INDIA
Business Standard
Press Trust of India | Kochi May 18, 2015
Roman Catholic Church in Kerala is waiting for “directions” from the Vatican after taking initial action against a priest based on Canon law for allegedly raping a teenaged girl earlier this year.
Police had yesterday issued a lookout notice against Fr Edwin Figarez, a priest attached to the Lourdes Matha Church, Puthenvelikkara in Ernakulam district after Kerala High Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea.
The priest, who remained underground to evade the police, has been missing ever since the High Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea on May 5.
A spokesperson for Kottappuram Diocese said Figarez has been “suspended for the time being” from parish services after a pastoral commission appointed by the Bishop prepared a “preliminary report” about the alleged incident of sexually assaulting the 14-year-old in a church complex between the month of January and March this year, mostly when she came for confession.
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