In a historic show of solidarity, a group of nuns in Kerala has forced the church and the state to finally act against a bishop who had allegedly raped one of them. V Shoba in Kochi listens to the sisters who dared

She lives in a cloistered world of silence and submission. Endurance is her supreme prayer. She is out there on the street today, demanding justice for the one who has allegedly been raped by a bishop. Pitted against a patriarchal church and an indifferent state, a nun’s life is a lone battle. And it all returns to her body

The transactional power of the church in the secular politics of Kerala makes the loneliness of the nun starker

Why the Church must force the Bishop accused of rape to step down

Charges levelled against four priests for using confessions to blackmail and rape a woman shake up the Orthodox Syrian Church in Kerala and bring clerical abuse to the fore again

Dalit priests have found acceptance in neighbouring Kerala, but in Tamil Nadu, will the wait ever end for non-Brahmins to enter the sanctum sanctorum?

By facing up to the issue of sexual abuse by priests, Pope Francis reinforces his reputation for sincerity