In Search of Fresh Air: Kerala’s Nuns Fight for Justice and Equality

‘Stand by Me’ is a digital marketing platform that sells cloth bags and gowns. The home page explains the platform 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”.  The team behind ‘Stand by Me’ is a group of nuns popularly known in Kerala as the ‘Kuruvilangadu’ sisters which includes the nun, a rape survivor, who has been fighting a case against Franco Mulakkal, the Bishop of Jalandhar. The trial court at Kottayam in Kerala acquitted Mulakkal in January 2022 and the case is at the appeal stage in the Kerala High Court. The five sisters who have been long-term companions of the survivor in the convent together started this initiative of making bags and nightgowns and selling them online. According to them, this is primarily not a commercial venture, but an attempt to combat the stress and isolation that they have been going through. The rape survivor and her companions continue to live in the same convent despite being neglected, isolated and discriminated by the church authorities. However, civil society in Kerala expressed tremendous support to the nuns who have been fighting the case. Following the judgment of the trial court, the supporters of the nuns sent hand-written letters to them and social media, too, was awash with letters in support.

There are three rules of asceticism for the nuns in church- the oath of obedience, the oath of poverty and the oath of chastity. The Kuruvilangadu sisters first ‘broke the rule of obedience’ by staging a protest right in front of the Kerala High Court demanding the arrest of Mulakkal in September 2018. The open protest by the nuns which was the first of its kind in the history of the church sent a shock wave across the state. Civil society organisations, human rights defenders and ordinary individuals made their way to the venue of protest expressing solidarity to the nuns. 

The trial court acquitted Mulakkal citing inconsistency in the depositions given by the survivor at different stages of the case. According to the trial court, there was no allegation of penile penetration in the first statement given by the nun to the woman police officer at the Kuruvilangadu police station. At the same time, she had deposed to the doctor who examined her that she was raped 13 times and there was forced penile penetration as well. The survivor, later during cross-examination, deposed that she could not reveal the entire facts to the woman police officer because of fear and stress and that “there was no comfortable and free atmosphere at the police station.” However, the trial court did not take this into confidence and interpreted that there was “inconsistency” in her statements. 

“The acquittal of the accused Bishop was quite unfortunate; we believe that the court failed in assessing the facts properly,” says Fr Augustine Vattoly, the priest of St Augustine’s Church at Kadamakkudy in Ernakulam. Fr Vattoly has been an active supporter of the Kuruvilangadu sisters in bringing the case to the public domain. He says that the nuns, including the survivor, have fallen into deep trouble after the verdict. “The authorities of the Church are doing everything to make their lives hell. They have been trying to push them out of the convent which would be a lesson to all nuns who raise their voice,” says Fr Augustine Vattoly. According to him, their new venture of selling bags and gowns is a desperate attempt to piece a fractured life together and to get over the trauma of mental torture and isolation. However, the authorities are trying to impede that too by citing the church’s rules. The nuns do not have the freedom to carry out a business of their own and make money because they are bound by the rules of asceticism. 

“The rules of abstinence are applied differently on different people,” says Fr Augustine Vattoly. I have been very vocal in criticising the church. I have openly supported the nuns in their struggle for justice, but they are not eager to push me out of the system. I face little hazards compared to what they have been going through,” says Fr Vattoly.

The rules of abstinence that Vattoly refers to have been used historically by religious institutions across the board as a means to shore up power. Be it the Catholic church and its many denominations or in Buddhist schools of thought, abstinence in the form of celibacy is mandated for the priests, nuns and monks therein. The reasoning behind prescribing celibacy in each religion or philosophy may differ with nuances. For example, in Buddhism, monks are encouraged to practice celibacy in order to devote more time to meditation and study. In the Christian church, however, celibacy is seen as “a gift of God,” a practice that can bring one closer to Christ and be more chaste. 

Irrespective of the underlying reasons for holding up abstinence as a virtue, the rules of the practice seem to apply differently to men and women within the institutions. As Dr Shalini Mulakkal, professor of theology, says, “Theologically speaking, the standards of celibacy are not different for men and women. However, in a patriarchal society, the way men and women celibates practice celibacy seems to be different. This is applicable to other vows as well. Men enjoy greater freedom than women in every respect. This is reflected in the way they practice the vows as well. Some religious/clerical men give their own interpretation of vows, especially of celibacy to religious women or others with selfish interests. They can easily trap religious women and others to be accomplices with them.”

