Amen - an autobiography of a nun by Dr Sister Jesme

A book written by a former nun is threatening to embarrass the Catholic Church in Kerala. is written by former nun Dr Sister Jesme and threatens to reveal what allegedly happens behind the closed doors of convents. The book claims that harassment and sexual repression take place in convents. “I wanted an outlet for my trauma. It'll help me start my second life afresh. The society has the right to know what's happening to the sisters,” says Dr Sister Jesme. Sister Jesme was the principal of St. Mary's College in Thrissur till she quit the congregation last August alleging harassment from superiors. The church in turn has labelled her mentally sick. “Thirty-three years cannot be penned down in 180 pages but there are points the I want to make about the capitation fee, the quarrels that happen within the church, about the homo-sexuality, the hetero-sexuality,” says Jesme. The book comes soon after the Central Bureau of Investigation booked two priests and a nun in the high-profile sister Abhaya murder case. The state women's commission now says it will take up Jesme's case very seriously. “We are studying the matter and will take it up seriously. I cannot tell you anything more on this issue,” says State Women Commission Chairperson, Justice Sree Devi The Catholic Church in Kerala is silent on the book and in an election year, political parties too would be cautious about raising these allegations. More Born C Meamy Raphael, Jesmi writes in her autobiography that she got her first rude shock when she was a Novitiate. ''At a retreat for novices, I noticed girls in my batch were unsettled about going to the confession chamber. I found that the priest there asked each girl if he could kiss them. I gathered courage and went in. He repeated the question. When I opposed, he quoted from the Bible which spoke of divine kisses,'' she writes. Her second shock was from an ordained nun. ''I was sent to teach plus-two students in St Maria College. There, a new sister joined to teach Malayalam; she was a lesbian. When she tried to corner me, I had no way but to succumb to her wishes. She would come to my bed in the night and do lewd acts and I could not stop her,'' she writes. In Bangalore for a refresher course in English, she writes, ''I was told to stay at the office of a priest respected for his strong moral side. But when I reached the station, he was waiting there and hugged me tight on arrival. Later in the day, he took me to Lalbagh and showed me cupid struck couples and tried to convince me about the need for physical love. He also narrated stories of illicit relations between priests and nun to me. Back in his room, he tried to fondle me and when I resisted, got up and asked angrily if I had seen a man. When I said no, he stripped himself, ejaculated and forced me to strip,'' Jesmi recounts. More

India, an Exporter of Priests: New York Times

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN Published: December 29, 2008 ALUVA, India — In the sticky night air, next to a grove of mahogany trees, nearly 50 young men in madras shirts saunter back and forth along a basketball court, reciting the rosary. James Estrin/The New York Times FOCUSED ON FAITH In Kerala, a state in the southwest part of the country where 20 percent of the population is Roman Catholic, families like the Alengadans pray together at home and Mass attendance is high. They are seminarians studying to become Roman Catholic priests. Together, they send a great murmuring into the hilly village, mingling with the Muslim call to prayer and the chanting of Vedas from a Hindu temple on a nearby ridge. Young men willing to join the priesthood are plentiful in India, unlike in the United States and Europe. Within a few miles of this seminary, called Don Bosco College, are two much larger seminaries, each with more than 400 students. more