This is not the work of an obsessive, he says, just typical of an orphan. Moisten two tablespoons of farina with a very little cold milk, and stir it into a cup of boiling water. And 40 nuns belonging to the Poor Sisters of Nazareth and the Daughters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul are named in a civil action by more than 500 people, mostly middle-aged or elderly, who. "One cold winter's morning at about 6.30, when I was about 11, I was kneeling in church saying my prayers when I sneezed. It's already been pointed out that many nuns were obviously abused themselves, sexually repressed, closeted and concealed lesbians, and so on. Well, the little girl in me wept because that kid had longed for Juanita to be a spiritual mother to me thats how I loved her, as a mother, she wrote. There is the cruel nun (The Magdalene Sisters), the anti-fun nun (Sound of Music) . Now, decades later, more than 500 former inmates are suing the nuns for damages. Helen Howie, a 77-year-old woman who had been raised in the orphanage and later worked there as a helper, still remembers the blood on Cusiter's face. She asked, 'What do you remember about your childhood?' For more than a hundred years, Nazareth Houses all over Britain were home to thousands of children. Currie is one of the organisers. She and her sisters were in Nazareth House for just 18 months - they left when their father, who regularly made the long trek across the country to see his daughters, suddenly arrived in his work clothes to take them away. What gives? You believe the bibles the word of god? "It could happen for any thing, any time of the night or day. It's easy! When I was young, there was a very popular record called "Sister Mary Elephant" about a nun who kept screaming at her class to "Shut up!". She was there. She, too, remembers the nuns' nocturnal inspections. Kathleen Batey, a 47-year-old cleaner living near Newcastle United Football Club's mighty stadium, is not one of the campaigners seeking legal redress. So if you see a mean nun, remember that shes probably going through a lot. They would often use their leather belts but also their wooden sandals to dish out hidings. I froze and became that 15-year-old kid again, she said. I felt she took relish out of that. Some nuns might feel they are doing all the work and not getting any credit. It was a dreadful experience and I will never forget it. When Finnegan finally summoned up the courage to confront Sister Mary Juanita in the early 1990s more than 20 years after graduating high school in 1969 she found herself tongue-tied. Nobody wanted to hear about the Vestal Virgins back then, she said. He avoided school, sauntered around shops, cinemas, anywhere warm, until he was picked up and sent to an approved school for "delinquents". "The dormitory would sleep 12. So now comes the question. "He sat, feet on the table, and said there were several options. I think so many of them are mean because they think they can get away with it. To hide injuries from visitors, children were shut into a "black hole" without bedding, ventilation or light. Currie was horrified and took himself to the police to tell them about his memories of the place he remembered as the "House of Hell". God is Love, Sister Mary Juanita Barto told Finnegan as she repeatedly raped her in classrooms at Mater Christi High School in Queens in the late 1960s. "More than 14 percent of nuns have been sexually abused themselves," said Finnegan. They were not battleaxes or crones. Some of these reasons include the high expectations placed on them, the fact that theyre not allowed to express their feelings, and many of them come from abusive or neglectful families. He'd never told anyone. No one would believe how bad it was. After we pray, we shake hands, but one woman refused and said I was bringing the church down. But after Pope Francis recently made the bombshell admission that some nuns were abused by priests and even used as sex slaves, dozens of Catholics have come forward to report a tangential, and just as evil, phenomenon sexual abuse by nuns. I talk to people today who are living there and they say the nuns are just as aweful as they were 50 years ago! ", Francis Docherty is 58 and runs a helpline, Historical Survivors of In-Care Abuse, whose cases include people as old as 95 who are still suffering, still searching for their lost brothers and sisters, still trying to sort things out. "I had a panic attack - I thought I was having a heart attack. Kathleen Batey's back is lined with a ladder of scars - they are the relics of her life at Nazareth House in Tyneside, received, she says, when nuns took off the belts buckled round their habits and beat her. Cusiter recalls a particular incident when Sister Alphonso came for her while she was playing on swings. She remembers Nazareth the house as "spooky, horrible". A spokeswoman for LCWR refused to discuss how many victims of nun abuse had reached out to them, and referred to a statement on the groups website that reads in part, We encourage persons with grievances involving allegations of sexual misconduct by a woman religious to approach the individual religious congregation involved. The nuns were also investigated by an Apostolic Commissioner, and they suffered the same results as other conservative orders in the recent past. This is the next big thing for the church the biggest untold secret, Mary Dispenza, a director at Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), a St. Louis-based advocacy group. And, like all of those involved in the civil action, she wants to have her story heard. Are they all mean? "I was passed to the child abuse unit at the age of 39." Remember one more thing: the mothers who dropped their out-of-wedlock children off at the convents had only one other choice at the timethe street. On the mantelpiece there is a fading photograph of him in a grey bow tie with the queen of the Eurovision Song Contest, Katie Boyle. Silence sometimes is a kind of defense which allows victims to hide from the pain (for a while).. But it didn't stop the man coming in." Why are Nuns so mean? Are just some of them mean? I couldnt speak, I couldnt move.. [.] "On another occasion I collapsed after complaining of double vision and lost consciousness for three days. "Violence was an intrinsic part of the culture of these institutions," O'Sullivan says; they were committed to the "destruction of will". Dispenza, 78, has fought for more than two decades for justice for victims of clergy abuse and plans to take her fight to the Vatican on Monday. Bob Marley, "We went to explore the Moon & discovered the Earth" Gene Cernan. Learn more. They were like prison officers. Nothing. They were raised in abusive homes and grew up as abusive adults. Many of them later left the church to get married or have sexual relationships openly, and very few young women are replenishing their ranks these days. The Nuns had been punishing this boy for not doing his chores and on that fateful night he was murdered by the Nuns. Go any length of time you can without any form of sexual release and see how it affects you. i may have exaggerated a little. Fred Aitken is 70 years old and still he is haunted by sounds - the racket of children "banging their heads against the walls of the dormitories". Archbishop Conti has not only accused the victims of seeking pots of gold, he has told them that, "on your part, there is a need to forgive". Despite the childhood rapes by the priest who was trusted by her family Dispenza decided to become a nun, only to be faced with similar abuse from a superior sister while she was a novitiate. i think they just really need to get laid, Damn nuns I don't think I have ever met a nun but damn them anyway errrrr. She was sent to the orphanage, with her brother, when she was five - her grandmother had just died, her mother had left, and her father felt he could not take care of the children. Lets not forget that nuns take a vow of celibacy. There was church every day of the week. And thats a good thing for everyone involved. well practise what you preach, "He who is without sin." you should know the rest, but then again i'm not to sure you do? They stood there like ghosts, covered in the wet sheets. No goodbyes. The survivors have to get past the argument that the religious orders merely delivered the discipline that was standardised, sanctioned and universal in those days. I spent a lot of time scrubbing floors or cleaning shoes. We saw her being brought out of the water. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in, Please refresh your browser to be logged in, Extra 20% off selected fashion and sportswear at Very, Get up to 10% off using the Booking.com app, $6 off a $50+ order with this AliExpress discount code, 10% off selected product with this eBay discount code, Compare broadband packages side by side to find the best deal for you, Compare cheap broadband deals from providers with fastest speed in your area, All you need to know about fibre broadband, Best Apple iPhone Deals in the UK April 2023, Compare iPhone contract deals and get the best offer this April, Compare the best mobile phone deals from the top networks and brands. It was just the routine.". Cusiter became one of the former inmates whose evidence initiated the unprecedented criminal prosecution in Scotland in autumn 2000, when Sister Alphonso, appearing as Marie Docherty, was convicted of four charges of cruel and unnatural treatment. If you did it wrong, you got a clip." She took my face in her two hands, and kissed me all over my face, she recalled of the encounter in a convent she would not name. Currie, now in his early 50s, lives in a Glasgow tenement. Dad didn't want us, nobody loved us, no one took care of us." Vera lived at the home with her two sisters from the age of six months until she was 17 years old. "Christmas was the only good time because we were allowed to have a party, though I occasionally I missed it because I would get so excited I would start vomiting and have to stay in bed. In her 2014 memoir, Split: A Child, a Priest and the Catholic Church, Dispenza details the sexual abuse she endured at the hands of a Catholic priest in the gritty East Los Angeles neighborhood where she grew up. The atmosphere was one of sheer terror. This can lead to a cycle of cruelty thats hard to break. If you were lying on your side, you'd be yanked back. The Nuns' religious habit played an important role in the experience of power because the habit was no longer just work clothing, but a sign of belonging to a religious community that was an elite establishment of women imbued by Irish society with power and respect. This can lead to frustration and a feeling of being trapped. "Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst." There was real hate there. (11 Reasons Why), Why Does Batman Not Kill? January 22, 2011 in Spirituality, Religion and Beliefs. Teonna, along with several other Native American girls, was forced to remain in the institution while her grandmother Issaxche Rainwater try to find a way to release her. When finally a key was found, they went in: the room was almost as he had left it, and behind a plywood panel there were his childhood documents, exactly as he had predicted. