For decades, "bad" Irish girls were sent away to convent-run laundries, where they worked for no pay in awful conditions for years on end. VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - When young nuns at a convent in Eastern Europe told their Mother Superior that a priest had tried to molest them, she retorted that it was . Firearm Discussion and Resources from AR-15, AK-47, Handguns and more! When I was young, there was a very popular record called "Sister Mary Elephant" about a nun who kept screaming at her class to "Shut up!". You could be hit for talking in church. Dozens of former residents of homes in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Midlothian and Kilmarnock claimed they had suffered vicious beatings and sexual abuse. Led by Premier Maurice Duplessis, the period was characterized by unprecedented corruption and repression, much of which involved the Catholic Church. Vera lived at the home with her two sisters from the age of six months until she was 17 years old. Only my opinion of course, but I'd blame it on a lack of physical and emotional shenanigans with members of the opposite sex. I don't know the answer, but i do know that my grandparents were in catholic school and they also told stories about nuns hurting the kids. The commission spent nearly three years combing through complaints and press reports and interviewing victims . We went to the airport and we weren't allowed to see the coffin or go near it, so I had my suspicions all along. It was a known fact among the slave women and children that beating them was a way of compensating for the Nuns own incompetence and of imposing and demonstrating their authority. August 2019 But thats human nature. . To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. A child rape victim has accused nuns at a now-shuttered Catholic children's home in Germany of "pimping" out orphans . Gods truth? Indeed, the twisting of limbs was a characteristically Christian torture method, as the shedding of blood was apparently discouraged by the Church. The only subject of conversation was who was for it next. But it was all in the interest of getting you into heaven. In Ireland, the Sisters of Mercy operated, from the time of their foundation in 1831, as a series of autonomous convents, each of them subject to the authority and jurisdiction of their local bishop.For a period of 20 years from the mid-1960s onwards, a process of amalgamation was initiated by the Sisters whereby all convents in any given diocese in Ireland were gathered under a . When Mum came back from England she couldn't get us back, she says. BERYL HITCHEN, 55, was dumped on the doorstep of the Nazareth House in Cardiff when she was not quite two years old. "The nuns never believed I was deaf. Instead of fetching a doctor they kept me in bed and surrounded me with hot water bottles. Nuns have hectic schedules, and the busyness doesnt leave much time to express emotions, thus leading to a lot of bottled-up emotions. The act of forgiveness is powerful. Never has been and never will be. They were let go home on some weekends and hollidays. In those days the people were encouraged to bring their children to the mission to be schooled by the church and they children all lived there. My sister was born and adopted in the US and her birth mom reported being treated badly by the Nuns at the place where she went while pregnant. Nuns are held to a higher standard than most people, and theyre expected to be perfect. The Nuns carried out their daily tasks of interplay of the inmates bloodily and with great relish, and the slaves everyday experienced these practices through their interactions with the frustrated Nuns. I was more in shock that the bitch assaulted me. IN THE early Seventies, six-year-old Simon Taylor (not his real name) was admitted to Nazareth House in Middlesbrough after his mother had a nervous breakdown. Think for example of other people in committed relationships. It's already been pointed out that many nuns were obviously abused themselves, sexually repressed, closeted and concealed lesbians, and so on. Was Thomas given away or sold? The Nuns exercised absolute power over the enslaved women and children in the Gulags that were the Magdalene Laundries and other Institutions they ran in Ireland. Some nuns are just following the example set by other nuns. The children were beaten regularly and the nuns were never really nice to them. I became agnostic when I learned about the Crusades. The terror so enthusiastically applied by the Religious Nuns who ran the Magdalene Laundries was very real for the Survivors of such Institutions. Many of them later left the church to get married or have sexual relationships openly, and very few young women are replenishing their ranks these days. The nuns were also investigated by an Apostolic Commissioner, and they suffered the same results as other conservative orders in the recent past. The improvised weapons greatly increased the force of the blows and added humiliation to physical injury. Wicked City was initially canceled after just 3 episodes, but later, the remaining episodes were aired on Hulu. She was told to go away, that we were wards of court, even though that wasnt true. October 2018 October 2021 The rejects who they couldnt sell were in turn enslaved or were killed off and disposed of in mass pits and septic tanks in all the Convent lands. September 2018 November 2019 I think that people expected nuns to be nicer, because of their religious vocation. To hide injuries from visitors, children were shut into a "black hole" without bedding, ventilation or light. The nuns would enter a convent in their teens and would be told nothing about sex or re Continue Reading 18 2 Peter Kisner Pictured, with the head nun and members of staff, William has