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	India Kerala Bishops Concerned over Probe into Nun's Murder Case Union of Catholic Asian News December 15, 2008 http://www.ucanews.com/2008/12/15/kerala-bishops-concerned-over-probe-into-nuns-murder-case/ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India (UCAN) — Bishops and Religious major superiors in Kerala state have expressed concern that the investigation into a nun's alleged murder 16 years ago is prejudiced. Their three-day meeting that ended on Dec. 11 was held against the backdrop of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), India's top investigating agency, arresting two priests and a nun in mid-November. The Church leaders agreed the CBI investigation went ahead with "prejudices and pre-conceived ideas," said Father Stephen Alathara, deputy secretary of the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council. About 30 bishops and 280 priests and nuns met in Kochi, 2,965 kilometers south of New Delhi, where they also discussed other business of concern to the local Church. Father Alathara told UCA News the Church wants a free and independent investigation into the mysterious death of Sister Abhaya, whose body was found inside a well at her Pius X Convent in Kottayam, near Kochi, in 1992. The CBI claimed in court that they have enough evidence to prove the arrested Church workers murdered 21-year-old Sister Abhaya to conceal a sexual escapade. All three remain in custody pending trial. Father Alathara criticized the CBI for selectively leaking details of the case to the media, who he says have used the information to tarnish the Church's image, depicting the arrested as guilty. The manner in which the arrests were made, he said, makes the Church wonder if the main motive is to unearth the truth or tarnish the Church's image. He added that it is painful to see Church people labeled guilty without any court of law having convicted them. Father Alathara clarified that the Church is not supporting the accused but only demanding a sincere and independent enquiry. Major Archbishop Isaac Mar Cleemis of Trivandrum, the bishops' council chairperson, presided over the recent meeting. Addressing another issue it discussed, he criticized Kerala's communist-led government, saying its lop-sided educational policies have created trouble for Church educational institutions. "The Church is in a pathetic condition, as it has to move to court to assert its basic rights," he said. The Church has been at loggerheads with the communist-led coalition that came to power in 2006, charging that the government's attempts to renew education and administrative policies are aimed at stifling the Church and controlling its institutions. The meeting also agreed the Kerala bishops would implement the gender policy that the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India adopted in February. The Indian bishops took several steps to empower women in the Church such as asking Church bodies to ensure 35 percent representation for women. Father Alathara said the policy would come into effect next year. The bishops decided to observe Dec. 26 as a prayer day for victims of anti-Christian violence in Orissa, eastern India, where seven weeks of violence starting Aug. 24 killed at least 60 people, mostly Christians, and displaced 50,000 others. They also decided to observe Jan. 1 as an anti-terrorism day, with special prayers for peace to be conducted in churches. That decision comes in the wake of the Nov. 26 attacks in Mumbai, western India, that claimed at least 173 lives. The observance also aims to pay homage to those killed in the 60-hour shootout, Father Alathara said.
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