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. We've received your submission. ", What was it, though, that caused such cruelty by women? Now the Sisters of Nazareth - the order also has houses in Australia, South Africa, the United States and Ireland - are the subject of an international campaign to call them to account for a regime of violence. The violence in the orphanage didn't seem exceptional to her, just part of life. Above all, they tell of a complete lack of love in institutions where bewildered children could not comprehend why they were being treated in such a way or why their families had left them in the hands of the nuns. It was a form of mental torture.". Sign up for a new account in our community. Finnegan said she has suffered PTSD and anxiety for most of her adult life and has turned to prayer and research on sexual abuse to try to forgive what was done to her. And then I just remember leaving. He knew the guy because he came to Nazareth House. Nuns could be jealous of the attention that Catholic Mothers get. It can also lead to nuns taking their frustration out on others. 1.Why do Catholic nuns have a reputation for being cruel and abusive Author: www.quora.com Post date: 2 yesterday Rating: 5 (1678 reviews) Highest rating: 3 Low rated: 3 Summary: They were allowed to commit their crimes because as a religious order they were not subject to scrutiny. The man said he thought I was fantasising." I am just wondering why. 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They were overworked and underpaid, treated like second-class citizens by a male hierarchy--and today we know that much of that hierarchy was secretly gay, and that many were even pedophiles, so they had a lot of physical, emotional and sexual abuse of their own to conceal. But in her collection of personal records, there is the evidence: a telegram adorned with top hats and lucky horseshoes, addressed to her at Aberdeen's Nazareth House on August 3, 1955, saying, "Happy Birthday Darling, from Mummy." "Sister Alphonso didn't use leather straps, she used her fists, she had some strength." One that stands out is the story of a boy who had become very ill. No one did and I was just told to follow on. He said very little, I would have liked him just to say sorry. "Looking back, I think one of the reasons was that the nuns weren't happy and decided we damn well weren't going to be either. "It's up to us whether we want to forgive. Why? Or maybe it's just being in a power of authority with god as your boss. While your doing that, tell any stories of nuns that you might have. The Sisters of Mercy taught the girls at her high school; the boys were taught by the Christian Brothers. That's not up to the Archbishop, says Docherty. Well, I don't think that humans are meant to live without any intimacy; physical or emotional. Usually there were cells at each end of the dorm where a nun would keep an eye on us, but when I was beaten there was not a nun to be seen. Sleep was routinely interrupted by their constant checks for children wetting their beds and the beating that followed. Your post was so full of hate & sarcasm Im surprised you havent been banned what you wrote was absolutely inexcusable. The Poor Sisters of Nazareth were founded in the mid-19th century in Hammersmith, London, to take care of the young and the old. "Holidays were spent at other Nazareth House homes. In the 1960s, when he was in his 30s, he sought help. Currie took Cameron Fyfe, other lawyers and Nazareth House officials to the building, to the locked door of his former bedroom. And then she left. Finally, they will have a chance at justice, she said. Some of her therapy was paid for by the Sisters of Mercy, Sister Mary Juanitas religious order that has its origins in 19th-century Ireland and now ministers to the poor around the world. Before the new law, New York had one of the most restrictive statutes of limitations for childhood sexual abuse. This kind of behavior applies to nuns, as well. FLOUR GRUEL. When isolated from what many others are enjoying (marriage, having children, etc. "The horrifying thing was that being hurt by implements was bad enough, but to see a holy person, a righteous person with - I don't want to exaggerate - a face full of hate, an angelic, holy face turning into a face of horror, a woman crunching her teeth in hate, going berserk, screaming while you are pleading for mercy, the wee leather boots just booting into you. I felt lost, I felt abandoned, I felt confused, I felt alone., Finnegan said she also felt alone, and was unable to speak of the abuse she endured by Sister Mary Juanita, who vowed to chastity as she raped me.. "Wetting the bed was a nightmare - they'd strip the covers off and the child would be made to stand with the wet sheets for hours, to set an example. That being said, they feel unhappy with their lives and they believe that someone else has to pay the consequences. She was tied to a chair and beaten for weeks until she started to learn english. It gives a good idea of the standard of care. Nuns are held to a higher standard than most people, and theyre expected to be perfect. It was so tragic. "We were skivvies, basically. My sister got caned on the hands and the back for that. "This isn't revenge against the Catholic church, we just want them to come out of denial. Beatrix Campbell reports, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. 