Autobiography of nun causes embarrassment to Catholic church

An autobiography by a former nun in Kerala has caused major embarrassment to the Catholic Church after she claimed of being subjected to sexual exploitation and mental torture by her superiors.

Sister Raphael Jesme, in her book 'Amen - Oru Kanyasthreeyude Atmakatha' (Amen Autobiography of a Nun), recounted her odd and agonising experiences for 30 years of convent life

The nun while working as the principal of St Mary's College in Thrissur quit her job last year, accusing her superiors of harassing her mentally and physically.

"I wanted an outlet for my trauma. It'll help me start my second life afresh. The society has the right to know what's happening to the sisters," Sister Jesme said.

Claiming she still lives as a "nun" and have no plans to get married, Jesse says, her book would "throw light on the misunderstood convent life, engulfed in darkness."

"Thirty-three years cannot be penned down in 180 pages but there are points the I want to make about the capitation fee, the quarrels that happen within the church, about the homo-sexuality, the hetero-sexuality," says Jesme.

She further writes in the book that she was not allowed to go home when her father died, or to even pray some extra hours for his soul. "I was able to see my father barely 15 minutes before the funeral. The alibi of the superiors was that the then senior sisters were not even lucky enough to see the bodies of their parents."

The Church meanwhile has dismissed the book and has called it an "aberration of the Church."

"Many people are going to believe (Raphael's) words as she was a principal in a women's college. So the Church should take it seriously," Father Paul Thelakat, spokesperson of the Syro-Malabar Church, said.

The state women's commission has said it will take up Jesme's case very seriously. "We are studying the matter and will take it up seriously. I cannot tell you anything more on this issue," State Women Commission Chairperson, Justice Sree Devi told media people.

The Catholic Church already reeling under several controversies is yet to come out of the Abhaya murder case and a recent suicide of a nun in Kerala.

The state contributes the highest number of nuns in the whole country. According to Conference of Religious India's (CRI) statistics, the state has 31,514 nuns while the total number in India is 1,00,430. The number of novices in the state is 4,000 while the national figure is over 7,000.

Christianity traces its origins to the visit of St Thomas around 2,000 years ago to preach the gospel in India.