Pope Francis called for a global meeting of Catholic bishops to discuss on protection of minors from sexual abuse, the Vatican said on Wednesday. The spokeswoman said that the meeting will take place on February 21-24.
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The calling of the February meeting comes in the wake of fresh sexual abuse scandals in a number of countries, including the United States, Chile and Australia. The Catholic Church in the United states has been shaken by a damning Grand Jury report in the state of Pennsylvania that found that 301 priests in the state had sexually abused minors over the past 70 years.
Meanwhile in India, once again the harsh reality of the society was pictured in front of us. The Kerala nun rape case was a recent example, the Kerala police registered a case against a Jalandhar bishop, Frank Mullakkal. The bishop has been summoned by the court and they need him to be present on September 19.
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The nun alleged in her complaint that the bishop had sexually abused after summoning her on the pretext of discussing an important issue in 2014. He later raped 13 times in the next two years from 2014-2016.