Kottayam archdiocese has for the first time responded to the alleged murder of a nun 16 years ago, after police arrested two priests and a nun in the case.
In a pastoral letter Benedictine Archbishop Mathew Moolakkatt of Kottayam expressed hope the arrested Church people would be exonerated and the true picture would emerge during the investigation.
His letter was the first official response from the archdiocese since Sister Abhaya's body was found in a well at her Pius X Convent in Kottayam on March 27, 1992. The nun was 21 when she died. She and the arrested nun belong to the indigenous Sisters of St. Joseph Congregation.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrested Fathers Thomas Kottoor, 61, and Jose Poothrukayil, 56, on Nov. 18 and Sister Sephy, 45, a day later. A lower court remanded them on Nov. 19 to judicial custody for 14 days, pending trial.
All three belong to the archdiocese based in Kottayam, a Christian stronghold in Kerala state, 2,650 kilometers south of New Delhi.
The archbishop's letter was read during Sunday Mass in all 128 parishes in the archdiocese on Nov. 23. It says Sister Abhaya's unnatural death has pained the Church, but also says the archdiocese believes the arrested Church workers are innocent.
Archbishop Moolakkatt has headed the archdiocese since January 2006, succeeding Archbishop Kuriakose Kunnacherry, who retired. He had served as auxiliary bishop from 1998 to 2003, when he became coadjutor bishop. He became coadjutor archbishop in 2005, when Kottayam diocese was elevated to an archdiocese.
His pastoral letter asked people to pray for an impartial probe so the truth about the "mysterious" death would be revealed. Anyone involved in the nun's death should be brought to justice, no matter who they are, as "an obligation we owe to Sister Abhaya," he wrote.
The letter asks that the investigation be conducted impartially and arrested suspects treated as innocent unless and until proven guilty. The Church, it explains, could not do much after police, based on their initial investigation, dismissed the death as suicide. The letter accused certain sections of the media for attempting to tarnish the Church's image.
Media had speculated that the Church tried to block investigations and influence officials to save the priests and nun involved in the murder.
The pastoral letter denied such allegations: "We have a firm stand that truth should come out. The forces responsible for the death should be booked."
Archbishop Moolakkatt's letter noted that the CBI cannot deny the Church extended its full cooperation to the investigation. "Whenever the investigating agency demanded the interrogation of priests and nuns, the Church not only cooperated but also encouraged those individuals to do so," it said.
The archbishop also wrote that he had told investigators several times their probe was not exhaustive, and that many crucial issues and persons seemed to have been deliberately overlooked. Though officials promised to be impartial, the result was otherwise, his letter added.
The Sisters of St. Joseph Congregation has defended the arrested nun. "Our sister is innocent. She had no role in the suspected murder," assistant provincial superior Sister Saumy told UCA News on Nov. 23. Sister Saumy said the arrested nun was "under our close surveillance" for the past 16 years. "If she was found to have committed any offense, the congregation would have thrown her out," she added.
Meanwhile, investigators took the statement of retired Archbishop Kunnacherry on Nov. 22.
A day earlier, Father Poothrukayil asked the Kerala High Court to overturn the judicial custody order. His plea said continuous detention of a person, especially a priest, for 14 days is "illegal, inhuman and hard." The priest said the CBI has not revealed anything about his alleged involvement in the case.
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(Source: UCAN)