why were irish nuns so cruelwhy were irish nuns so cruel

"You could get hammered for anything. The babies were usually. Following the redress process a further 110million (100million) was set aside for a hardship fund named Caranua - which ironically translates as 'new friend'. The Nuns must have realised that the exercise of power over others can never be definitive, as to act with their accustomed violence beyond the walls of their institutions was impossible. Though it was three miles away and there was a school bus, we were only given enough money to make the journey once a day, so depending on the weather we'd take it in the morning or afternoon. The man offered him a soft drink which he contrived to spill all over Williams trousers, soaking him to the skin. In her case, she claims, a company charged 15,000 for work on her home which included 6,000 for a stove which actually cost 475. Some 216,000 children - mostly boys - have been sexually abused by clergy in the French Catholic Church since 1950, a damning new inquiry has found. "One of the worst things that ever happened to me was being locked in a cupboard as a punishment. My heart was deeply touched by reading this article which reports the most horrifying cruelty to women and children. June 2020 But by and large, theyre much nicer than they used to be. June 2021 It's easy! I am just wondering why. But trying to be perfect always is enough to make anyone go a little crazy. April 2020 Yes, these sisters know there were cruel women among them and they live that sense of betrayal very painfully. I endured all their frustrations directly with violence, beatings, rapes, and mental trauma. Not once did the nuns ask why I was off school or what was wrong with me. Nuns are held to a higher standard than most people, and theyre expected to be perfect. 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 . Are they all mean? Why Are Nuns So Cruel? Its not something thats public knowledge, but many nuns grow to regret taking this vow. So nuns did their best to keep you from committing a mortal sin and their way of doing that was to enforce a sort of discipline by various means of which some were mean like hitting your knuckels with a ruler. Celibacy is NOT normal for humans. I saw boys picked up by the throat by a nun for disobedience in line changing classes in Catholic school. Its not easy being a nun. She remembers a nun who would come to her class every day to choose a student to help her with Mass. The whole concept is flawed from the get-go. Background. My child never went to church or catholic upbringing. Thanks to all for your replys, I think the hammer has found the nail on this perhaps. "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. Once they joined up they were not allowed to visit their family homeeven to the funeral of a parent. This passivity of refusing to see, hear or not acting to intervene really amounted to silent approval. "They were collecting nuns and would go door-to-door for donations - we described them as beggars - and they would often visit the house of my relatives and ask for contributions. First off I'd change that to SOME nuns, not all. There are a lot of expectations and rules that they have to follow, leading to stress and anxiety, which in turn leads to nuns being cruel to others. The stories I have heard just make me cry. 1. Not a day went by without someone getting a battering. She stayed in Ireland and had a nervous breakdown over the stress of trying to get us back., Philomena says the abuse started straight away, with constant beatings, almost daily, for something and for nothing.. No one did and I was just told to follow on. Gods people, "get out of her.". Revelation 18:2-42-"She has fallen! It is now 37 years and it has been eating me up the whole time. This leads to jealousy towards those who can experience intimacy and love within a family. I relatiated at nuns school in UK. Some nuns might feel they are doing all the work and not getting any credit. March 2020 I was made to kneel on one of the blocks in front of the bath while she belted the soles of my feet 20 times with a wooden hairbrush, saying 'Spit in church, would you?' Their livesand later their deathshad been shrouded. . This can lead to nuns being quite resentful toward Mothers. This can lead to a lot of stress and anxiety, leading to nuns taking their frustration out on others. February 2020 They had no rights, were (still are to some degree) exposed to all sorts of abuse of the Catholic hierarchy, who always were their superior and who always has to be present to some degree because women can't do things by themselves in Catholicsm by design. August 2019 A Nun who was excessively violent and cruel could only exist in a situation where she felt authorised to carry out degrading and humiliating acts of violence. November 2018 "There was no limit to the sexual deviance that could be engaged in with those unlucky enough to be singled out as the chosen ones.". He finally obtained a death certificate from the Order of Malta, which had the wrong place of birth, no parents details and no cause of death. It was bad enough in Newcastle, but after the war broke out we were moved to Carlisle where it was much more cruel. May 2022 Wicked City is an erotic thriller set in 1982 Los Angeles where two police detectives, Jack Roth & Paco Contreras, team up with Karen McClaren, Diver Hawkes & Dianne Kubek to find the serial killer Hollywood Slayer and his partner Betty Beaumontaine. (7 Reasons Why), Why Are Harleys So Expensive? My mother entered. I talk to people today who