Ex nun Speaks of blind loyalty in Convents
KOCHI: At a symposium organized by the Kerala Catholic Federation at Thrissur, another ex nun spoke against the present condition of convents in Kerala 10 years after her leaving the congregation.
Sr. Regina left the Franciscan Clarist Congregation 10 years back from an Irinjalakkuda convent and she sited the reason for the leaving as the superiors demanding blind loyalty in the name of the vow of obedience. She was speaking at the symposium with the subject ‘The problems faced by nuns.’
She said, “The superiors demanded blind loyalty. They felt that they had been appointed by God and had to be obeyed all the time. This lack of freedom was soul-sapping.” According to her the superiors failed to understand and value a person’s individuality and feelings. She walked out of the convent in 1999 after 20 years as a nun.
The family tried to dissuade her from taking such a step. She adds, “They said that if I had any difficulty I should resolve it through a discussion with my superiors, but I tried that for so many years and it did not work.”
Sr. Regina was a professor of history at St. Aloysius College and had a good salary and she says she managed to survive thus.
Even though many at the symposium asked her if she had any sexual harassment in the convents, she said that she has not experienced anything like that. She admits that it is good that Sr. Jesme spoke out. “I support what she has done.” She said.
When asked why she kept silence so long she said, “People have asked me to talk about it only now. I want the Church to reform itself. I don’t want the nuns to leave the convents. Instead, the conditions inside should improve, but there has already been a negative fall-out.Fewer girls are opting to become a nun these days.”
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