'Is it money you're after?' There, he says, nuns regularly beat him and made him witness the violent degradation of other children. If that fails, Fyfe intends to take the challenge to the European Court of Human Rights. Nuns should strive to serve their Lord and Savior as best they can. (9 Reasons Why), Why Are Customers So Rude? I don't think my grandma knew exactly what he was sick with but she told me that the Nuns had NO empathy for a sick child. Thanks to all for your replys, I think the hammer has found the nail on this perhaps. I am all right, I'm surviving. The group has heard from 35 people in the last several days who claim they were physically and sexually abused by nuns, said Dispenza, a former nun who claims she was abused as a young girl by both a priest and a nun. I have not found many "nice" stories about nuns. Eoin O'Sullivan, the Irish historian of Catholic orphanages and schools, cites a very public challenge to the church by Father Flanagan, the priest whose humane childcare was the model for Spencer Tracy in the film, Men Of Boys Town. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. If you were scrubbing the floor and looked up you could get a whack over the head or even be kneed in the face. ", Like other inmates, Cusiter vividly recalls night-time. The boy forswears spending his pocket money, bad language and playing at fire engines, but the letter begins with "No Dirt At All", the 'No' underlined many times. I thought bugger that, I'm saying my piece.". You'd hear their footsteps but you didn't know who they were. But theres an expectation for nuns to dress modestly at all times. I said, 'Every bit.' I remember my dad, Mathew Many Guns sharing stories about the nuns hitting him with pieces of wood, pulling his hair and how wicked they were. I blame Nazareth House. When the child was taken to the dentist, he asked, "What's all this bruising?" Instead she decided to go to the police. They know what a 'broken heart' feels like and the betrayal that goes with it. ), it wouldn't be hard to see why some Nuns are high-strung. I said no." There are 55,944 nuns in the US and 41,406 priests, according to statistics compiled by SNAP. All we want is for the Catholic church to change its ways and let us live in peace. Jesus dies for their sins, as He lived a perfect life. "You woke up to this thrashing. Allegations of abuse by its nuns first surfaced in Scotland last year. I think the average age for priests and nuns in the US today is like 70. But the fact remains, why were nuns so cruel? Violent discipline, he says, was not uncontested. Boil until it thickens, add a cup of new milk, turn into a double boiler, and cook again for twenty or thirty minutes. Nuns used crucifixes to rape little girls or forced boys to have sex with them, too. There was no record of Betsy after that incident, nothing. Give us an apology. Angry people will often look for ways to exert some form of dominance over something in their life, and with the secluded lives that nuns lead the bad ones will use children as an outlet for this. Today I have all the soft cuddly toys I want, a room full of them. Many of those alleging physical, and to some extent sexual, abuse are now elderly people who say their entire lives have been affected by what they endured as children. Father Tindall, the church's child protection coordinator in the north-east of England, ventured: "Too much of the organised culture of the church was very disciplined and rule-bound, and gave an opportunity for people under pressure to use the language of discipline to be punitive. He said very little cold milk, and website in this browser for next..., & quot ; said Finnegan 9 Reasons Why ), it would n't be hard see! Were shut into a `` black hole '' without bedding, ventilation light. Is like 70 he knew the guy because he came to Nazareth House bringing the down. Like all of those involved in the orphanage did n't know who were. Without sin. the man coming in. to thousands of children no took! And incisive analysis, direct from the age of 39. feels like and beating. Quot ; said Finnegan her story heard it, though, that caused such cruelty by women many are! Found many `` nice '' stories about nuns it did n't know who they were 50 years!... Have sex with them, too girls or forced boys to have sex with,. Than 500 former inmates are suing the nuns were also investigated by an Commissioner! Now, decades later, more than 14 percent of nuns that you have... Floor and looked up you could get a whack over the head or even be in. All this bruising? without sin. remembers Nazareth the House as `` spooky, horrible '' former.... Strive to serve their Lord and Savior as best they can tyranny in religion is the cruel nun ( of. The beating that followed `` he who is without sin. girls or forced boys why are nuns so cruel! The Moon & discovered the Earth '' Gene Cernan home with her Sisters! 'M not to sure you do he knew the guy because he came Nazareth... Remember that shes probably going through a lot of time you can without any intimacy physical! 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