Aid agency missio mobilizes against abuse of Religious Women
by Gudrun Sailer - Vatican City
This article first appeared in Vatican News and has been translated into English for our readers. Please find a link to the original article here:
The German Catholic relief agency missio wants to take stronger action against abuse of women religious in the universal church and also raise the issue with the Vatican. A survey conducted by the aid agency among partner organizations in Africa, Asia and Oceania reveals that various forms of abuse against sisters are apparently widespread. At the same time, a de-tabooing of the subject has begun.
Missio conducted the non-representative survey with 38 church partner organizations in three continents and was surprised by the response. Two thirds of the respondents consider the topic of abuse of women religious as important to very important - “this was a very important sign for missio," summarized Josephine Beck-Engelberg, specialist for organizational development in development cooperation and external supervisor of the survey at missio. The questionnaire referred to abuse in the physical, psychological and spiritual sense, however, according to Beck-Engelberg, the responses suggested that the respondents mostly meant sexual abuse, which in turn mainly took place in the context of religious woman - priest.
During the survey, Missio also wanted to know from the project partners in Africa, Asia and Oceania what challenges needed to be worked on in order to combat abuse against women religious. Overwhelmingly, the answer came back, "The main problem is clericalism and the power structures," Josephine Beck-Engelberg lectured. "Add to that fear, shame and ignorance, and the willingness of religious sisters to be culturally and religiously subordinate to male superiors, superiors, priests or bishops."
The survey will change the work of the aid agency, said Rev. Dirk Bingener, president of missio Aachen. A new, cross-departmental coordination office for the issue of abuse against women religious is being established, he said. "We will also make abuse of women religious an issue in Rome and in the universal Church - at the 120 mission agencies," the clergyman assured. Pope Francis had publicly acknowledged in 2019 that the issue was known in the Vatican. However, he added, that is not the end of it. "There is an impulse from the Vatican to look more closely at other countries and to take this survey as a model that is coming from the offical church, I consider that an important step. You have to look at the respective countries and make it clear from Rome that the topic is on the agenda and that we are together looking for the next step: I would also wish for that from Rome."
"We note that the de-tabooization has taken up amazing speed," added Frank Kraus, as head of missio's foreign department. At a Vatican conference on child abuse last October, he said, the topic of abuse against women religious came up abruptly and strongly. "There, women religious actually stood up in front of people, in front of whom they might not otherwise say anything, relatively across the board and said, the way you treat us is no longer possible. We've been asking since that conference at the Vatican, when we meet bishops, at least the question, how can I respond." Among religious sisters as well as priestly and episcopal leaders, he said, sensitivity to the issue of abuse of power against women has grown. "There are still the deniers," Kraus said, but more and more women are speaking out openly about it, "and they can't be silenced now."
Particularly many of the responses had spoken of "discrimination against women religious and stigmatization of victims" and of "patriarchal power structures and clericalism," the survey said at its launch. There was also frequent talk of "denial and cover-up" by church superiors, it said. Among the reasons why women religious become victims of abuse is their poverty. Beck-Engelberg: "In the quotes, it came out that many sisters have no money for phone calls, cell phone use, public transportation. They depend, for example, on riding in priests' cars. Destitution is a problem, which puts these hard-core sisters in an extremely vulnerable situation."
The most common recommendation from partner organizations related to providing moral and spiritual support to the affected women religious: "Something very simple, but it seems to be denied to them so far," the expert said. Therapy, compensation for victims and accountability of the church were also often mentioned, she said. “When it comes to the question of how abuse against women religious can be prevented in the future, the question of further training and empowerment of sisters plays the biggest role, according to the interviewees in the universal church. But it is also a matter of "promoting gender justice in the church" and fair working and remuneration conditions. Women religious are "often free helpers, cleaners of priests," Josephine Beck-Engelberg summed up responses from the survey.
Missio plans to put even more resources into training church professionals and leaders in the global South to combat abuse of women religious. Universities, women theologians and advocates played a big role. "We are grateful when religious orders agree to release sisters for such a qualification," stressed Katja Heidemanns, a missiologist and head of missio's donations department. She mentioned the example of a religious from Burkina Faso, Epiboué Marguerite Bakorba, who was the first sister in her congregation to earn a doctorate; her canon law topic was "The Right to Good Reputation and Privacy in the Formation and Life of Religious." "It will make a big difference whether or not a sister with that qualification, she will then also be teaching at the seminary, is available as an interlocutor in the order," Heidemanns said. "Making that happen is our opportunity to bring about long-term change. The change itself has to come from the bottom up. Our goal is for women like Sister Bakorba to be experts in preventing and working against abuse and to be multipliers to change awareness in their local church in the long term."
[i] Cf. Address of Cardinal Grech to the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, 4 March 2021.
[ii]Cf. International Theological Commission, Synodality in the Life and Mission of the Church, 6, https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_cti_20180302
_sinodalita_en.html
[iii] Pope Francis, address on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Synod of Bishops, 17 October 2015, https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2015/october/documents/papa-francesco_20151017_50-anniversario-sinodo.html
[iv] International Theological Commission, Synodality in the Life and Mission of the Church, 5 https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_cti_20180302_sinodalita_en.html
[v] Pope Francis – Austen Ivereigh, Let us Dream, The path to a better future, 84.
[vi] Cardinal Mario Grech, Address to the Irish bishops on Synodality, 3rd February 2021, https://www.catholicbishops.ie/2021/03/04/address-of-cardinal-mario-grech-to-the-bishops-of-ireland-on-synodality-2/
[vii] Pope Francis – Austen Ivereigh, Let us Dream, The path to a better future, 84.
[viii] Pope Francis, Lettera del Santo Padre Francesco al popolo di Dio che è in cammino in Germania, 29 June 2019.
[ix] Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti 22.
[x] Can. 212§1
[xi] Can. 209§1
[xii] T. Reese, “Three ways to improve the Synod of Bishops”, National Catholic Reporter, 12 November 2015, https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/faith-and-justice/three-ways-improve-synod-bishops
[xiii] Pope Francis, interview in America Magazine, September 2013. https://www.americamagazine.org/pope-francis-interview.
[xiv] For example The Root and Branch Synod Bristol, UK, 5-12 September 2021.
