Bishop accused of rape writes to Pope, offers to 'step aside'

Senior Catholic priest Franco Mulakkal, facing probe after a nun accused him of rape, has written a letter to the Pope, offering to "step aside temporarily" as Bishop of the Jalandhar Diocese, the church said on Monday.

A spokesman of the diocese told PTI that the Bishop wrote to the Pope on Sunday.

Bishop Franco Mulakkal has written "a letter to Holy Father Pope Francis expressing his desire to step aside temporarily and requested to be relieved from the administration of the diocese," the Jalandhar diocese said in a release.

The Bishop's move came ahead of his appearance before the Kerala Police team on September 19 in connection with the case.

The nun had accused the clergyman of sexually assaulting her repeatedly between 2014 and 2016.

The bishop had, however, dismissed the allegations as "baseless and concocted", insisting she levelled those as the Catholic order had rejected her demand for favours.