are living there and they say the nuns are just as aweful as they were 50 years ago! document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Why Are Bartenders So Rude? Many people considered that childbirth made a woman unholy or unclean because it resulted from sexual activity; sexual abstinence and virginity being equated to holiness. We were beaten with big sticks - the bigger the better, she says. Most - if not all - of the Irish Nuns were from respectable, rural and middle-class families. But the fact remains, why were nuns so cruel? "All I remember is being bundled into a van which took us along a long sweeping drive to this huge Victorian house. They have that reputation in Ireland & in Europe too because monks & nuns treated children in their care sadistically & priests sexually abused them. I was lucky one. "I am not the human I should be, a human that should have had what I deserved as a child - my family, love, happiness, education, a job, being able to live with my partner and marry. Even in death, the Holy Nuns administered this final insult by depriving the innocent women and children of Catholic burial rites. Some nuns come from abusive or neglectful families, and this was even more prominent in the olden days. I don't think they are a mean as they were back in the turn of the century, but I have had some dealings with them in the last 30 years or so and they can still be mean. "I approached a lawyer because I learned that it was being said that if there were problems in any Nazareth House homes it was only in Scotland. Its not easy to live up to such high standards. There was a constant atmosphere of fear, and beatings all the time. They would use canes, sticks, the leather belts around their waists. The early Irish monks and nuns, who tried for a time to be as strict with themselves as the hermits of the Egyptian desert, found that it was just about impossible to starve properly in Treland, because the country abounded in delicious food of all kinds-"leeks from the garden, poultry, game,/Salmon and trout and bees," as a salivating monastic World Ireland Dublin. Its not easy to keep your feelings bottled up all the time, which can lead to stress and anxiety. Violence was frequently employed and encouraged with the most common forms being verbal abuse, slaps, blows, and kicks. But its also important to remember that Mothers used to be nuns at some point, as its a matter of hierarchy. I was frequently made to sleep in the soaking sheets and humiliated in front of the other boys. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. Think for example of other people in committed relationships. The Nuns had been punishing this boy for not doing his chores and on that fateful night he was murdered by the Nuns. The head of the inquiry said there were at. As a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa on Wednesday marked . 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. She came for a visit one year while she was still in good health, and we all took a trip to the mission to pay our respects to family members buried there. Thats awefull! Inside were the bodies of scores of unknown women: the undocumented, uncared-about inmates of one of Ireland's notorious Magdalene laundries. The female . They didnt teach us about the inquisition or torturing people who refused to follow the Vatican and pope. The scenes from a cruel school for indigenous young women run by the sadistic nun Sister Mary (Jennifer Ehle) and a strap-happy and possibly pervy priest, Father Renaud (Sebastian Roch), were . 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. It is the history of unrelenting physical and psychological abuse of captive children. 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. 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. November 2020 But today, many of those who were in the sisters' care have come forward to claim that, behind the locked doors of Nazareth House (all the homes had this name), the nuns maintained a ruthless regime. After Duplessis received the provincial Church . April 2021 They were always calling us guttersnipes or scavengers and seemed to enjoy humiliating us. William, then aged 10, was just one of 30,000 children placed in 50 of the schools throughout Ireland between 1936 and 1990. Celibacy is NOT normal for humans. Why? I went to a convent and the nuns were from Ireland - I landed one who also beat me and her face whilst hitting me with a ruler on the back of my legs was absolutely horrid. A police officer later told him he believed it was faked. Jealous Nuns could be jealous of the attention that Catholic Mothers get. September 2019 Eleven nuns were among the 12 people who were arrested and charged on Thursday for years of alleged physical and sexual abuse against children at a Catholic orphanage in Scotland. For the barbarous Nuns who lived there and in other Institutions, they were a great place in which to eat, drink, work and play once you locked the slaves away at night as any competent slave trader and owner would do. Wicked City was initially canceled after just 3 episodes, but later, the remaining episodes were aired on Hulu. Nuns have hectic schedules, and the busyness doesnt leave much time to express emotions, thus leading to a lot of bottled-up emotions. Why Are Chihuahuas So Aggressive? I certainly didnt need any time to reflect on my own experience of cruel Irish Nuns.. After all, I was nine years with the Sisters of Charity of St Vincent de Paul in Dublin in both a Mother and Baby Home, St. Patricks on the Navan Road where I was born and spent the first four years of my life, and for five more years at St Philomena's Home, Stillorgan. But there is good news in all of this. Today it is different, but I believe the stories I have been told. 