The Benedictines of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre in Paris acknowledged in a press release that they had been victims of “ a system of control, with serious and lasting consequences, implemented over several decades by former officials.
“ Spiritual and conscience abuse, abuse of power and authority, separation of the sisters from their family and their spiritual referent, moral and physical violence, threats, systematized lies, slander, climate of fear and manipulation, humiliation, deprivation of freedom, lack of vocational discernment “. It is in these terms that the Benedictines of the Sacred Heart of Montmartre describe in their press release the abuse they suffered.
Out of modesty, Sister Marie Jérémie, a victim, will not say more, but she admits to having been under the influence. ” These are forms of abuse of power where in fact, for example, we could hear from authority: “I know what is good for you”. It’s something infantilizing and it totally takes away the freedom “, she explains at the microphone of Laurence Theault of the RFI France service. Superiors could inflict pain by pretending it was God’s will.
” These excesses caused numerous departures of sisters, in too often painful and difficult conditions, the authority of the time (…) having (…) ostracized them “Add the signatories of the text. It is not possible to know the exact number of victims, according to Sister Marie Jérémie.
In the statement, posted last week on the congregation’s website, the sisters say that this system had been “ set up over several decades by the authority of the time “. Before 1998, “there were already dysfunctions, but things became particularly complex between 1998 and 2012 », according to Sister Marie Jérémie.
Freedom of speech
So why such a belated denunciation? The facts go back several years: I think that the control system has put us in a form of isolation from each other. “, she analyzes.
After a whole journey, the word was freed, the sisters who had nevertheless left the congregation came forward: “We managed to get together, to renew a dialogue, to put words together. It’s extraordinary “, she rejoices.
The sisters ask for the creation of an independent commission to allow the recognition of their sufferings. Furthermore, in the statement, the current officials of the institute ask ” forgiveness to all those who have been victims of this abuse, to their families and loved ones “.
(And with AFP)