Find out why these five Kerala nuns were honoured by National Geographic Magazine

The magazine published 'Defiant Sister, India' under the article 'Around the World, women are taking charge of their future' which featured five nuns from Kerala's Kuravilangad.
The five nuns stood up to the church and spearheaded the two-week long protest outside the Kerala High Court to ensure the rape-accused Bishop Francis Mulackkal was brought to justice. (Photo | National Geographic Magazine)
The five nuns stood up to the church and spearheaded the two-week long protest outside the Kerala High Court to ensure the rape-accused Bishop Francis Mulackkal was brought to justice. (Photo | National Geographic Magazine)

KOCHI: The endurance of the five nuns, demanding arrest of rape accused Bishop Franco Mulackkal, which has scripted history last year recently got honoured in Washington based National Geographic magazine in their November issue.

The magazine has published 'Defiant Sister, India' under the article 'Around the World, women are taking charge of their future'. Sisters Alphy, Nina Rose, Ancitta, Anupama, and Josephine of Kuravilangad convent in Kottayam was honoured for their fight against injustice.

"Their superiors keep pressuring them to keep quiet and stop making trouble, but they refuse. When a nun in Kerala told church leaders multiple times that a bishop had raped her repeatedly, nothing happened, so she turned to the police.

Months later, in September 2018, these fellow nuns joined a two-week protest outside the Kerala High Court.

The bishop, who maintains his innocence, eventually was arrested. Instead of supporting the nuns, the church cut off the protesting nuns’ monthly allowance," read the brief which is seen below the photograph of five cheerful nuns.  

Last year, a 14-day protest launched by five nuns in September changed the narrative.

Withstanding stiff resistance from the Church and their congregation, they managed to garner the support of the general public which landed Bishop Franco Mulackkal of Jalandhar Diocese behind bars.

"We only stood with the truth and the world recognised us for doing so. We all are very happy and we hope that in the future also nuns enduring pain will break their silence and speak out the truth to the whole world," said Sister Anupama, one among the five nuns who led the protest. 

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