Recently, the Dalai Lama was caught on camera behaving inappropriately with a child. While the story grabbed eyeballs and dominated the news cycle for good three-four days, it is nowhere to be seen now. Whether the High Priest of Buddhism will be investigated or not is not known but what is fairly certain is that the survivors of sexual abuse within religious institutions are not treated with the same respect as those who, in spite of being bound by rules of abstinence, perpetuate such abuse. It is in this context that the story of Kerala’s nuns stands out as a historic attempt by survivors and their supporters to not back down in the face of immense backlash.

The precedent for fighting for one’s rights in Kerala’s churches was set a long time ago by six nuns known as the Njarakkal sisters of the Congregation of the Mother of Carmel (CMC) church in Kochi. The group fought a successful legal battle against the hierarchy and power of the church and won the rights over the ownership of the Little Flower convent and two schools run by them. The Little Flower Convent at Njarakkal in Ernakulam was established in 1926 by Carmelite nuns on 3 acres and 69 cents of land. They started a high school for girls in 1945. The convent and school were run by 33 nuns and the vicar of the parish was appointed as the nominee manager by the Mother Superior of the convent. The nuns going out of the convent was not common in those times. Hence they required a male priest for going out and interacting with government offices for obtaining approvals. This practice continued for 26 years. In 1971, the ownership of the school and the convent was changed under the name of the priest of St Mary’s church by forging documents. 

Meanwhile, the nuns started one more school in the compound—St Joseph’s English Medium unaided CBSE School. The nuns came to know of the fraud that happened long ago only in 2007 when the parish attempted to shift the unaided school from the convent’s property. The nuns filed a petition before the government and an inquiry was conducted. As a result, the ownership of the schools was restored to the convent. The priests of the parish filed a writ petition in the High Court challenging the decision of the government. The High Court dismissed their petition and upheld the decision taken by the government that endorsed the ownership of the nuns over the property. The priests did not give in. They went to the Supreme Court with an appeal in which the apex court also issued an order in favour of the nuns. This long journey of legal fighting was quite awful as far as the nuns are concerned. “We were ostracised, isolated and harassed. We were not allowed even to attend the Sunday mass, but we did not give up,” says sister Annie Jaise. 

Despite being bound by the rule of poverty, the priests fraudulently obtained the ownership of property and fought a case against the nuns for seven years to retain the same. The Njarakkal sisters' story stands out from the countless tales of discrimination and exploitation faced by nuns, as it tells of their victorious fight for justice.

All the nuns irrespective of the congregations are bound by the three rules of abstinence—the vows of poverty, obedience and chastity. But the rules of asceticism practised by the male priests and bishops are far more liberal and flexible. There are only very few congregations of which the priests to are bound by the three rules of asceticism.  ‘In our congregation (CMC), both priests and nuns are bound by the three rules of asceticism” says Sister Annie Jaise. She also added that the rules were not between the nuns and the priests but “a direct wow to God, but these priests who hold power think that they have the complete authority over us.” 

The idea of celibacy and the rule of chastity is against the order of nature according to sister Lucy Kalappura, the nun of the Franciscan Clarist Congregation in Wayanadu who invited the wrath of her bosses for ‘breaking the rule of obedience’ by speaking openly in support of the rape survivor. Speaking against Mulakkal was only one among the multiple ‘sins’ committed by sister Lucy. She was expelled from the convent for violating the oath of obedience by talking to the media and participating in television debates in favour of the nuns who were on strike demanding the arrest of Mulakkal. The list of her ‘violations of the oath of obedience’ also includes obtaining a driving licence, buying a car and even publishing poetry. Sister Lucy was not ready to give in but decided to fight back. She made a direct appeal to the Pope against the dismissal from the convent but the same was turned down by the Supreme authority of the Church: the Pope. Though the canon law did not come to her rescue, the rule of law did. She filed a case in the local court in Wayanadu and obtained an order for staying in the convent. 

‘Asceticism is a choice just like marriage and conjugality. One can choose it if he or she can stay faithful to the vows. Often it is difficult for many. There are many priests and Bishops who are millionaires.  There are sexual offenders, where are the vows? ’ Sister Lucy holds the view that nobody should be forced to continue with asceticism and the rules of the same. According to her, the churches need to open the windows and doors and to let some fresh air in.