struggled all his life because of the trauma, William's little brother Thomas was also abused, The Industrial School at Moate, where he was abused, The head nun, left, at Mount Carmel, with children under her care, The graveyard beside the Ard Abhionn building at Moate where children were buried, The helpless lads were put to work from a young age, The packed dormitory at one of the industrial schools, The laundry at the home where children were made to scrub floors, machines and basins, Kids tend to their work at one of Ireland's institutions, A moving poem written by William, aged 19, about his abuse, The convent building where the nuns lived at Moate, Philomena Bolger and her siblings after she made her Holy Communion, Philomena, right, with daughters Emma and Kell, The Good Shepherd in Waterford, where Philomena was abused, I was battered by nuns and raped by priests in same room as my disabled brother, 6, at sickening orphan schools, Frogmore eviction shows King Charles has drawn a line with Harry - now he must do two more things with the spoilt brat, Harry's vicious attacks on Camilla could not be forgiven by King Charles - he had to hit back, Constance Marten: Baby's body found after massive police search, as cops question runaway aristocrat & Mark Gordon, Rishi Sunak to finally unveil delayed small boats law next week after Brexit win, Ministers vow to never use draconian spy law to jail journalists, Irelands notorious mother and baby homes, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). Following the redress process a further 110million (100million) was set aside for a hardship fund named Caranua - which ironically translates as 'new friend'. View our online Press Pack. Keep on seeking first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness. You could get beaten for nothing at all. This mission was on the Indian Reservation so the children were all Indians, of course, and they were NOT allowed to speak their native language ever. This can lead to a lot of stress and anxiety, leading to nuns taking their frustration out on others. It can also lead to nuns taking their frustration out on others. If you were scrubbing the floor and looked up you could get a whack over the head or even be kneed in the face. Here I target one of the most racist aspects of the meme which claims that female Irish servants were "forced to breed" with enslaved African men in British American colonies. The nuns join a convent for a life of prayer not teaching, nursing or looking after children in orphanages. Any child caught speaking native was punished. Many were young and pretty, and though maybe they were kind in their first few weeks, they soon became much the same as the rest. It is now 37 years and it has been eating me up the whole time. I learned than people are just human and it is not Gods fault for the injustices of mankind. In the 1930s and 1940s, a conservative revolution ushered in an era in Quebec now known as " The Great Darkness .". You must wear modest clothing when not wearing your nun's habit. This vow means they will not have sex or engage in sexual activity, leading to frustration and feeling trapped. By using physical violence, the Nuns exercised power not only over the slave women and children, but also over their fellow Nuns.Physical domination was indeed the proof of what they were capable of and, for some Nuns, it expressed a real thirst for power. "Of all the tyrannies that affect mankind, tyranny in religion is the worst." dead bodies should be so very much more shocking than . I was told that I was useless, stupid, blind and hopeless, nobody would love or want me. The Residential Institutions Redress Board, set up in 2002, received 16,500 applications for financial compensation - 15,500 of which were successful - and paid out an average of 62,000 (55,000) in sums ranging from 10,000 to 300,000. After being forced to leave the school at 16, Philomena fell pregnant and went into one of Irelands notorious mother and baby homes, where her baby girl was taken away and given up for adoption against her will. My time with these Nuns was horrendous. At Christmas there was jam. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search inputs to match the current selection. Background. Its not easy to always be modest. Beatings and acts of extreme cruelty were commonplace, they say, and together with the spartan existence in the home, gave them lives of utter misery. Thomas Paine, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13JK5kChbRw. I carry and wear it every day and I believe many others do the same thing.. "It could happen for any thing, any time of the night or day. February 2018 It was quite the display, if you knew her would not think in a thousand years that she would ever do anything like that! May 2019 This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. "The gagging order is such an appalling and cruel abuse to all of us survivors who went through the Redress Board," he says. Nuns indeed put in a lot of hard work. My time there has deeply affected my life. Some of the Irish Nuns who ran the Magdalene Laundries had notorious reputations and were known for their extreme violence, even in many cases as we know today, beating the inmates to death. But the report of the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes in Ireland published last week after five years of work was worse . "One of the worst things that ever happened to me was being locked in a cupboard as a punishment. Nuns can be cruel for a variety of reasons. When America Despised the Irish: The 19th Century's Refugee Crisis Forced from their homeland because of famine and political upheaval, the Irish endured vehement discrimination before making. These Irish nuns emmigrated to Australia and brought the Catholic Churches