What if I ended up in Nazareth House as an old person?" One that stands out is the story of a boy who had become very ill. This vow means they will not have sex or engage in sexual activity, leading to frustration and feeling trapped. Cases are being compiled in England, too, though there seems to be some reluctance to prosecute physical abuse. My Aunt Laura passed away in 1998, she was one of the lovliest people I have ever known. Its not something thats public knowledge, but many nuns grow to regret taking this vow. 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. Many of these unfortunate children suffered consequential emotional disturbance, and some of them no other institutions would accept. It's their power mania. Nothing. She was overwhelmed by shame - ashamed of leaving other children behind, of failing to protect them from harm. "I told a doctor about the nuns. ", Francis Docherty is 58 and runs a helpline, Historical Survivors of In-Care Abuse, whose cases include people as old as 95 who are still suffering, still searching for their lost brothers and sisters, still trying to sort things out. Only my opinion of course, but I'd blame it on a lack of physical and emotional shenanigans with members of the opposite sex. Nobody wanted to hear about the Vestal Virgins back then, she said. Therefore, trying to live a perfect life is both impossible and unnecessary. The only subject of conversation was who was for it next. Lets not forget that nuns take a vow of celibacy. They may feel they are missing out on something essential and wonder what could have been. I said, 'No, this is about crimes against children.' Are just some of them mean? "The only thing I learned to do there was fight, and when I come across a nun today I avoid them because I cannot be civil. There are times when its hot outside, and the last thing you want to do is dress in heavy clothing. It could that some people have have self-esteem problems. An unexpected encounter with one of the nuns she'd known when she was at the orphanage - Sister Alphonso - changed her life. Right to her death, Mum kept saying, 'If only I hadn't got ill.' She thought it was her fault. "We were taken to the beach, it was so grey and wild and windy, we were frozen." "My feet were so badly swollen I was kept off school for three days and two other girls had to join hands to carry me up and down the stairs. The current limit on cases before that date is being challenged in the courts, and members of the Scottish parliament are mooting a change in the law. She was eight. I was in bed by 7pm and they used to check you were asleep with your hands across your chest. "Sister Alphonso didn't use leather straps, she used her fists, she had some strength." Now, decades later, more than 500 former inmates are suing the nuns for damages. | Meaning, pronunciation, translations and examples Thanks to all for your replys, I think the hammer has found the nail on this perhaps. Finnegan told The Post she approached SNAP for support a few years earlier. with all the other girls looking on. That was when her main tormentor at the Nazareth House in Middlesbrough, Sister Laurence, died. But in her collection of personal records, there is the evidence: a telegram adorned with top hats and lucky horseshoes, addressed to her at Aberdeen's Nazareth House on August 3, 1955, saying, "Happy Birthday Darling, from Mummy." Sleep was routinely interrupted by their constant checks for children wetting their beds and the beating that followed. Just because you are married doesn't mean you don't find another person attractive or have great chemistry with someone. My sister and I have tried unsuccessfully to follow this up. "My sister and her friend Betsy Owens were playing with a beach ball. Nuns could be jealous of the attention that Catholic Mothers get. He remembers Nazareth House as dour and cruel. So we sat on the sheet to dry it - we were only children. Sheriff Colin Harris ordered that several other charges be rejected and said that he would only admonish, rather than imprison, her because of her age and her health. I thought maybe he'd do something about it. The allegations stretch back. 'Is it money you're after?' Police are also investigating after lawyers representing former residents passed on relevant files. We saw her being brought out of the water. Today it is different, but I believe the stories I have been told. Her own fond family life with her husband and children was swamped by her fears: "What if I was in a crash with my husband and Sister Alphonso got my children? 1.Why do Catholic nuns have a reputation for being cruel and abusive Author: www.quora.com Post date: 2 yesterday Rating: 5 (1678 reviews) Highest rating: 3 Low rated: 3 Summary: They were allowed to commit their crimes because as a religious order they were not subject to scrutiny. Moisten two tablespoons of farina with a very little cold milk, and stir it into a cup of boiling water. I think what happens is that religion is handed down from generation to generation in what ever form it maybe and catholics had no problem sparing the rod as that's how they grew up. They also far outnumber priests. One of them was my sister. "The horrifying thing was that being hurt by implements was bad enough, but to see a holy person, a righteous person with - I don't want to exaggerate - a face full of hate, an angelic, holy face turning into a face of horror, a woman crunching her teeth in hate, going berserk, screaming while you are pleading for mercy, the wee leather boots just booting into you. Narcissistic people may also be quick to anger or lash out at others, which can make them seem mean. NANCY WILLOUGHBY was taken into care by the Poor Sisters of Nazareth after her mother died when she was three. If you were scrubbing the floor and looked up you could get a whack over the head or even be kneed in the face. "I need answers, not