By Justin Latif
Stuff
October 22, 2008
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/sundaystartimes/auckland/4736066a6497.html
Ex-nun Pauline Grogan never wanted to tell anyone she'd been sexually abused by a priest.
But an extraordinary friendship in the years that followed made her realise that her story needed to be told.
Now the inspirational 63-year-old is coming to the Glen Eden Playhouse to recount her experiences on stage.
Pauline has toured New Zealand since 2005 with her one-woman show, 500 Letters.
She says the play has encouraged others to come forward with their own harrowing stories of incest, rape and assault at the hands of offenders from all walks of society.
 |
| Welcome to My Life: Pauline Grogan Is Allowing Her Life Story to Help Others Find Healing from Their Experiences of Sexual Abuse Photo by Justin Latif |
Pauline was a "naive" nun at a convent in Mt
Albert when she was abused.
"I was 30 going on 12," she says. "A priest approached me and I thought I must be really special for him to
notice me at all.
"He drove me up to the Waitakere Ranges and then he turned into an old quarry and had his way with me."
Pauline says the priest blackmailed her into quitting her vocation and continued to abuse her for another 10 months.
An old family friend, John Grogan, eventually ripped her away from the situation.
Pauline reported the abuse to church leaders and her abuser fled the country.
She says the man has since left the priesthood.
She and John married a few months later and had four children.
Pauline became a teacher and tried to forget her past until she came across a very special man.
James Lynch was electrocuted at 14 years old and spent the rest of his life paralysed.
He'd been lying in the same bed at Tauranga hospital for 29 years when Pauline met him.
The pair clicked immediately despite James' slow and stunted speech.
"I had this feeling that I had to connect with him," she says. "So from 1986 till his death in 2001 he was my mentor.
"And in these quiet times together I began to find an inner strength."
James encouraged Paul-ine to write a book, Be-yond the Veil, which was published by Penguin in 1996.
The play followed.
"It has relevance to so many people out there," Pauline says.
"My story is like a gate that people come through to reveal their own stories."
Call 361-1000 for ticket information.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.