52-year-old Sister Jesme, a former nun from Kerala, has written a book - Amen - Oru Kanyasthreeyude Atmakatha (Amen - an autobiography of a nun,) that talks about the sexual harassment that she faced in the convent at the hands of both priests and nuns.
She recalls "At a retreat for novices, I noticed girls in my batch were unsettled about going to the confession chamber. I found that the priest there asked each girl if he could kiss them. I gathered courage and went in. He repeated the question. When I opposed, he quoted from the Bible which spoke of divine kisses.”
She further states "I was sent to teach plus-two students in St Maria College. There, a new sister joined to teach Malayalam; she was a lesbian. When she tried to corner me, I had no way but to succumb to her wishes. She would come to my bed in the night and do lewd acts and I could not stop her,”
When sister Jesme had gone to Bangalore for a refresher course, whatever happened their is beyond imagination of common people "I was told to stay at the office of a priest respected for his strong moral side. But when I reached the station, he was waiting there and hugged me tight on arrival. Later in the day, he took me to Lalbagh (a garden) and showed me cupid-struck couples and tried to convince me about the need for physical love. He also narrated stories of illicit relations between priests and nun to me. Back in his room, he tried to fondle me and when I resisted, got up and asked angrily if I had seen a man. When I said no, he stripped himself, ejaculated and forced me to strip.”
“The mental torture was unbearable. When I questioned the church’s stand on self-financing colleges and certain other issues, they accused me of having mental problems. They have even sent me to a psychiatrist. There are many nuns undergoing ill-treatment from the order, but they are afraid of challenging it. The church is a formidable fortress,” she adds.
“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.
This is not the first time, the Church, considered the most nobel and charitable religious institution of modern times, has been blamed for such kind of malices and unsacrad deeds.
On February 11, 2009, Sister Josephine who lived in the The Daughters of Mary convent, in the Syro-Malankara archdiocese in Thiruvananthapuram, committed suicide. It was alleged that it was abuse at the hands of other nuns that forced Sister Josephine to take her own life.
Few years back in 1995, a parish priest in the Changanacherry archdiocese, allegedly entered into a two-year sexual relationship with a 15-year old school girl who gave birth to his child in 1998. A case of rape and abduction was registered against the priest.
In 1998, a nun from the Sacred Heart Convent in Kozhikode district was murdered. Kerala Police had said that they suspected a sexual motive behind the murder.
In October 2008, a 60-year-old nun belonging to the Congregation of Daughters of Mary Convent, Anchal, alleged that young nuns from the convents were being forced to have abortions and that priest and nuns were having “limitless” affairs. She further alleged that a nun Serenna Jacob has committed suicide because she could not handle the trauma.
Result and reaction from Church in such incidences is single faceted.
60 year old nun is now in a mental hospital in Thodupuzha. Her nephew has alleged that she has been forcibly admitted to the hospital by the Convent authorities.
Similarly, The Catholic Church has denounced Sister Jesme and the book is deemed as the book of trivialities.
Sister Jesme alleged that the Church alternately tried to bribe her not to write the book and even threaten her. One sister said that she is going to sit in the corner of the chapel and pray the rosary so that all her books will be burnt and no person will be able to read it. Jesme on this replied "let us wait and see whose prayer will God hear".
Doing justice to Church's nature of being uncompromising in its approach to never accept such incidences, the archdiocese issued statement that Sister Josephine, the nun who commited sucide recently, was being treated for depression.
Why such incidences are on a rise in these institutions? is a million dollor question which has multiple answers. Fathers and Nuns have to live a life of an ascetic and are denied one of the most basic of human needs. Further Church is an institution where a few hold the upper hand and others are mere obedient followers who are not expected to protest or refuse. The Number of church's affiliates and the priests and nuns attached with them has increased to a number which is almost impossible to control and coordinate by the central leadership and so the onus of maintaining dicipline lies in the hands of the fringe priests who tend to dictate terms and sometimes make a mockery of the laid down principles even.
Remedy lies in recognising the disease first. As already discussed Church is almost always uninclined to accept the fault within its system. Church needs to first carry out a fact finding mission and then an extensive clean up job.
The institutions should be made more democratic and use of internet should be encouraged to register all the nons and priests and then allowing them to voice their concerns and greviences so that the wound can be healed before it becomes incurable.
Yasser Iqbal Kidwai