just about Betsy but about the whole damned thing. If you did it wrong, you got a clip." Why are Nuns so mean? On the mantelpiece there is a fading photograph of him in a grey bow tie with the queen of the Eurovision Song Contest, Katie Boyle. "One cold winter's morning at about 6.30, when I was about 11, I was kneeling in church saying my prayers when I sneezed. My mom told me that they had no life, could not leave the convent, no TV, no newspapers, so I think it was simple burn out, no way to get away from us brats. Last week, New York opened up a window for old cases with the passage of the Child Victims Act. I just want to try to understand it. Its crucial for nuns to be aware of this and to try to break the cycle. But after Pope Francis recently made the bombshell admission that some nuns were abused by priests and even used as sex slaves, dozens of Catholics have come forward to report a tangential, and just as evil, phenomenon sexual abuse by nuns. There, he says, nuns regularly beat him and made him witness the violent degradation of other children. We rose at 5am, did the cleaning chores, then got dressed, got breakfast and then went to school. Victims now have until age 55 to file civil suits and can press for criminal charges until age 28. They aren't children's homes any longer. His childhood memories of the orphanage are filled with emotional and physical terror. 5 Top The Silver Thong Member 33.4k Dispenza, 78, has fought for more than two decades for justice for victims of clergy abuse and plans to take her fight to the Vatican on Monday. She took my face in her two hands, and kissed me all over my face, she recalled of the encounter in a convent she would not name. Nuns have to obey their superiors, which can lead to a feeling of being trapped and powerless, and it can also lead to nuns being quite resentful towards those in positions of authority. The walls were in a gothic mansion called Nazareth House, an orphanage in Aberdeen where Aitken was dispatched when he was six. There they found a disciplined regime which, they say, tipped over into violence. Once I was beaten black and blue, so badly I had to stay in the infirmary for five weeks, and when I came out I was given a bag of sweets and told to tell no one about what happened. She was even too nervous to enter her office at a Long Island convent. To learn more, you can also read our posts on why 911 operators are so rude, why judges are so rude, and why cops are so rude. There was no record of Betsy after that incident, nothing. I believe it was that they treated indigenous people like savages that werent even worthy of owning their own land ..ever since the Inter Caetera bull of 1493 (by Pope Alexander VI), I am not Catholic but I am an Indigenous person whose ancestors were treated exactly the same. "I left the faith as a direct result and don't describe myself as a Catholic anymore. It's going to come out as physical abuse of children and sexual. In a symbolic trial in Aberdeen in 2000, one nun, known in her childcare days as Sister Alphonso, was convicted of cruel and unnatural treatment. Think for example of other people in committed relationships. Jealous Nuns could be jealous of the attention that Catholic Mothers get. She will not describe in any detail how she was raped. Archbishop Conti has not only accused the victims of seeking pots of gold, he has told them that, "on your part, there is a need to forgive". Betsy was drowned. "It's this unattended rage they live with. Even then Aitken was shadowed by unhappiness. He told a teacher about his embarrassment and she suggested that he could go into any church. To this day, she doesn't know what had so alarmed him - all visits were patrolled by nuns who remained in the room, like sentries. The nuns would help deliver the babies, who would then be brought up elsewhere until they could be adopted. Sex with children is a crime, but "reasonable chastisement is still a lawful reason for inflicting pain on children," explains David Spicer, a barrister and former chair of the British Association for the Study and Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect. He had lost his family, and letters from his siblings and his mother were never given to him. It is a Christian duty, for your greater glory, not theirs. They would use canes, sticks, the leather belts around their waists. The stories I have heard just make me cry. Sign up for a new account in our community. The excuse is that it was normal in those days.". Its not easy to always be modest. On the shelves around his Victorian tiled fireplace Currie displays old toy fire engines - it was his boyhood ambition to be a firefighter. Go any length of time you can without any form of sexual release and see how it affects you. It makes perfect sense that some would take their emotions out on others. For messing about in church. Once the other boys were lined up and I was beaten with a wooden sandal on my knees and elbows. I was clothed, fed, paid a weekly wage. Cusiter became one of the former inmates whose evidence initiated the unprecedented criminal prosecution in Scotland in autumn 2000, when Sister Alphonso, appearing as Marie Docherty, was convicted of four charges of cruel and unnatural treatment. She said she never told her father I was afraid of what he would do to the nun when he found out and only summoned up the courage to tell her mother of the trauma just before her death in 2002. Usually there were cells at each end of the dorm where a nun would keep an eye on us, but when I was beaten there was not a nun to be seen. Although nuns acting mean is mostly history, the stigma remains in many peoples minds. Mrs Guerrier, who is now 73 and lives in Tottenham, north London, said: "The nuns were extremely harsh. Bob Marley, "We went to explore the Moon & discovered the Earth" Gene Cernan. 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