The decks have been cleared for former Jalandhar bishop Franco Mulakkal’s return to pastoral duties as the Vatican has accepted a Kerala court’s decision acquitting him of rape charges levelled by a nun, a Church source said on Sunday.

In September 2018, the bishop was temporarily relieved of his responsibilities at the diocese by Pope Francis after Mulakkal was questioned by Kerala police over the rape charges levelled by the nun.

According to the source, during his visit to the Jalandhar diocese on Saturday, Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli, apostolic nuncio to India and Nepal, informed the priests of the north Indian diocese that the Vatican has accepted the court’s decision on Mulakkal.

The apostolic nuncio said this to a group of priests of the Jalandhar diocese in response to a query regarding the delay in Vatican accepting the court’s decision on the rape charges, the source said.

Asked whether Mulakkal would return to the Jalandhar diocese to serve as its bishop, the source said since the bishop was directly under the command of the Pope, the authority of fixing his responsibilities rested with the “Holy Sea” itself.

The Vatican’s decision to accept the court verdict came four months after the additional district and sessions court I, Kottayam, acquitted Mulakkal, saying the prosecution failed to produce evidence.

The nun, who claims to have been raped by the bishop, has moved Kerala High Court against his acquittal.

Mulakkal, 57, was accused of raping the nun multiple times during his visit to a convent in Kottayam between 2014 and 2016 when he was the bishop of the Jalandhar diocese. The nun is a member of the Missionaries of Jesus, a diocesan congregation under the Jalandhar diocese.