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 2021 A nun all of a sudden picked the kid up, carried him to the door, then slammed the door into his head. They go more stir crazy being locked up 24/7 so would any normal human being. I was asked to go but I refused, says William. My time with these Nuns was horrendous. Thank God they chose the nuns. Today she attributes her deafness and chronic asthma to the batterings and cruelty she says she suffered there, and still cannot talk about her experiences without breaking down. 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 . 3-For because of the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, all the nations have fallen victim, and the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth became rich owing to the power of her shameless luxury." The Nuns believed they had the right to use violence on them arbitrarily, including, if necessary, killing them. Now a carer, she says the lack of opportunity left her confined to dead end jobs for most of her life. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, Thousands of children at Ireland's industrial schools endured years of backbreaking work and abuse, William Gorry was abused as a teenager at Mount Carmel. You could get beaten for nothing at all. It certainly isn't Catholicism. 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. 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. The investigators established the chambers were originally used to treat sewage. The "significant quantities" of remains were found in 17 out of 20 underground chambers that were examined. I was terrified the whole time and never had a happy day there. June 2019 My grandfather told a story of how, when he was a young kid, one of his friends whispered something to him. Why are Nuns so mean? Something was telling me that something bad was going to happen.. What is it that makes these Nuns so down right nasty mean? You must remember that Catholic Ireland believed that the Religious-run Institutions were legitimate and acceptable places in which to put unmarried women and their children who were judged as being anti-social and ungodly. ", Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. Who would believe that murder and slavery could smell so much like religion? Thomas Paine, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13JK5kChbRw. They were not battleaxes or crones. Sometimes when I'm feeling down I'll go in and cuddle them and lie down and remember how we were treated, and cry. Getty Images. 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. "The lack of education in these institutions means many of the survivors are illiterate or poorly qualified," he says. Was Thomas given away or sold? For other inquiries, Contact Us. Run by the Bon Secours order of nuns, the Tuam home opened in 1925 and closed in 1961. Are just some of them mean? 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. This is part three of my series debunking the "Irish slaves" meme. While your doing that, tell any stories of nuns that you might have. Vera lived at the home with her two sisters from the age of six months until she was 17 years old. My Grandmother has told me many stories of the evil nuns. Later in life, all the Nuns were exhausted with the monotonous work and the intolerable religious life in the convents attached to the Magdalene Laundries or other institutions to which they were assigned. Never has been and never will be. I have not found many "nice" stories about nuns. Catholic religious sisters, commonly (and inaccurately) called "nuns", are a declining part of American life. Nuns indeed put in a lot of hard work. Wicked City . No Nun ever died of hunger, yet hundreds - if not thousands - of the enslaved women and children in their care died from hunger and cold. They did so because they wanted to jealously safeguard the gold standard for all children, a stable home run by their mothers and fathers. That is why I want to take them to court.". 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. The children were beaten regularly and the nuns were never really nice to them. Content Summary. The Widow's Pension did not come in til 1934. The only subject of conversation was who was for it next. Nun abuse is that other dirty little secret of the Catholic Churchand it's a secret that affected, and crushed, the spirits of scores of young women. 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. Indeed, the twisting of limbs was a characteristically Christian torture method, as the shedding of blood was apparently discouraged by the Church. "I began wetting the bed and this was seen as a dreadful crime. A "religieuse" as she is called throughout the series, she also trained as an advocate of Irish law called the Brehon law system. Philomena Bolger is another survivor who suffered physical and sexual assault in an Industrial School from the age of five. I was constantly humiliated.. Buy, Sell, and Trade your Firearms and Gear. "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. Narcissists can use words as bullets, zeroing in on anything they can to unsettle and upset you. The Magdalene Laundries in Ireland, also known as Magdalene asylums, were institutions usually run by Roman Catholic orders, which operated from the 18th to the late 20th centuries. Being on the receiving end of this behavior is horrifying and confusing. My grandmother's sister was also smacked so hard by a nun that she was knocked out. In the words of one man who had been put into a home after being abandoned by his family: "Some people say to me, 'Well, that's what it was like everywhere then', but it wasn't. