Indian Bishop Resigns After Rape Charge Acquittal and Pope's Acceptance.

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Franco Mulakkal, who was cleared of charges of raping a religious sister in his diocese in India in January 2022. The Vatican did not indicate whether it carried out its own investigation into the accusations against Mulakkal, who has denied the claims and contends he was falsely accused after he questioned alleged financial irregularities at the accuser’s convent. The religious sister accused the bishop of raping her during his May 2014 visit to her convent in Kuravilangad, in Kerala.