Transparency unlimited
Watch: http://www.youtube. com/watch? v=1bxDmm9cseE&feature=channel_ page
@ Do Nuns Die Virgins?
Do Nuns Die Virgins? - By Mavis Makuni
http://www.bishop- accountability. org
The Roman Catholic Church has suffered adverse publicity worldwide over the
last few years after sordid tales of sexual abuse perpetrated by priests and
bishops were unearthed in the United States and other countries..
In March 2002, the international news magazine Newsweek published a report
under the headline, "Sins of the Fathers" which detailed how priests and
bishops in different dioceses of the Catholic Church in the US had molested
young boys and girls for about 50 years.
They had got away with these offences for so long because of an intricate
cover-up strategy adopted by the church. This involved transferring culprits to
dioceses where they were not well-known after complaints or whispers about
their immoral and illegal behaviour.
The scandal was shocking in that the Catholic Church, which has one billion
adherents worldwide, stood accused alongside secular organisations of covering
up rape, child molestation and paedophilia.
The church's hypocrisy in pretending that priests and nuns adhered to their
vows of celibacy when the widespread abuses exposed in press reports showed
otherwise raised many questions.
One was why the church stuck to this doctrine if it was too difficult for some
clerics to adhere to it.
The lifestyles of nuns and priests have always fascinated lay-people who have
wondered whether it is humanly possible for mere mortals to overcome fleshly
desires and stick to their vows of poverty and celibacy all their lives..
There have always been whispers about the sexual escapades of priests and nuns
even here in Zimbabwe but these are always difficult to ascertain because of
the aura of secrecy surrounding religious orders.
But lo and behold, the secret is out and it's official. The headquarters of the
Catholic Church, the Vatican, has conceded that not all is well.
A number of reports have confirmed that thousands of nuns worldwide cannot keep
their vows of chastity because they are raped or coerced into having sex by
priests or bishops.
"The Holy See is dealing with the question in collaboration with the bishops,
and with the International Union of Superiors General", said Papal spokesperson
Joaquin. Navaro - Vallis.
Navaro - vallis, who was quoted in the National Catholic Reporter, added:
"Certain negative situations cannot cause to be forgotten the frequently heroic
fidelity of the great majority of male religious priests".
The Vatican statement was prompted by a report in the Italian daily newspaper
La Repubblica about the scandal:
A number of reports written by senior members of women's religious orders have
also confirmed that the sexual abuse of nuns by priests is a serious and
prevalent problem.
In the 1990s Sister Maura O'Donohue a medical doctor, briefed Cardinal Eduardo
Matinerz, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for religious life on a report
she had written while she was the AIDS co-ordinator for the Catholic Fund for
Overseas Development based in London.
In her report, quoted in the Catholic National Reporter, O'Donohue said the
sexual abuse of nuns by priests had been documented in 23 countries, including
Zimbabwe. The rest are Botswana, Burundi, Brazil, Colombia, Ghana, India,
Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Philippines,
South Africa, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Tonga, Uganda, United States, Zambia and
Zaire.
O' Donohue said she initially reacted with "shock and disbelief" at the
magnitude of the problem.
"For example", she said, "a superior of a community of sisters in one country
was approached by priests requesting that sisters be made available to them for
sexual favours".
She said in some instances, some priests even advised sisters to take
contraceptives, misleading them into believing that the pill prevented the
transmission of HIV.
Some Catholic medical professionals have complained of being pressured by
priests to procure abortions for religious sisters impregnated by clerics.
In a similar report compiled in 1998, Sister Marie McDonald said that priests
sometimes exploited the financial dependency of young sisters or took advantage
of spiritual direction and the sacrament of reconciliation to extort sexual
favours.
She said some of the factors that gave rise to these sexual indiscretions
include the fact that celibacy and chastity were not important values in some
countries and because of the inferior position of women in society and the
church sisters found it impossible to turn down clerics who ask for sexual
favours because priests are authority figures who must be obeyed.
"Moreover, they are usually more highly educated and they have received a much
more advanced theological formation than sisters," she said.
The priests could also use false theological arguments to justify their
behaviour, such as, "We are both consecrated celibates. That means we have
promised not to marry. However, we can have sex together without breaking our
vows".
In another report. O'Donohue noted that celibacy could have different meanings
in different cultures. She cited the example of a vicar general in an African
diocese who gave a different view of celibacy. "Celibacy in the African context
means a priest does not get married but does not mean he does not have children"
According to the National Catholic Reporter, if a nun became pregnant she was
the one who was asked to leave the congregation while the priest responsible
could continue with his ministry..
In some cases, priests had relationships with several women, some of them the
wives of church members.
"In such circumstances husbands are angry about what is happening but are
embarrassed to challenge their parish priests".
Last year a newspaper in the U.S State of Missouri, the St.. Louis
Post-Dispatch, published a report showing that 34,000 nuns had suffered sexual
abuse.
Researchers at the university of St. Louis, who conducted the survey on which
the report was based said, the sisters were sexually abused by priests or other
nuns.
Last month, Associated Press reported on a lawsuit in which six plaintiffs in
Louisville claimed that they were abused by Roman Catholic nuns while living in
an orphanage in Anchorage in the 1905s and 1960s.
This means that although O'Donohue and McDonald's reports depict nuns as the
victims of predatory priests and bishops, they themselves are not blameless.
O'Donohue said the AIDS pandemic had drawn attention to issues which may not
have had much significance in the past. "The enormous challenge which AIDS
poses for members of religious orders and the clergy is only now becoming
evident"
Observers quoted in the Catholic National Reporter said in the wake of these
embarrassing revelations, the Roman Catholic Church was taking steps to address
the problem.
A Benedictine leader in Rome said, "Several monasteries already have guidelines
in case a monk is accused of sexual misconduct, taking care of the individuals
concerned, the victim included. We need sincerity and justice".
A Vatican official who spoke to the National Catholic Reporter anonymously said
the culture in the Roman Catholic Church was changing. "The response from
church leaders is more aggressive and swift and in general there is a climate
within religious life that these things have to be discussed. Talking about it
is the first step towards a solution".
RELATED STORIES:
Behind Locked Doors @ http://www.reformat ion.org/maria- monk.html
BBC's Documentary @ http://www.smh. com.au/news/ world/italy- screens-controve
rsial-pedophile- documentary/ 2007/06/01/ 1180205462935. html
Ex-nun's confessions set to rock Church @ http://sites. google.com/
site/hindunew/ conversions
htt