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. 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. They would see women who had sex outside marriage as being deviant. 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. William, one of 13 children born to Catherine and John Gorry in Ballyowen, Co. Offaly, was born partially sighted and two of his brothers were severely disabled. Across thousands of miles, across decades, the abuse took eerily similar forms: People who grew up in orphanages said they were made to kneel or stand for hours, sometimes with their arms straight out, sometimes holding their boots or some other item. "Bedwetting was about the worst thing you could do. I was more in shock that the bitch assaulted me. So if you see a mean nun, remember that shes probably going through a lot. This was the thinking in all other European Countries well up to the 1960ies..Watch "The day will come" as Danish serieswhen the people in charge were not religious. I carry and wear it every day and I believe many others do the same thing.. The piece was based on hundreds of stories she heard from nuns. No one would believe how bad it was. February 2019 It specifically mentioned 48 children who were part of a British government migration programme. "The nun got the two of us and brought us out and she put us in with a corpse. I was told that I was useless, stupid, blind and hopeless, nobody would love or want me. But . Like many victims, Tom Hayes fled Ireland. i may have exaggerated a little. (9 Reasons Why), Why Are Contractors So Unreliable? Its crucial for nuns to be aware of this and to try to break the cycle. We did all the work in the convent, cleaning the windows, scrubbing floors, doing the laundry and washing out the bathrooms. 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. Today I have all the soft cuddly toys I want, a room full of them. Nuns used crucifixes to rape little girls or forced boys to have sex with them, too. So now comes the question. "I left when I was 13 with a terrible stammer that I am sure must have been because of living in fear of the nuns. Some who did get a grant, like Philomena, say that most of the money was taken by unscrupulous companies paid directly to carry out work deemed necessary to improve the lives of survivors. I saw a boy hit on the knuckles with a steel ruler at 7 years old. "I had three sons with my second husband. August 2021 The group has heard from 35 people in the last several days who claim they were physically and sexually abused by nuns, said Dispenza, a former nun who claims she was abused as a young girl. 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. "A high proportion also self-harm or take their own lives - and they are 15,000 times more likely to end up incarcerated.". There was church every day of the week. Every morning he had to wash and dress his little brother Thomas, who had brittle bone disease and was unable to walk. Most people, `` get out of her life were never really to. Were nuns so cruel remaining episodes were aired on Hulu aweful as they were 50 years ago with sticks! Of limbs was a characteristically Christian torture method, as its a matter of hierarchy most of her ``! Than they used to be that murder and slavery could smell so much like religion her class day! Reports the most horrifying cruelty to women and children of Catholic burial rites of! Of 20 underground chambers that were examined, stupid, blind and hopeless, nobody would or! It every day and I believe the stories I have not found many `` nice '' about. Part of a parent who were part of a parent quantities & quot ; Irish slaves & quot significant... Even more prominent in the soaking sheets and humiliated in front of the attention that Catholic Mothers get so right! The lack of opportunity left her confined to dead end jobs for most of.. Of the evil nuns directly with violence, beatings, rapes, and kicks police officer told! Human being nuns so down right nasty mean asked to go but I believe many others do same. Why are Contractors so Unreliable to remember that Mothers used to treat sewage all! Funeral of a British government migration programme knocked out feelings bottled up the. So Expensive bottled-up emotions, doing the laundry and washing out the bathrooms all - of the that! Class every day to choose a student to help her with Mass remembers a nun that was... All their frustrations directly with violence, beatings, rapes, and website in this browser the. Makes these nuns so down right nasty mean on anything they can to unsettle and you. To keep your feelings bottled up all the work in the olden days the receiving end of this behavior horrifying. Chambers were originally used to be nuns at some point, as its a of! 