Rare Sister Charlotte Testimony - tortured nun

[AreYouReady?]

I've never even heard of Sister Charlotte, nor read her story. I would be interested in reading the story.

I was raised in the RCC. Catholics in our neighborhood were expected to place their children in the local parochial school, which went up to grade eight. My oldest sister went there all 8 years. My brothers were taken out by the time they were in 2nd and 3rd grade. Mother never started me in the parochial school. She started me at public school. The excuse was that we could not afford tuition for 4 children. Why that might be true, I suspect that there was a whole lot more to it than the excuse that was given. She probably was the talk of the neighborhood at that time because she dared to be the first one to remove her children from the school. Other people followed her example several years later.

I remember my brother was punished for something he did at school. I never knew exactly what it was that he did. In our neighborhood, the church bells rang every 6 hours. At 6 am, 12 noon and 6 pm. When my brother did not come home by 6 pm, my mother was frantic. She walked over to the school building and let herself in. Nobody locked doors in that day. She walked all over the halls looking in each room. Then she heard faint sobbing in the boiler room. She went down there and there was my brother, probably about 6 or 7 years old crying. The nun made him sit down there and threatened him if he got up. She must have forgotten him after school let out at 2:30 pm. So....she must have been pretty scary for him to stay seated for over 3 hours after school let out. My mother was livid!

One of them nuns noticed that my brother was left-handed. So whenever she saw him writing with his left hand, she took the chalkboard wooden pointer stick and whacked him on his left hand.

While I was placed in public school since kindergarden, I was to go to catechism classes every Monday night. I was terrified to go some days. The nun would question us and yell at us if she did not like our answer.

During practice for our first Holy Communion, we public school students were merged with the parochial school students for practice. The nun never got seats for us who went to public school. She made us public school children stand in the back of the room during instruction.

On the Sunday we made our first Holy Communion, I made a mistake and did not even realize it. After church, she herded us into the classroom and she literally screamed at me in front of the whole class that I ruined the entire first Holy Communion ceremony because I forgot to take off my gloves during the Eucharist. That nun was flat mean! It made an impression on me for me to remember my terrified feelings after all these years.

I never remembered the Priest's coming to visit us. They may have a time or two, but never as much as I knew they visited other families in the neighborhood. Maybe that was a blessing.

So yeah....I can believe Sister Charlotte's story to be authentic. I can believe that her family disowned her. My own sister told me that she knew "what I was" without explanation as to what the "what" was and that I am to leave her alone. She doesn't even answer my phone calls to ask how my mother is doing. She is a cruel person. Her home has a shrine to Mary with pine cones all around it and she wants to replicate the "grotto" in her backyard patterned after the one at Notre Dame University.

That's not saying all Catholics are mean and cruel though. My mother was mostly mild and sweet. She was nurturing when we were growing up. She loves Jesus. She's been catholic all her life.

[Hoovie]

Originally Posted by AreYouReady?

I've never even heard of Sister Charlotte, nor read her story. I would be interested in reading the story.

I was raised in the RCC. Catholics in our neighborhood were expected to place their children in the local parochial school, which went up to grade eight. My oldest sister went there all 8 years. My brothers were taken out by the time they were in 2nd and 3rd grade. Mother never started me in the parochial school. She started me at public school. The excuse was that we could not afford tuition for 4 children. Why that might be true, I suspect that there was a whole lot more to it than the excuse that was given. She probably was the talk of the neighborhood at that time because she dared to be the first one to remove her children from the school. Other people followed her example several years later.

I remember my brother was punished for something he did at school. I never knew exactly what it was that he did. In our neighborhood, the church bells rang every 6 hours. At 6 am, 12 noon and 6 pm. When my brother did not come home by 6 pm, my mother was frantic. She walked over to the school building and let herself in. Nobody locked doors in that day. She walked all over the halls looking in each room. Then she heard faint sobbing in the boiler room. She went down there and there was my brother, probably about 6 or 7 years old crying. The nun made him sit down there and threatened him if he got up. She must have forgotten him after school let out at 2:30 pm. So....she must have been pretty scary for him to stay seated for over 3 hours after school let out. My mother was livid!

One of them nuns noticed that my brother was left-handed. So whenever she saw him writing with his left hand, she took the chalkboard wooden pointer stick and whacked him on his left hand.

While I was placed in public school since kindergarden, I was to go to catechism classes every Monday night. I was terrified to go some days. The nun would question us and yell at us if she did not like our answer.

During practice for our first Holy Communion, we public school students were merged with the parochial school students for practice. The nun never got seats for us who went to public school. She made us public school children stand in the back of the room during instruction.

