KOTTAYAM: The Conference of the Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI), the body of Latin Catholic Bishops in the country, will inquire into the sexual harassment allegation raised by a nun against Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal. The CCBI will give a report to the Apostolic Nuncio of Vatican to India after the inquiry, said Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India first vice-president and Mavelikara Bishop Joshua Mar Ignathios.
He said that the guilty will be punished. This is perhaps the first reaction from the Church hierarchy about the allegation raised by the nun of the Missionaries of Jesus congregation. “I have spoken to the CBCI secretary-general Theodore Mascrenhas regarding the issue. The CCBI, which is a forum of the Latin bishops, will inquire into the sexual harassment allegations since the Jalandhar diocese comes under the Latin rite. They will conduct an inquiry and the report will be presented to the Apostolic Nuncio of Vatican to India, Giambattista Diquattro,” Mar Ignathios told this newspaper over phone.
