Nuns are forced to wash and cook meals by priests: Cardinal

Kochi, Mar 21 (PTI) In revelations that could raise
concerns in the Catholic Church, Cardinal Mar Varkey
Vithayathil admits that nuns in the church were being
discriminated and treated as 'task force' by priests, who
force them to wash and cook meals.

The candid admissions by the Cardinal, who is also the
Major Archbishop of the Syro Malabar church, has been made in
a book titled, 'Straight from the Heart', released recently.

The book is a collection of interviews given by the
cardinal to Father Paul Thelekat, church spokesman, over a
seven day period while Vithyathil was undergoing Ayurvedic
treatment.

"There have always been complaints that women religious
are used as task force by parish priests. They just bear up
the ill treatment, fearing the priests may not say Mass for
them or fulfil their spiritual needs if they protested. These
things are happening in number of places," Vithyathail says.

"Religious women very often depend on bishops for land and
money to start a covnent. They feel they have to deal with
priests and bishops with the utmost reverence, almost like
slaves. A big complaint of our nuns is that the dioceasan
priests are treating them like servants, making them wash
their clothes, prepare their food, wash the churches etc and
that too without getting paid. These are all unjust ways of
treating women religious," he says.

The priests should know that the Church teaches equal
dignity of man and woman and to act accordingly, Vithyathail
says. As persons, women have the same rights and same
obligations as men. "They are not to be used by the Parish
priest, they must be respected and loved", the 81 year-old
cardinal says.

At a Catholic Bishop Council of India (CBCI) meeting in
Jameshedpur, there was a suggestion that women must get 50 per
cent representation in the Church organisations. To start
with, they must get 35 per cent. "But that may take some time,
because we are fighting against a culture of male domination."

The spirit of obedience to the bishops was on the wane and
there is always a thirst for more comforts by dioceasan
priests, he said.

On the many scandals which affect the image of the church,
particularly the Sister Abhaya case, in which two priests and
a nun have been arrested by the CBI in connection with the
mysterious death of the nun 16 years ago in a convent in
Kottayam, the Cardinal says "we very much want the legitimate
state authority to investigate and take steps to punish the
guilty. The Church does not want to protect anybody guilty."

This is what Rajiv Gandhi once said when he was
criticised, the cardinal says ''You don't have to answer every
barking dog''. It looks as though anyone can attack the Church
and get away with it.

On allegations that bishops and priests are trying to
cover up things, he said 'we should not come in the way of the
administration of justice by the government and the courts.

"We should resist the temptation of covering up certain
things to protect our good name and some individuals. But in
the case of Abhaya case, I believe the Church is not trying to
cover up anything or protect anybody."

Recently, a former Nun, Sister Jasme, had released her
memoir, 'Amen' in which she reveals sexual absue, corruption
and power struggles in the 'dark confines' of a convent she
had lived in for 30 years. PTI UD
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