A digital marketing platform called “Stand by Me” offers the sale of cloth bags and dresses. The platform is described as a “collective of gender-based violence survivors and collaborators journeying together to create a safe space and to build solidarity as an antidote to violence across the gender spectrum,” according to the main page. The group of nuns behind “Stand by Me” includes the nun, a rape victim, who has been battling Franco Mulakkal, the Bishop of Jalandhar, in court. They are known as the “Kuruvilangadu” sisters in Kerala. In January 2022, Mulakkal was found not guilty by the trial court in Kottayam, Kerala, and the matter is now before the Kerala High Court on appeal. The project to create bags and nightgowns and sell them online was begun by the five sisters who had been the survivor's longtime roommates in the convent. They claim that this is simply an effort to relieve their stress and sense of loneliness rather than a business enterprise. The rape victim and her companions are still housed in the same convent despite treatment from church officials that includes neglect, exclusion, and discrimination. However, Kerala's civil society has shown the nuns fighting the case a tonne of support. Following the trial court's ruling, the nuns' supporters wrote them handwritten letters and flooded social media with messages of support.
The oath of obedience, the oath of poverty, and the oath of chastity are the three norms of asceticism that apply to nuns in the church. In September 2018, the Kuruvilangadu sisters 'broke the code of obedience' for the first time by holding a demonstration in front of the Kerala High Court and calling for Mulakkal's arrest. The nuns' public protest, which was the first of its sort in the church's history, shocked the whole state. Civil society groups, human rights advocates, and regular people travelled to the protest site to show support for the sisters.
Mulakkal was found not guilty by the trial court due to contradictions in the survivor's depositions made at various points throughout the case. The trial court ruled that there was no claim of penile penetration in the nun's first statement to the female police officer at Kuruvilangadu police station. She also testified that she had been forced penile penetration and 13 separate rapes to the doctor who examined her at the time. Later, during cross-examination, the survivor testified that she was too afraid and stressed to tell the female police officer everything that had happened, and that “there was no comfortable and free atmosphere at the police station.” The trial judge, however, did not take this into consideration and believed that her assertions were “inconsistent.”
The priest of St. Augustine's Church in Kadamakkudy, Ernakulam, Fr. Augustine Vattoly, argues that the accused Bishop's acquittal was regrettable since he was not given a fair trial. In their efforts to make the matter public, the Kuruvilangadu nuns have received strong backing from Fr. Vattoly. He claims that as a result of the ruling, the nuns, including the survivor, are in serious difficulty. “The Church's leaders are taking every possible measure to make their lives miserable. As a lesson to any nuns who raise their voices, they have been attempting to force them out of the convent, said Fr. Augustine Vattoly. He claims that their new business, which involves selling bags and gowns, is a last-ditch effort to mend a broken existence and get over the agony of solitude and mental torment. However, the authorities are attempting to obstruct that as well by referencing church regulations. Because they are constrained by ascetic guidelines, nuns lack the freedom to operate their own business and generate income.
According to Fr. Augustine Vattoly, “the rules of abstinence are applied differently on different people.” I have criticised the church in a very outspoken manner. The nuns are unwilling to exclude me from the system despite the fact that I have publicly backed them in their fight for justice. Compared to what they have gone through, the risks I incur are little, says Fr. Vattoly.
Vattoly adds that religious organisations have traditionally utilised the prohibitions on consumption as a way to consolidate their authority. Celibacy is required of priests, nuns, and monks in all Buddhist schools of thought as well as the Catholic church and its many varieties. Each religion or philosophy's justification for requiring celibacy may have subtle differences. For instance, in Buddhism, celibacy is promoted so that monks may spend more time in study and meditation. Celibacy, however, is seen in the Christian church as “a gift of God,” a behaviour that might make one more chaste and connected to Christ.
Regardless of the motivations for elevating abstinence as a virtue, men and women inside the institutions seem to be subject to differing regulations regarding the practise. The requirements of celibacy are the same for men and women theologically, according to Dr. Shalini Mulakkal, a professor of theology. However, in a patriarchal society, men and women celibates appear to adhere to celibacy in different ways. This also holds true for other promises. In every way, males have more freedom than women. They also demonstrate this in how they carry out the vows. To religious women or other people with self-serving motives, some clergymen and religious men may interpret vows in their own ways, particularly those involving celibacy. They may easily lure ladies from the religious community and other people into helping them.
