Children were treated as slave labour and made to do backbreaking work, scrubbing floors and working in laundries, before they were old enough to go to school. She was wacked in the hand a lot with a ruler. There are undoubtedly some nuns today who arent the nicest people in the world. It has enriched the Irish Catholic Church to the extent that, even to this day, it is the wealthiest organisation in Ireland. Myth: In 17th century Barbados (and elsewhere . A passive Nun permitted and regulated the actions of the violent ones. The rules of the Magdalene Laundries gave the Nuns the absolute authority to punish the inmates who were slave women and children. Professor Grundy reserved his most scathing words for the police forces and bureaucrats, who he said may have known what was going on but did nothing to stop it. One of these burst and burnt my foot badly, leaving a permanent scar. I have seen programs about nuns and most of those show a wonderfull helpful loving nun who just loves the whole world. It was a matter of impressing and/or shocking fellow Nuns by specific acts of violence, and thereby proving ones authority and skill. I was constantly humiliated.. They didnt teach us about the inquisition or torturing people who refused to follow the Vatican and pope. The nuns join a convent for a life of prayer not teaching, nursing or looking after children in orphanages. as elsewhere, they became . Firearm Discussion and Resources from AR-15, AK-47, Handguns and more! 4 Min Read. Allegations of abuse by its nuns first surfaced in Scotland last year. I think the average age for priests and nuns in the US today is like 70. You have to ask why are some women cruel because the reality is some women are cruel. Its not something thats public knowledge, but many nuns grow to regret taking this vow. After all, slavery played a crucial role in the development and ongoing operation of the Cults economy. "She especially hated me. Clodagh Kilcoyne via ReutersROME"Marie" was placed in a French Catholic boarding school for "young girls from good families" when she was in the fifth grade. The stigma that nuns are cruel is somewhat of a misnomer. Someone who I was told that I was useless, stupid, blind and hopeless, nobody would love or want me. This definitely made it much worse. I was five years of age. February 2018 I have cried so much wondering what happened to my loving brother. "Looking back, I think they really despised the children. We were innocent children taken from our mother for no reason, says Philomena. I became agnostic when I learned about the Crusades. Many of those alleging physical, and to some extent sexual, abuse are now elderly people who say their entire lives have been affected by what they endured as children. February 2019 There were very few nuns in many cases in these Magdalen Laundries which were called Asylums up the foundation of the Free State. January 2018, List of the Magdalene Laundries in Ireland, Mother and Baby Homes, Industrial Schools of Ireland. The children were beaten regularly and the nuns were never really nice to them. 4-And I heard another voice out of Heaven say: "Get out of her, my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues." Nuns have hectic schedules, and the busyness doesnt leave much time to express emotions, thus leading to a lot of bottled-up emotions. In fact, one priest was a child molester at our high school. It was only later I realised that you didn't bruise so badly there. So theres hope in breaking this cycle completely, thus decreasing the cruelty that some nuns display. Thankfully, those methods have changed, and nuns are now taught with more compassion. 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. 5 Top The Silver Thong Member 33.4k September 2021 Never has been and never will be. I saw boys picked up by the throat by a nun for disobedience in line changing classes in Catholic school. It seems logical that a person suffering from not being a part of normal life, ie:love, sex, child birth ect ect.. would harbor lots of ill will twords those who cannot help themselves. February 2020 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. Some nuns might feel they are doing all the work and not getting any credit. March 2021 It is this type of uncontrolled cruelty and abuse that has made me walk away from the Catholic Church with disgust. But theres an expectation for nuns to dress modestly at all times. I spent a lot of time scrubbing floors or cleaning shoes. The act of forgiveness is powerful. Good or bad just jot one or two down for me if you don't mind. They may feel they are missing out on something essential and wonder what could have been. November 2019 . 10 The Duplessis Orphans. I think it's called how to exagerate for comic effect, like the old Monty Python skit - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13JK5kChbRw, You need to be a member in order to leave a comment. Dozens of former residents of homes in Aberdeen, Glasgow, Midlothian and Kilmarnock claimed they had suffered vicious beatings and sexual abuse. All the female Religious Orders that ran the Magdalene Laundries and other Institutions in Ireland believed that power and violence were inseparable. She became one of thousands of Roman Catholic women who were locked up in Ireland in the 1950s and 1960s for being pregnant and unmarried, many in institutions run by fiercely unforgiving nuns . No matter what any "spiritual leader" might say. "The gagging order is such an appalling and cruel abuse to all of us survivors who went through the Redress Board," he says. In the 1930s and 1940s, a conservative revolution ushered in an era in Quebec now known as " The Great Darkness .". The church-run institutions, set up to care for children who were neglected, orphaned or unwanted, were hotbeds of disgusting, hidden abuse. 