Another Kerala Nun to Publish a Tell-All Book on Convent Life

By Kk John
Christian Today
April 4, 2012

http://in.christiantoday.com/articles/another-kerala-nun-to-publish-a-tell-all-book-on-convent-life/7195.htm

Another nun from the Catholic Church in Kerala is taking the audacity to open up on the sexual abuse faced by nuns in convents.

Sr Mary Chandy left the order 12 years ago when a priest had forced himself on her. The Presentation Convent nun is now penning her ordeals in an autobiography that will be soon released.

In an interview to a local daily, the 76-year-old nun said her autobiography 'Swasthy' will create a "whirlwind" of sorts as it exposes the ordeals she experienced in her 56 years of life as a nun.

"I was once the target of rape and when I protested a clergyman's attempt and took up the issue with the church, it was I and not he, who was put under tremendous mental pressure," she said in the interview.

Sr Mary says she now feels closer to God than ever before. She left the order 12 years ago.

The former divulges that nuns getting pregnant and trying to kill the newborns are common in convents. She opines that the Catholic Church needs to break with the tradition and allow priests to marry.

Mary wants to continue her life as a nun. She now lives in her own orphanage where 17 neglected children are cared for.

In 2009, another nun's tell-all story rocked the Catholic Church in Kerala.

Sr Jesme's 'Amen - an autobiography of a nun' detailed illicit relationships and sexual harassment prevailing in the convents.

Jesme quit the Congregation of Mother Carmelite (CMC) after spending around 30 years of religious life. Her superiors described her mentally sick and sent her to rehabilitation centre.

In her book, Sr Jesme refers to the helplessness that nuns face when they are sexually abused in a convent. "When a woman is molested, sexually harassed, will she speak out? Only one out of a thousand will speak out. So think of nuns! They will never speak out. They fear that their nun-hood will be lost," said Sister Jesme.

Sr Jesme's book was published in Malayalam and translated to English and Hindi.