Church sources puzzled by claims about nuns

Irish Catholic church sources say they are mystified by a claim that nuns in this country, as in 20 others, have been sexually exploited by priests. The claim was made in a report to the Vatican by an Irish nun and doctor, Sister Maura O'Donoghue, a member of the Medical Missionaries of Mary.

Father Martin Clarke, spokesman for the Irish Bishops, said he was "not aware of allegations of this type having been made concerning Irish missionaries at home or abroad". Sister Elizabeth Maxwell, secretary-general of the Conference of Religious of Ireland, to which the Medical Missionaries of Mary is affiliated, said they had received no such allegations or complaints.

"However, if Sister Maura O'Donoghue had evidence of the occurrence of such abusive behaviour then it was appropriate she should report it to the Vatican," she said. A spokesman from the Irish Missionary Union was not available for comment last night.

The Vatican spokesman, Dr Joaquin Navarro-Valls, yesterday acknowledged that "the problem is known about" but insisted it was "restricted to a certain geographical area" (understood to mean Africa).

The Holy See was dealing with the issue in collaboration with bishops and the heads of religious orders, he said.

Sister O'Donoghue prepared her report in 1994 after spending six years as AIDS co-ordinator for the London-based Catholic Fund for Overseas Development (CAFOD). On February 18th, 1995, she briefed Cardinal Eduardo Martinez Somalo, prefect of the Vatican's congregation for the religious life, on its content. Details of that meeting and her report appear in the current issue of the US weekly, the National Catholic Reporter.

In the report she linked the alleged sexual abuse of nuns in Africa to the AIDS epidemic there, where it was considered the sisters were less likely to have the virus.

She quoted one religious superior who was approached by priests requesting that sisters be made available for sex. Refused, the priests said they would have to go to local women and could get AIDS.

She referred to a 1988 incident in Malawi where leaders of a women's congregation were dismissed by a bishop when they complained that 29 nuns had been made pregnant by diocesan priests, and reported another case where a priest took a nun for an abortion during which the sister died. He officiated at the nun's requiem Mass.

Sexual abuse of nuns by priests was taking place in Botswana, Burundi, Colombia, Ghana, India, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Tonga, Uganda, the United States, Zambia, Zaire and Zimbabwe, she said.

Her report was based on information supplied by priests, doctors and trustworthy others, and she had been assured records existed for several of the incidents.

Sister O'Donoghue is originally from Co Clare and has been a Medical Missionary of Mary for 45 years, most of which she has spent in Africa, where she is currently.

Ms Pat Jones, CAFOD's deputy director, would not comment on Sister O'Donoghue's report yesterday, other than to say the National Catholic Reporter did not receive it from them.