After years of silence, nuns denounce abuses



[ad_1]

In the midst of badual abuse scandals in the Church, several nuns have said that priests and bishops have mistreated them for decades. The clergy do not accept the accusations

Several women have left their congregations because they do not believe their allegations of abuse. AFP

The nuns break the silence after years of guilt and penance. The first to speak appeared a week ago in the journalistic research program "Special Report", transmitted by the Chilean Public Network, a country that is in the midst of one of the most serious scandals of child abuse. . members of the Catholic Church : there are more and more people who, as children or adolescents, have fallen into the hands of abusive priests who have frightened and manipulated them so as not to denounce them. More than 158 priests are under investigation and several bishops, accused of hiding cases or obstructing investigations, have already accepted the resignation.

The nuns who spoke for the investigation said that, after reporting abuses to their superiors they were punished and expelled from their congregations. This is why many prefer silence.

Yolanda Tondreaux, one of them, said she suffered abuse as soon as she put her habits: "A priest came to me, he touched me the chest and he kissed me on the face, reaching my lips.He said and badured that he immediately went to the upper mother, Patricia Ibarra, and reported what happened but she, far from helping him, he treated her as a "liar" and ordered him to confess with the same denounced priest.

Does the Church blow up the nuns? [19659005] She belonged to the Chilean branch of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan, founded in 1987 by Irene Garcia de Prado, a Spanish nun who died last year in Molina, directed towards "The girls left the convent for the same thing, because there were priests who caressed them "said Tondreaux in the report. A survey conducted by the Associated Press (AP) news agency showed that complaints are increasing in Europe, Africa, South America and Asia, which shows that the problem is global and widespread.

An article published in the newspaper La Nación in Argentina brings together more cases of abused nuns. She says some nuns have given their faces, driven by the growing recognition that adults can be victims of badual abuse when there is an imbalance of power in a relationship.

See more: The Catholic Church of Chile offers forgiveness to the nun

"The question has gained importance in the context of the scandals surrounding the badual abuse of minors and more recently adults, including revelations that one of the most important cardinals in the United States, Theodore McCarrick, badually abused and harbaded to seminarians For the charges, the archbishop emeritus of Washington resigned yesterday as a member of the College of Cardinals and was detained by the pope, "notes the Argentine newspaper.

See more: Pope accepts the resignation of McCarrick

The extent of abuse is not yet clear, because it is a subject that the Catholic hierarchy refuses to accept. "Church leaders are reluctant to acknowledge that some priests and bishops are simply ignoring their wishes for celibacy, knowing that their secrets will not be revealed," experts told La Nación.

Consuelo Gómez, of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan, related his case in the program of investigation of Chilean television. "I was in this convent between 1998 and 2017 and in the past I reported being abused by priests in Chile and by another religious in Spain," he said.

"I was badually abused by a nun in Spain, who was also Chilean and superior to me, several times and repeatedly, and they all knew me and silenced me," Gómez said at that time. I was guilty of everything, but now I understood that it's a story I've lived, which is mine, and that I'm not the only one " , he added, in comments to Emol

The clergyman said he declared last January before the Archbishop of Malta, Charles Scicluna, sent by Pope Francis to Chile to listen to victims of death. Abuse in the Church, but stated that until now they have received no official response to their complaints. 19659005] See more: Who is Charles Scicluna, the Executioner's Abuse Prisoner? [19659005TheNationreportsthatanuninIndiahasfiledapolicecomplaintandaccusedarapebishopandinAfricatherearecasesmorefrequently"In2013forexampleaprominentUgandanpriestwrotealettertohissuperiorsinwhichhespokeof"priestshavingromanticrelationshipswithnuns"andwbaduspendeduntilheapologizedinMaythrowlightonthesubject"saystheArgentinenewspaper

"It saddens me that it took so long for this to come to light because there have been denunciations for some time," said Karlijn Demasure, one of the leading experts in the field. Church on badual abuse and power. "I hope that now steps are being taken to take care of the victims and put an end to these abuses."

[ad_2]
Source link