The Roman Catholic Diocese of Jalandhar / Jullundur ( la, Iullunduren(sis)) is a

Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran , caption = Archbasilica of Saint Jo ...

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

, located in the city of Jalandhar in the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian Churches with traditional hierarchical structure, including Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity. In general, an ecclesiastical province consists of sev ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

in India.

History

* 17 January 1952: Established as the

Apostolic Prefecture An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it ...

of Jalandhar from the Diocese of Lahore * 6 December 1971: Promoted as Diocese of Jalandhar

Leadership

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

s of Jalandhar (

) ** Bishop

Franco Mulakkal Franco Mulakkal is an Indian prelate of the Latin Catholic Church. He worked as the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Jalandhar from 2013 until his arrest in 2018 on charges of raping a nun. He is the first bishop in Indian Catholic to ...

(4 August 2013 – 01 June 2023) ** Bishop

Anil Joseph Thomas Couto Archbishop Anil Joseph Thomas Couto is the serving Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Delhi. Early life He was born on 22 September 1954 in Pomburpa, Goa, to Mr. Avito Piedade Jose Couto and Mrs. Ernestina Isabel Lobo e Couto. ...

(16 April 2007 – 30 November 2012) ** Bishop Symphorian Thomas Keeprath,

O.F.M. Cap. The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin (; postnominal abbr. O.F.M. Cap.) is a religious order of Franciscan friars within the Catholic Church, one of Three " First Orders" that reformed from the Franciscan Friars Minor Observant (OFM Obs., now OFM ...

(18 March 1972 – 24 February 2007) * Prefects Apostolic of Jalandhar (Latin Church) ** Fr. Alban of Blackburn, O.F.M. Cap. (31 October 1952 – 1971)

Sexual assault case

IN 2021, a court ruled Bishop Franco was not guilty. On 14 January 2022, the Additional Sessions Court acquitted him of all charges. In 2018 a rape complaint against Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal, the police received a copy of the victim nun's statement, given to Changanasseri, Kerala Judicial First Class Magistrate under Section 164 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC, India).

Kerala Police The Kerala Police is the law enforcement agency for the Indian state of Kerala. Kerala Police has its headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital. The motto of the force is "Mridhu Bhave Dhrida Kruthye" which means "Soft in Temperament ...

arrested Franco Mulakkal for allegedly raping a nun multiple times between 2014 and 2016. The arrest was made in September 2018 in Kochi, India. He was interrogated by the

for three days before arrest. Vijay Sakhare, inspector general of

said "After our investigation, we have enough evidence that the bishop, prima facie, has committed the crime." On September 20, 2018, Pope Francis accepted Mulakki's request for a leave of absence. On 8 October 2018, Bishop Agnelo Gracias took office as

apostolic administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic adm ...

''sede plena et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis'' of the diocese, after Mulakkal's arrest.In 2022, the trial court found Bishop Franco not guilty and free from all the charges.

References

External links

GCatholic.org

Website of the diocese
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jalandhar Roman Catholic dioceses in India Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century Christianity in Punjab, India Christian organizations established in 1952 1952 establishments in India Jalandhar