International Union of Superiors General aims for better formation on abuse issues

LaCroix International
May 6, 2019

https://bit.ly/2Y9umCx

IUSG president, Sister Carmen Sammut, Feb. 22, 2019. Photo by Andreas Solaro

Superior generals need to be trained to better guide women religious who have been victims of sex abuse by priests, the president of the International Union of Superiors General (IUSG), told media in Rome.

"When a superior general feels at ease to speak about the issue with her sisters, they will be able to speak to her with confidence more easily if they have been victims of abuse," Sister Carmen Sammut, the IUSG president told a Rome press conference ahead of the organization's triennial conference from May 6-10.

Sister Sammut noted that the issue of abused women religious has become a burning issue in the Church over recent months.

Hence, superior generals need to be trained to better guide women religious who have been victims of sex abuse by priests, she said.

Since the publication of several testimonies by abused women religious from around the world in the summer of 2018, several national conferences of consecrated women have all published statements encouraging sisters to signal any cases of sex abuse.

These include the LCWR (Leadership Conference of Women Religious) in the United States, the Conference of Men and Women Religious in France (CORREF) and more recently the Conference of Canadian Women Religious.

On Nov. 24, the IUSG, which represents 2000 congregations and 450,000 women religious around the world, also condemned what it characterized as a "culture of secrecy" and called on victims to speak out.

On May 2, Sister Sammut went still further, announcing that formation workshops for women religious have already been held or are in preparation.

A key theme tackled in the workshops is "obedience," one of the three vows nuns take when they join a community.

Poorly understood or instrumentalized, however, it is a notion that can also facilitate abuse.

UISG vice-president, Sister Sally Hodgdon confirmed that the formation and awareness raising programs are essential to ensure that sisters are able to discern any attempts at abuse.

"In some countries, a women may believe that if a person abuses her, it is normal because he has authority over her," she said.

Sister Sammut also noted that she herself had received this formation during the summit on sex abuse called by Pope Francis in Rome in February 2019.

As a result, she felt more at ease and free to speak on the issue with sisters of her own congregation, she told journalists.

A Missionary of Our Lady of Africa, she added that, while no recent case of abuse had been reported in her community, she was nevertheless aware of sexual harassment cases or advances, particularly among young sisters.

Following the publication of her statement in November, the UISG was informed of certain cases of sex abuse as well as exploitation by the clergy but that there was no "avalanche" of testimonies, she noted.

"A vocabulary now exists to speak about the issue," Karlijn Demasure, a professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University, told La Croix.

"Many women religious lacked the training to give them adequate words to discuss sexuality," she said. "Moreover, it is more difficult to get an adult, particularly an adult woman, to accept that she is the victim rather than the seductress."

"Mediatization of victims and abuses means that it has become easier to discuss this delicate issue," added Demasure, who was formerly the director of the Center for Protection of Children established by the Vatican.

The launch of training by the UISG is historic, she noted.

"Superiors general may consult among themselves," she said. "They also know people (including other superiors general) who already have expertise and who can help those who are still not very advanced on the issue."

"Evidently, forming sisters is not enough. It is also necessary to form priests," she said.

"Focusing only on the formation of sisters (how to avoid being abused) could give the impression that the sister is responsible for the abuse and their being culpable," she said.