The Dalai Lama was recently caught on tape acting improperly towards a young youngster. The news cycle was consumed by the story for a solid three to four days, but it has now vanished. It is unknown whether the High Priest of Buddhism will be examined, but it is reasonably apparent that those who, although being constrained by norms of abstinence, perpetuate such abuse, do not treat survivors of sexual abuse inside religious organisations with the same regard. The narrative of the Keralan nuns stands out in this light as a historic effort by survivors and their allies to maintain their resolve in the face of severe retribution.
Six nuns from the Congregation of the Mother of Carmel (CMC) church in Kochi, known as the Njarakkal sisters, long ago established the precedent for defending one's rights in Kerala's churches. The organisation successfully sued the church's hierarchy and authorities, gaining ownership rights to the Little Flower convent and two of its schools in the process. Carmelite sisters built the Little Flower Convent in Njarakkal in Ernakulam in 1926 on 3 acres and 69 cents of land. In 1945, they opened a high school for women. The Mother Superior of the convent designated the parish vicar as the nominee manager, and 33 nuns managed the convent and school. In those days, it was uncommon for nuns to leave the convent. As a result, they needed a male priest to go and communicate with government agencies to secure authorization. This behaviour persisted for 26 years. By using forged paperwork, the school and convent's ownership was transferred in 1971 in the name of the priest of St. Mary's church.
St. Joseph's English Medium Unaided CBSE School was the second institution the nuns established inside the complex. Only in 2007 when the parish moved to remove the unassisted school from the convent's land did the sisters learn about the long-ago scam. An investigation was done after the nuns petitioned the authorities. As a consequence, the nuns regained possession of the schools. The government's decision was contested by the parish priests in a writ suit filed with the High Court. The High Court denied their appeal and affirmed the government's decision to support the nuns' ownership of the land. The priests resisted giving up. They filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, and the high court also made a ruling in the nuns' favour. According to the nuns, this protracted court battle was very horrible. “We experienced harassment, isolation, and exclusion. We were denied access to even Sunday church, but we persisted, recounts sister Annie Jaise.
Even though they were required to live in poverty, the priests secured possession of property by deception and battled the nuns for seven years to keep it. The Njarakkal sisters' narrative distinguishes out among the many accounts of prejudice and exploitation experienced by nuns because it describes their successful pursuit of justice.
The three precepts of abstinence—the vows of poverty, obedience, and chastity—bind all nuns, regardless of community. However, the ascetic guidelines followed by male priests and bishops are much more lenient and flexible. Only a small number of congregations impose the three ascetic rules on their priests. According to Sister Annie Jaise, “both priests and nuns in our congregation (CMC) are bound by the three rules of asceticism.” She continued by saying that the regulations were “a direct wow to God, but these priests who hold the power think that they have the complete authority over us.”
Sister Lucy Kalappura, a nun of the Franciscan Clarist Congregation in Wayanad, who incurred the anger of her superiors for “breaking the rule of obedience” by publicly supporting the rape victim, claims that the concept of celibacy and the rule of chastity is contrary to the order of nature. Sister Lucy had committed numerous'sins' in addition to speaking negatively about Mulakkal. Because she spoke to the media and took part in television debates in support of the nuns who were on strike and calling for Mulakkal's arrest, she was expelled from the convent for breaking the vow of obedience. Her 'violations of the pledge of obedience' also include getting a driver's licence, purchasing a vehicle, and even writing poems. Sister Lucy made the decision to resist giving up and to fight back. She directly appealed to the Pope about being kicked out of the convent, but the Pope, who is the Head of the Church, rejected her request. Despite the fact that the canon law was unable to save her, the rule of law did. She brought a lawsuit before the Wayanadu district court, where she was granted permission to remain at the convent.
The same as with marriage and conjugality, asceticism is a choice. If a person can honour their vows, they are free to choose it. It is frequently challenging for many. There are a lot of affluent priests and bishops. Where are the vows when there are sexual offenders? According to Sister Lucy, no one should be made to adhere to the austere lifestyle and its regulations. She thinks that the churches need to allow some fresh air in by opening the windows and doors.
