(ITALY)
Il Messaggero [Rome, Italy]
June 7, 2024
The book titled “Sexual Abuses on Nuns in Africa” by the Togolese nun Mary Lembo compiles the work done for her doctoral thesis, discussed five years ago at the Gregoriana. The latest translation of the volume is in German, and it is causing discussions in Germany due to the material that the nun has collected over many years of service.
Talking about abuses by priests towards African nuns is not at all simple, also because the topic remains a taboo. “Yet abuse is a reality,” Lembo said, highlighting the role of power that the priest exercises, fueling asymmetric relationships, with nuns in close contact with priests who they rely on spiritually, asking for advice and help, considering them as fathers. Many times nuns do not imagine that a consecrated man can harm them.
The dynamic described by Sister Lembo is the one recently denounced by some victims of the former Jesuit artist, Father Marko Rupnik, a very charismatic and powerful man to the point of being first excommunicated by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and then relieved of this punishment by a decision that came from above and is still shrouded in mystery.
The Pope has decided to reopen the Rupnik case, and the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith is currently examining the material and new complaints that have arrived in the meantime. An ex-nun accuses Father Rupnik: “I was abused and forced into orgies by Father Rupnik, let the rubber wall fall.”
For Sister Lembo, sexuality is still a taboo and consequently, the abuses that occur are difficult to address in the ecclesiastical environment. Moreover, she added, many women are afraid and do not want to damage the image of the Church.
In her research, Sister Lembo conducted nine in-depth interviews, exploring the dramatic stories of nine African nuns. Lembo strongly calls for a reform of training programs: religious women and priests should be able to develop a mature and respectful approach, better concepts of protection and prevention are now also necessary. Finally, victims need better support, even after abortions – which unfortunately are not rare – and after a possible removal of the victim from the religious order of belonging to avoid public scandal.
In Germany, the Catholic humanitarian organization Missio Aachen conducted another important investigation into abuses against religious women. It is currently supporting 28 projects in Africa and Asia. The study revealed a bleak picture with “discrimination against religious women and the stigmatization of victims” due to “patriarchal power structures and clericalism.” There was also often talk of “denial and cover-up” by superiors.
Among the reasons why nuns become victims of abuse is their poverty. The president of Missio Aachen, Josephine Beck-Engelberg explained: “In the quotations, it emerged that many sisters do not have money for phone calls, the use of mobile phones, public transport. They depend, for example, on driving the priests’ cars. Poverty is a problem, which puts these hardcore sisters in an extremely vulnerable situation.”
The most common recommendation of the organizations is to provide moral and spiritual support to the victims: Something very simple like compensation, psychological support plans. Perhaps it is also about promoting gender justice in the church and with fair working conditions and remuneration. Religious women are often helpers, housekeepers, responsible for cleaning the priests. In Italy, the issue has been raised repeatedly by the Catholic historian Lucetta Scaraffia who has dedicated books and essays to the topic.
However, the theme is old. In the mid-’90s, Sister Maura O’ Donohue conducted a survey with nuns in 23 countries. The report was sent to Rome denouncing the violence inflicted on nuns by “predators”, but also the subsequent violence of the institutes that abandon them.
From Rome, a letter was sent to the African bishops, but without any significant results. In fact, silence envelops both the perpetrators of the violence and the victims. Vatican, the Rupnik case is a ticking time bomb: in Lourdes, there are victims of violence offended by the mosaics of the abusive priest.