BUNEOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) – An Argentine judge ruled Friday that 20 nuns in the conservative northern region suffered more than two decades of abuse at the hands of a senior clergyman. The following prison terms were ordered for the accused archbishop and church officials: Psychological treatment and gender discrimination training.
The ruling in Pope Francis’ homeland spotlighted years of abuse of nuns by priests and bishops in the Catholic Church.
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Long overshadowed by scandals in other churches, such abuses in religious life are increasingly being reported and denounced as nuns emboldened by the #MeToo movement. As a result, the church is having the natural result of #NunsToo.
On May 3, 2022, in Salta, Argentina, the Sanctuary joined forces to support the nuns of the convent who accused Archbishop Mario Antonio Carniello of Salta and other church officials of gender-based psychological and physical violence. Women gather around the Bernardo Monastery. The Argentinian court issued the verdict. On Thursday, April 4, 2024, it was revealed that Cargello and three other church officials committed various forms of violence against the convent’s hidden nuns. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
In her judgment in Salta, northwestern Argentina, Judge Carolina Cáceres concluded: “For more than 20 years, the nuns have suffered acts of gender violence, religiously, physically, mentally, and economically.” “I will.”
She also ordered that the verdict be communicated to Francisco.
The four accused clerics deny any acts of violence. The archbishop’s lawyer, Eduardo Romani, dismissed Friday’s ruling as baseless and vowed to appeal. Still, he said, the archbishop would comply with orders to receive treatment and anti-discrimination training through local NGOs, “whether or not we agree with the rationale for it.”
Lawyers for the nuns praised the ruling as unprecedented in Argentina, recognizing the plaintiffs’ plight and the deeper issue of gender discrimination.
“It disrupts the ‘status quo’ because it targets someone with great power,” lawyer Jose Viola said.
Several high-profile cases have surfaced in recent years in which nuns, laity, and consecrated women have accused former eminent priests of spiritual, psychological, physical, and sexual abuse.
But their complaints went largely unheard by the Vatican and Argentina’s all-male local hierarchy, leading the Salta nuns to seek redress in the secular justice system. Similar dynamics played out decades ago when the clergy abuse scandal first erupted and victims took to court accusing church authorities of inaction.
Twenty nuns from the Hermit Carmelite order of San Bernardo Convent, dedicated to solitude, silence and daily meditative prayer, filed a lawsuit in 2022, shocking conservative Salta. Gave.
Their charges cited a variety of abuse, including verbal insults, threats, humiliation, and non-sexual physical assault.
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The nuns described Archbishop Mario Cargnello grabbing the woman, slapping her and shaking her. At one point, Cargello allegedly squeezed the nun’s lips to silence her. Another time, he jumped on her nun and pinned her to the ground. They also accused Cargello of borrowing money from the nuns without paying them back.
Judge Cáceres said these cases were part of a pattern of “physical and psychological sexual violence” produced by the church’s rigid hierarchy and culture of silence.