forced adoption practices with them. Nuns are no different; however, we choose not to act upon these natural, sexual feelings and urges. Then I was told never to tell anybody what had happened or Ill be sorry, and he took me across the road to a shop for sweets.. We were innocent children taken from our mother for no reason, says Philomena. First off I'd change that to SOME nuns, not all. I am just wondering why. Someone who After all, slavery played a crucial role in the development and ongoing operation of the Cults economy. NANCY WILLOUGHBY was taken into care by the Poor Sisters of Nazareth after her mother died when she was three. As the result of a rape and beating by a Nun, I spent two years in a coma in hospital hiding from my mangled mind and body. Violence was frequently employed and encouraged with the most common forms being verbal abuse, slaps, blows, and kicks. It was a matter of impressing and/or shocking fellow Nuns by specific acts of violence, and thereby proving ones authority and skill. "Most of the nuns were Irish and though they were trained to be nuns they were not trained to look after kids, and that is where a lot of the problems were. "I had three sons with my second husband. Are just some of them mean? Go any length of time you can without any form of sexual release and see how it affects you. Terrified, I remember holding out my hand thinking an adult would take it. I love them so much, there are so helpful, I always get sad when they get transferred to another church. Run by the Bon Secours order of nuns, the Tuam home opened in 1925 and closed in 1961. December 2019 The church-run institutions, set up to care for children who were neglected, orphaned or unwanted, were hotbeds of disgusting, hidden abuse. As you say the nuns were mostly from rural areas. . They were raised in abusive homes and grew up as abusive adults. Why are Nuns so mean? "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. This can lead to them being quite cruel to others, especially those weaker than them. Why Are Nuns So Cruel? She was tied to a chair and beaten for weeks until she started to learn english. We all knew it was going to be grim. Gmail . The Widow's Pension did not come in til 1934. Or maybe it's just being in a power of authority with god as your boss. To this day I cannot go into a loft or a small room and I sleep with the light on because of that. We did all the work in the convent, cleaning the windows, scrubbing floors, doing the laundry and washing out the bathrooms. if the nuns were to blame, / So it had to be caused by a wire . Only my opinion of course, but I'd blame it on a lack of physical and emotional shenanigans with members of the opposite sex. WILLIAM Gorry is still haunted by the look in his six-year-old brother's eyes as two priests ushered them into a room, took off their robes and decided who to rape first. Police are also investigating after lawyers representing former residents passed on relevant files. Unexplained-Mysteries.com Nuns used to be cruel; that much is true. i think they just really need to get laid, Damn nuns I don't think I have ever met a nun but damn them anyway errrrr. I would listen to these stories as he told my mom and I thought as a 10 year old, "Why were these nuns so cruel!" As National Indigenous Peoples Day draws closer and the news that 215 Indian children's graves have been discovered at the Kamloops Indian Reservation School, all those memories of my dad's and mom's stories come back. They did so because they wanted to jealously safeguard the gold standard for all children, a stable home run by their mothers and fathers. I was terrified 24 hours a day. Today I have all the soft cuddly toys I want, a room full of them. For messing about in church. Why? The whole idea was for those women to do penance for their sins. They were run ostensibly to house "fallen women", an estimated 30,000 of whom were confined in these institutions in Ireland.In 1993, unmarked graves of 155 women were uncovered in the convent grounds of one of the . I have not found many "nice" stories about nuns. July 2019 Their thinking was instutionalized as of course they were too. It was only later I realised that you didn't bruise so badly there. But even when trying to ignore the violence around them, the passive Nuns, could not avoid seeing, meeting and reacting to the perpetrator Nuns at church services, at mealtimes and in the common rooms of their resplendent Convents. Many Nuns pretended not to see or hear what was going on around them, but instead were passive, taking refuge in their work and silent prayers. Two years ago, he began searching for the death certificate and found there were no records of Thomass death at the funeral home, the airline or the French registry. Yet the harsh conditions of the Tuam home meant the infant. It was a poor but loving home, but in 1975, Williams world was turned upside down when Catherine buckled under the strain and left. Abuse is only broken when the cycle stops. The proud wearing of the religious habit was a profound experience for the middle-class women, and the uniformity contributed to forging an esprit de corps, a feeling of pride and mutual loyalty even though it did not exclude hierarchies of rank and did not preclude friction within the group. By One of the questions I have is for the Catholics of the forums. Your marriage needs to be annulled (not 'divorced') first. For William, now 54, the trauma of the abuse haunts him in every waking moment. Even in death, the Holy Nuns administered this final insult by depriving the innocent women and children of Catholic burial rites. Get sad when they get transferred to another Church or looking after children in orphanages two years old chair beaten... 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