Keralam nuns’ ‘Stand By Me’ comes to home terrain

Having spent years wondering whether people would stand by them, the three nuns finally got an answer in a crowded exhibition hall in Kozhikode last month.

People poured in from all across north Keralam to buy their bags, nighties and saris. Many came simply to meet them, shake their hands and offer words of encouragement. By evening, the entire stock had sold out. “We had no idea how people would react when they saw us. But Kozhikode changed everything,” one of the nuns said.

The response marked a turning point for the three nuns from St. Francis Mission Home in Kuravilangad, who have spent years in the shadow of one of the most contentious controversies involving the Catholic Church in Keralam. They had stood by a nun who accused former Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal of rape. The bishop was acquitted by a trial court in 2022, but their open support for the survivor left the three facing years of scrutiny.

Something tangible

Now, encouraged by the response, the trio is taking their fledgling clothing venture, Stand By Me, to Kottayam, the heartland of Keralam’s Catholic community, on October 9 and 10. They will showcase their hand-stitched products at the K P S Menon Auditorium, hoping to turn the goodwill into something more tangible: a livelihood they can build on their own.

Until recently, the nuns had kept themselves behind the brand. At exhibitions in Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram, they promoted Stand By Me without revealing their identities, unsure of how the Catholic community would receive them. In Kozhikode, however, they decided to step out from behind the label.

They arrived with enough stock to last the day. It barely did. By 5 p.m., almost everything had disappeared from the shelves, leaving only a few brocade saris.

But the sales were not what stayed with them. “People were not buying only for themselves. Many bought products for friends and relatives because they wanted to support us,” one of the nuns said.

Father Augustine Vattoly, a Catholic priest who has supported the nuns since the beginning of their protest and now advises them on the enterprise, sees the response as evidence of a changing relationship between the laity and the clergy.

“We had received considerable support from the laity in the Ernakulam Angamaly Archdiocese during the protest. But we never expected such warmth from settler Catholic families in the eastern parts of Malabar,” he says.

Important role

According to Fr. Vattoly, the Church had traditionally exercised considerable influence over settler Catholic communities in Malabar, having played an important role in helping migrant families forge a new community identity. The response in Kozhikode, he believes, indicates that sections of the laity are increasingly willing to engage beyond traditional institutional boundaries.

Stand By Me, meanwhile, was born out of necessity. After financial assistance from the Church was stopped in 2023, the nuns struggled to meet their basic expenses. As the pressure mounted, two of the five nuns who had participated in the protest eventually left religious life.

The remaining three chose to stay together and create jobs for themselves. That decision led to the launch of Stand By Me, a clothing venture that has since given them a means to earn a living while remaining together.

The nuns are now exploring online sales through their Instagram page by the same name, Stand By Me.