Word: churches
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...spokesman for the Syro-Malabar order of the Catholic Church, Father Paul Thelakkat, said Raphael's allegations stem from "some wounded feelings," which Raphael should have raised with the church instead of "maligning the life of religious nuns." He added that Raphael's allegations are "not especially serious." "The church never claims there's no sin within the church," he said. "We're not angels - we're human beings of flesh and blood - so some omissions and failures can happen. But the church is perennially on a path of renewal and reformation. We're trying to deal with these problems...
...Recently, there have been expulsions and other disciplinary action in response to other cases of misconduct within the church in Kerala. In June last year, a nun in a Christian hospital was expelled after a video of her having sex with a driver was circulated over mobile phones and the Internet. In October, Pope Benedict XVI suspended a bishop in the coastal city of Cochin after his adoption of a 26-year-old woman as his daughter raised questions. The bishop has denied any wrongdoing and said he adopted the woman out of fatherly love. But the church took...
...have been there in almost all convents [in Kerala]," says Joseph Pulikunnel, a veteran Syrian Catholic social reformer who edits Osanna, a magazine aimed at Kerala's Catholic community. "The convents are closed to the public. We don't know what is happening inside." He says India's Catholic Church, which accounts for 70% of all denominations among India's 25 million Christians, owns vast properties across the country, including over 30,000 educational institutions and 6,000 hospitals. In Kerala, the Church runs 60% of the private educational institutes. The state's near 100% literacy - a singular case...
...recent months, the church has been more forthcoming about the problems it faces. Sathyadeepam, Kerala's Catholic weekly, released a report in January that said almost 20% of the region's nuns - the church says there are about 45,000 - feel "insecure or unaccepted" in their convents. Cases of nuns speaking up like Raphael are still rare, but there may be an avalanche building up due to the changing social scene. Earlier, girls from disadvantaged families embraced the vows, finding that life in a convent, while hard, saved them from the worst of deprivation. But once in an order, they...
...stem the rot that has set in, the church will first have to admit the real nature and extent of the problem. If Alathara's reaction is anything to go by, that candor is a long way off. When asked about the numerous allegations of sexual abuse in the church, he said, "[Alleging sexual abuse] is an old tool of hitting at the ecclesiastical society. It's nothing new. It happened 2,000 years ago too." Father Thelakkat's reaction is somewhat similar. Though he doesn't deny Raphael's allegations, he refuses to acknowledge their seriousness either: "The incidents...