Open Letter to the Nazareth House Nuns
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Monastery of Our Lady of Little Citeaux
Nuns dedicated to those who have been abused by priests, nuns, brothers, ministers, and any clergy member.
http://www.nunsfortheabused.com/index.htm
This is a letter written by us to the persons below. Following it is the one and only response we received.
From: the nuns
Please Note:
To: formation@nazarethhammersmith.fnet.co.uk ; sisroseh@nazarethhousesr.com ;
mariemccormack1@hotmail.com ; nazpe@cybertrade.co.za ; mokeefe@giant.net.au ; regcamb@ozemail.com.au ; nazareth@vocations.fsnet.co.uk ; spflynn@nazarethhousela.org ; srfintan@nazarethhousela.org
Sent: Thursday, June 10, 2004 6:49 AM
Subject: For Mother Superior or Sister Superior
Dear Mother or Sister Superior ,
i am writing to you, sister to sister, religious to religious, to make a request. Please will you say, simply, "I am sorry for it all." ?
i am writing to you, sister to sister, requesting that, because i have friends who will not be able to ever be open to the graces necessary to reach the peace they need, to experience a happy holy death. They will never find peace, Sister, unless you tell them you are heartily sorry for what happened to them, though none of it was done by your hand, i am sure.
The apology is needed. To deny it, is the same as denying liquid to a dying patient. i am a nurse. Right to the very end, we hydrate folks, don't we? We do not thirst them to death. We do not let them thirst as they die. We pull the IV post mortem, as we pray for them, don't we? The apology is that liquid these folks need, Sister.
The specific conduit that carries and delivers the apology does not matter. That is humbling, but an apology from any nun of your order would heal a number of folks quickly, and allow others to heal more slowly, but to heal.
Please. i beg you, humbly, sister to sister, for you, like we, were taught that we will have to respond honestly to our Bridegroom's questions regarding our stewardship of souls and psyches and bodies, when we stand ready to enter his Kingdom, on our own deathbeds, when we will be needing the peace to die a happy holy death.
i have a friend named Mike who attended your Van Nuys school. His story of horrid abuse by and under the care of some of your sisters shows the absolute need he, and all of the now-grown kids, have, for the apology. i have another friend in Australia whose story of the same abuse in your Australian school, shows the moral right these now-grown kids have, to an apology, for they need peace. i have another friend in the UK who experienced the same abuse in two of your school-orphanages. i have another friend in NZ. Another friend in yet another part of the UK.
None of them asked me to beg you as i am. In fact only Mike knows i write and Mike was concerned.....for me. Such gentle-strong loving persons, these friends of mine, who came out of your schools.
Please, Sister, make it okay for them. You have that power. It won't cost a cent. A bit of humility. We're taught humility is good. Please, even if you just whisper it to them, will you please tell them you are sorry for what happened to them? Some of these kids are almost seniors, Sister.
Your website says, "Sisters of Nazareth proclaim His love and good works through prayers and apostolic care of seniors and children at 50 nazareth houses and nazareth schools". i plead with you, as an advocate of the children they were and the seniors they will be, to give them the peace they need. You will be atoning then, for the wrong done by those whose hands did the harm. You will heal so many, Sister. i would do it for you if i had the power. But i don't count. They need YOU. Please, then.
As your site also quotes, "Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of my brethren, you did it to me." Please give these little ones the peace that our very own Jesus, our Prince of Peace, wants us to have.
This letter is written with the permission and total agreement of my superior, Mother Veronica, whom this letter also represents. Hence her name below also.
i stand humbly before you, (and humbly is hard for me, Sister).
begging,
angela (Sister Mary Angela Ferry)
Mother M. Veronica Sweeney
Dear Sister Mary Angela
Nazareth House = The Poor Sisters of Nazareth