Word: puthenpura
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...seems to have made a personal fortune on the profits, which went mainly into diocesan funds in India. Even the most notorious recruiter, Father Cyriac Puthenpura, who enlisted at least 500 novices himself, seems to have used his profits for a beneficent purpose: to build the Nirmala Bhavan (Home of the Pure of Heart) Secular Institute for girls in Kerala's Ettumannur district. In his zeal, however, Puthenpura may have oversold his audience. His recruits did not, as he claimed, "live like princesses" in Europe. Like novices everywhere, they had to wash dishes, scrub floors, and perform other menial...
...nervous breakdown of one of Puthenpura's recruits finally brought some limited Vatican action. When Novice Mary Kutty was hospitalized in Florence in 1969, her language teacher fought for her return to India. Puthenpura failed to respond, but the convent finally sent her back and she promptly recovered. Last February papal Secretary of State Jean Cardinal Villot ordered all recruiting to stop. In June papal nuncios in Europe were ordered to interview every Indian novice; Rome's investigation is still going...