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. August 2019 The family would throw her out of the house and she'd give the other daughters a bad name and lessen their chance of marrying any kind of decent man. One of the devices operating on this principle was the rack, which is infamously associated with the Inquisition . Religion Vatican Clarifies Pope Francis' First Remarks On Sexual Abuse Of Nuns By Priests It's very hard for a nun to report. At night, they were abused by visiting priests who came to the girls dorm. Why Are Chihuahuas So Aggressive? My grandfather told a story of how, when he was a young kid, one of his friends whispered something to him. I was frequently made to sleep in the soaking sheets and humiliated in front of the other boys. It was a very spartan regime. Obviously the nuns needed psychiatric evaluation and should never be in charge of anyone. But trying to be perfect always is enough to make anyone go a little crazy. I know that they are supposed to be married to god and suchbut when you are married to a guy that is never around, doesn't talk to you, sets up impossible rules, and never has sex with youwell you would be cranky too. In her absence, Philomena says, the parish priests took the children into the industrial schools, with the girls entering the Good Shepherd in Waterford. The mission had boys dorm and girls dorm and behind the dorms outside was a small creek that ran behind the buildings and through the woods. Many of the initial applications were turned down and, in response, William set up the Residential Institution Survivor Network (RISN), which has now helped over 200 people with appeals. A recent redress fund, set up by the government to provide financial help for the victims, received 16,500 applications, but William is now fighting to scrap the gagging orders required to receive any money. This can lead to nuns being quite resentful toward Mothers. 1. The whole idea was for those women to do penance for their sins. "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. Why are Nuns so mean? Sexual abuse was rife in boys schools particularly, but when reported, the leaders of the Catholic churchmoved the offender on to another institution to abuse again. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. Consequently there were always a few of the new, younger Nuns who early on began to display divine signs of having no scruples and, encouraged as they were by the fanatical Cult, were quick to adapt to the bleak life and rules of the living and working reality of their new socio-cultural environment. Powered by Invision Community, People who don't know how to weep with their whole heart, don't know how to laugh either. Williams story and many others like him formed the basis of the Ryan Report, published in 2009, which found that sexual and physical abuse were endemic in Irelands industrial schools. They were like prison officers. Respectability was everything for a family, no man would want to marry a women who had been with another man sexually not to mind a woman that had had a child with another man. For the enslaved women and children, the Magdalene Laundries were places of constant suffering and death through hunger, brutal violence, epidemics and systematic mass-murder. I was terrified the whole time and never had a happy day there. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. These Irish nuns emmigrated to Australia and brought the Catholic Churches forced adoption practices with them. ", Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. The Nuns enjoyed certain privileges both in Irish society as a whole and in their palatial Convents where the daily tasks of cooking, cleaning, washing-up, ironing etc, were all performed by their slaves. They took great delight in saying my mother died at school assembly. They have authority over those children, and they think that they can do whatever they want to them without reprisal. January 2020 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. Read Book A Light In The Window An Irish Christmas Love Story Kindle . In the 1940s, the Bon Secours nuns were paid by the Irish state nearly 100 per child a week to care for those in their care. First off I'd change that to SOME nuns, not all. The Irish Catholic Church to the girls dorm could have been `` looking back, i think the average for! Of uncontrolled cruelty and abuse that has made me walk away from the Catholic Church with disgust &... Nobody would love or want me Irish nuns emmigrated to Australia and brought the Catholic forced. At school assembly crucial role in the Window an Irish Christmas love story Kindle Homes, Schools. 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