi : Come March 2019, Christian families who subscribe to Catholica Sabha — the official mouthpiece of Thrissur archdiocese — and have availed its calendar, would have the image of Jalandhar bishop Franco Mulakkal staring at them from their wall. The rape accused bishop is currently out on bail.

Normally, only pictures of bishops of the archdiocese are printed on the calendar and March 25 is the birthday of the bishop. “It is highly improper and callous on part of the church as they should never have printed the image of a person undergoing investigation for a heinous crime like rape,” said a member of the laity from Thrissur.

There were several social media posts criticising metropolitan Mar Thazhath Andrews for allowing this to happen. “This could be seen only as an attempt to whitewash the crimes of bishop Franco Mulakkal,” said a Facebook post by Lukose Joseph.

Official spokesperson of Kerala Catholics Bishops Council Fr Varghese Vallikkatt said he was unaware of such a calendar published by the Thrissur archdiocese. “KCBC has not issued any directive to withdraw the calendar,” he said. Sources said the calendar is likely to be delivered to subscribers on December 1.

Source : TOI