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Accusations of Abuse in
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New Zealand Herald
August 29, 2002
Abuse spotlight switches to nuns
by Greg Ansley; Australia correspondent
Canberra
- The Catholic Church in Australia, already investigating allegations of child
abuse by its most senior cleric, has been hammered with further claims of
brutality and sexual abuse.
Former residents at a
Although not admitting liability, the Church reached out-of-court settlements
with some of the 17 women who lodged claims against the Order in the Brisbane
Supreme Court three years ago.
The women were paid up to A$75,000 ($88,000), depending on the level of
physical and sexual abuse, The Bulletin magazine said in a report of the
allegations.
The claims, repeated on ABC Radio yesterday, follow a series of allegations of
abuse by clergy and nuns - most recently charges that the Catholic Archbishop
of Sydney, Dr George Pell, sexually abused a 12-year-old boy in 1961.
The Church's National Committee for Professional Standards announced this week
that the allegations against Pell will be heard in closed session, but that the
findings may be made appropriate if the two co-chairmen deem it appropriate.
The claims against Pell and the nuns of Nazareth House have renewed demands for
a national inquiry into abuse by the Church, and brought new condemnation of
continued secrecy in dealing with allegations of abuse.
The Bishop of Canberra and Goulburn said the culture of secrecy was causing
great harm to the Church, and Karen Walsh, co-ordinator of the Queensland
victims' support group the Esther Centre, said the Church had a mandate to
protect the weak.
"These principles are not just found in the legal process," she said.
The allegations reported by the Bulletin follow an exhaustive 1999 inquiry into
the abuse of children at
Nazareth House, which operated an orphanage from 1927 to 1982, was described by
one child-care officer as "a cold, imposing place ... extremely
frightening for a child".
The inquiry reported that
One of the alleged victims, Lizzie Walsh, told ABC Radio she had been raped by
a nun as a young girl in the 1950s.
"There was a flagstick, and the reason for it was to get the devil out of
me," she said.
"After I'd been raped with the flagstick I was sitting on the floor in a
pool of blood [and] a nun found me and she said 'What are you doing here?'
"She said to me 'Get up off the floor, clean yourself up and get back to
the classroom with the other kids'."
Walsh said other nuns had ignored her being raped by two priests. She said she
had also been forced to eat a nun's faeces, rotting fish and vomit, and to
drink her own urine.
Another alleged victim, Bobbie Ford, reported regular brutal beatings.
"From the time I was seven we were stripped naked, thrown on the bed on
our stomachs, and we'd be thrashed with a Machine strap with staples in
them," she said.
"That was one of the punishments and we got that every night."
The head of the Order in
"I'd like to say that the Sisters of Nazareth are saddened to know that
some of the women who were in their care as children are carrying with them
such unhappy memories."