KOTTAYAM/KOCHI: Rape-suspect Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar on Saturday handed over the responsibilities of the diocese to his close aide Monsignor Mathew Kokkandam, saying he must appear before a special probe team investigating the case.The development came after the Kerala police summoned him for questioning. The summons was served through the Jalandhar police late on Friday.“In my absence, Msgr Mathew Kokkandam will administer the diocese as it is the normal practice when I am away from the diocese,” Mulakkal said in a circular — dated September 13 — issued to the clergy and nuns.He also gave additional charges to Fr Joseph Thekkumkattil and Fr Subin Thekkedathu to assist Fr Kokkandam. Fr Bibin Ottakunnel was appointed as the assistant parish priest of St Francis Church, Amritsar Cantonment “I request you to continue praying for me and for the nun (the complainant) and her supporters who have come out against me so that divine intervention may bring about a change of heart and the truth of the matter may be revealed. I leave everything into the hand of god as I await the result of the findings of the probe team,” he wrote.Five other nuns of the same congregation have been openly supporting the nun’s claim.The circular was issued a day after the probe team met inspector general of police (Ernakulam range) Vijay Sakhare and decided to ask the bishop to appear before the team on September 19.The team had questioned him at length in the bishop’s house on August 13.Meanwhile, the probe team will hold a special meeting here on September 18. At present, they were preparing a questionnaire. Kottayam police superintendent Hari Sankar said the probe team would gather all possible evidence before interrogating the bishop.Meanwhile, in Kochi, the protest by various Catholic organizations demanding Mulakkal’s arrest entered the eighth day on Saturday.Around 15 priests came out in support of the five nuns who, in an unprecedented move in the history of the church in Kerala, have dared to publicly criticize church authorities for denying justice to the nun, allegedly raped by the bishop between 2014 and 2016.Senior clergymen from the Marthoma church, too, joined the protest, being coordinated by Catholic priest Fr Augustine Vattoly.Addressing the gathering, Fr Tony Kallookaran, former secretary of Cardinal Alencherry, said: “The body of the Church has been getting infected by diseases for a while now. The two main symptoms of this disease are sexual assault and financial misappropriations. Pope Francis also knows about this disease and that is why he published a letter a while back which says that all should stand behind the victims of sexual abuse as one.”Protesters reiterated that they would not budge until police act against the bishop. “The transfer of administrative powers is a routine affair. I don’t expect anything from a church probe either at this stage. Our only hope now is in the court,” said Sr Josephine, one of the five nuns.A priest, on condition of anonymity, said the handing over of administrative powers reflected the success of the protest. “It is nothing like a resignation. But I doubt whether the bishop would’ve transferred administrative powers to another priest, the last time he came to visit his home state,” he said.

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