- Already shaken by a yearlong sex scandal involving priests
and minors, the Roman Catholic Church has yet to face another critical
challenge: how to help thousands of nuns who say they have been sexually
victimized.
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- A national survey, completed in 1996 but intentionally
never publicized, estimates that a "minimum" of 34,000 Catholic
nuns, or about 40 percent of all nuns in the United States, have suffered
some form of sexual trauma.
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- Some of that sexual abuse, exploitation or harassment
has come at the hands of priests and other nuns, the report said. The survey
was done by researchers at St. Louis University and paid for, in part,
by several orders of nuns.
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- The study, recently obtained by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,
indicates that the victimization often has had devastating psychological
effects. Many of the nuns said they were left with feelings of anger, shame,
anxiety and depression. Some said it made them consider leaving religious
life, and a few said they had attempted suicide.
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- "These women have been the stalwarts of the church
for centuries, and a significant percentage of them have been victimized
as a result of the structure of the very institution to which they have
dedicated their lives," said study co-author John T. Chibnall, a research
psychologist and associate professor at St. Louis University.
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- Another of the researchers, Ann Wolf, said it is vital
that the Catholic Church recognize the problem.
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- "The bishops appear to be only looking at the issue
of child sexual abuse, but the problem is bigger than that," Wolf
said. "Catholic sisters are being violated, in their ministries, at
work, in pastoral counseling."
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- A spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
said the group was unaware of the St. Louis University study on nuns, and
its members have not addressed the issue. Officials with orders of nuns
who were in the study say they remain concerned but have made no changes.
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- The survey is the only national scientific study dealing
with sexual victimization of nuns in the Catholic Church, according to
its researchers. Despite the scope of its findings, no further studies
have been done, they say.
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- Of the more than 1,100 surveys returned, several included
brief, personal stories from women who said they had been targeted. One
woman wrote that after a priest fondled her breast in confession, she did
not return to confession for 18 years.
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- Another wrote that as a young girl, her uncle, who also
was a priest, insisted on touching holy oil to her genital area "to
keep me safe while dating." Later, her superiors forced her to attend
religious retreats with the same uncle, she said.
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- Still another wrote that a priest-therapist treating
her for severe depression encouraged her to become involved in "sexual
experimentation." The woman said she later began a relationship with
another nun.
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- Several of the women said such research was long overdue.
"Thanks for taking the time to admit there is a problem in this area,"
wrote one.
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- Findings of the study were published in two religious-research
journals in the spring and winter of 1998 but have never been reported
by the mainstream media.
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