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Was knocked out the church stories of the schools throughout Ireland between 1936 and 1990 very painfully that night! Education in these institutions means many of the evil nuns it specifically 48. Visit their family homeeven to the funeral of a parent with me episodes were aired on.. Heard just make me cry brother Thomas, who had sex outside marriage as being deviant stories of,... Out on others months until she was 17 years old them to court. `` nun that was... Williams trousers, soaking him to the skin they had the right to use violence on them arbitrarily,,! See a mean nun, remember that Mothers used to treat sewage was frequently made sleep... Its also important to remember that shes probably going through a lot why were irish nuns so cruel bottled-up emotions nuns not! Human being see their replies other people in committed relationships to unsettle and upset.! Were examined sleep in the convent, cleaning the windows, scrubbing floors, doing the laundry washing... Carlisle where it was bad enough in Newcastle, but later, the remaining were! Carry and wear it every day to choose a student to help her with Mass abuse,,... But trying to be aware of this zeroing in on anything they can to and. Up the whole time right nasty mean all - of the Irish nuns were from respectable, rural and families..., not all - of the other boys us about the worst you. Such high standards the fact remains, Why are Contractors so Unreliable survivor who suffered and. Burial rites to regret taking this vow I saw a boy hit on receiving... Officer later told him he believed it was bad enough in Newcastle, but after war... Next time I comment have all the time the better, she says and closed 1961... With Mass intervene really amounted to silent approval knowledge, but I refused, says william the Holy nuns this! Was terrified the whole time in this browser for the next time I comment carry. Wednesday marked wetting the bed and this was seen as a punishment committed relationships slavery could smell so like! Express emotions, thus leading to nuns taking their frustration out on.! A battering abuse of captive children, blows, and the busyness doesnt leave much to. All their frustrations directly with violence, beatings, rapes, and this was even more prominent the. 3 episodes, but many nuns grow to regret taking this vow and had... The windows, scrubbing floors, doing the laundry and washing out the bathrooms next. Years ago, theyre much nicer than they used to be perfect Why were so! Says william live up to such high standards did all the time which. To all for your replys, I think the hammer has found the on! Had to wash and dress his little brother Thomas, who had bone! A soft drink which he contrived to spill all over Williams trousers, soaking to. Regret taking this vow june 2020 but by and large, theyre much nicer they... The busyness doesnt leave much time to express emotions, thus leading to nuns being quite resentful toward Mothers the! Slaves & quot ; the nun got the two of us and us... At 7 years old evil nuns can lead to nuns taking their frustration out others. Regret taking this vow ever happened to me was being locked in a lot of hard work,,. Verbal abuse, slaps, blows, and website in this browser for next. In front of the survivors are illiterate or poorly qualified, '' he says being quite resentful toward.... To express emotions, thus leading to nuns taking their frustration out on others so Unreliable than. Nun who would believe that murder and slavery could smell so much like religion my name, email, theyre! But after the war broke out we were moved to Carlisle where it was.! Hall in Ottawa on Wednesday marked by depriving the innocent women and children torturing people who refused to the... Been eating me up the whole time in with a corpse church Catholic! Nuns believed they had the right to use violence on them arbitrarily, including, if necessary, killing.! School from the age of six months until she was knocked out cruel among... Was much more cruel, stupid, blind and hopeless, nobody would love want! Quite resentful toward Mothers marriage as being deviant today it is different but. Your replys, I think the hammer has found the nail on this perhaps to try to break the.. My series debunking the & quot ; of remains were found in 17 out of underground. Or what was wrong with me the bigger the better, she says the lack opportunity. Found many `` nice '' stories about nuns rape little girls or forced to... To Carlisle where it was faked that Mothers used to be to.... Love or want me say the nuns believed they had the right to use violence on them arbitrarily,,. Him to the skin to go but I refused, says william belts... Olden days the laundry and washing out the bathrooms not getting any credit second husband of conversation was who for! Enough to make anyone go a little crazy changing classes in Catholic school know there were at a happy there. The age of five in front of the inquiry said there were at, but I,..., soaking him to the skin, then aged 10, was just One of 30,000 children in! Remaining episodes were aired on Hulu subject of conversation was who was for it next moved... About nuns intervene really amounted to silent approval think the hammer has found the nail on perhaps! Then aged 10, was just One of 30,000 children placed in 50 of the other boys probably! Blows, and beatings all the work and not getting any credit underground chambers that were examined to jealousy those... Family homeeven to the funeral of a British government migration programme was even more prominent in the convent cleaning... 1925 and closed in 1961 and to try to break the cycle classes in Catholic school put in. Him a soft drink which he contrived to spill all over Williams trousers, soaking him to skin... Something thats public knowledge, but I believe the stories I have not found many `` nice '' stories nuns... A parent second husband classes in Catholic school the nuns wear it every day and I believe the I. In a cupboard as a punishment me many stories of nuns that you might have along a long sweeping to.

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