On the Sunday we made our first Holy Communion, I made a mistake and did not even realize it. After church, she herded us into the classroom and she literally screamed at me in front of the whole class that I ruined the entire first Holy Communion ceremony because I forgot to take off my gloves during the Eucharist. That nun was flat mean! It made an impression on me for me to remember my terrified feelings after all these years.

I never remembered the Priest's coming to visit us. They may have a time or two, but never as much as I knew they visited other families in the neighborhood. Maybe that was a blessing.

So yeah....I can believe Sister Charlotte's story to be authentic. I can believe that her family disowned her. My own sister told me that she knew "what I was" without explanation as to what the "what" was and that I am to leave her alone. She doesn't even answer my phone calls to ask how my mother is doing. She is a cruel person. Her home has a shrine to Mary with pine cones all around it and she wants to replicate the "grotto" in her backyard patterned after the one at Notre Dame University.

That's not saying all Catholics are mean and cruel though. My mother was mostly mild and sweet. She was nurturing when we were growing up. She loves Jesus. She's been catholic all her life.

Not to minimize some serious disagreements I have with the Catholic Church, I think your last statement is very telling - and I can relate.

While there is some meanness and abuse by some, it does not necessarily speak of the sum.

I can say the same thing about my family and the Mennonite church I was raised in, and, oddly enough about Pentecostal churches as well.

[AreYouReady?]

Originally Posted by Hoovie

Not to minimize some serious disagreements I have with the Catholic Church, I think your last statement is very telling - and I can relate.

While there is some meanness and abuse by some, it does not necessarily speak of the sum.

I can say the same thing about my family and the Mennonite church I was raised in, and, oddly enough about Pentecostal churches as well.

Yes Hoovie. I have serious disagreements with the RCC also. I went through a period of anger when I found out what I've been taught all my life was not totally from biblical sources. I also went through some anger when standards became more important (to some people) than what Christ taught while I was in the Pentecostal church.

That is twice I have had to "reprogram" myself on what I have been taught. Or should I just say that I have outgrown what I have been taught by others and hope to continue to grow in the Word through the Holy Spirit?

But...I have come to some conclusion that since there are so many different denominations out there who nitpick scriptures with how we will spend eternity, I will have to always go back to the CROSS where my Savior shed His blood for my salvation. That's where it's all at. Nobody can supersede that action that Jesus took for us.

[Steve Epley]

I saw and hear Sis. Charlotte when I was a boy.

[AreYouReady?]

Is your opinion of her favorable or do you believe that she was embellishing her experience?

[Jay]

Originally Posted by AreYouReady?

Is your opinion of her favorable or do you believe that she was embellishing her experience?

I have heard from others that such things have occured in other closed convents, and it an open joke that the priests have relations with the nuns. I work with some Catholics, and they have told me that it is known that the priests have done this, and the issues of illicit sex with minors has always been a problem.

[Barb]

Originally Posted by Jay

I have heard from others that such things have occured in other closed convents, and it an open joke that the priests have relations with the nuns. I work with some Catholics, and they have told me that it is known that the priests have done this, and the issues of illicit sex with minors has always been a problem.

My great aunt had a baby in a convent...

[Steve Epley]

Originally Posted by AreYouReady?

Is your opinion of her favorable or do you believe that she was embellishing her experience?

I do know the Church where she was testifying recieved threatening letters saying they would burn the church down.

[Titus2woman]

I absolutely can not fathom how someone who got free of the horrors in Charlotte's book could possibly, if they had any sliver of conscience at all, have left other women behind to be repeatedly raped, tortured and killed and infants to be murdered. The fact that she never revealed enough details to help anyone else and never sought to get her story out to the authorities seems in my opinion beyond cowardly and truly monstrous if the experiences she relates are true. Who would deny that it is the legal and moral obligation of every human being with knowledge or something so henious to do their utmost to bring perpetrators to justice and save innocent victims.

The simple answer would be that she would have been in danger, but she did not feel in enough danger to not carry this tale into Pentecostal churches all over the country, so in my opinion that is absolutely no excuse. All the baloney about not wanting to upset her already estranged, still catholic family is just so much petty drivel when we are talking about saving the lives of women and infants... What in the world were those who paraded her from church to church thinking? If I ever heard such a story I would insist that we move heaven and earth to rescue those left behind and bring the criminals to justice.

I am not going to make any attempt to judge if or how many of her stories are true, only God knows the answer to that. But because she used her story for personal gain rather than to truly be a help to others, in my view she becomes less a person for each story that that is true, not each one that isn't.

And I feel truly terrible for my low opinion of someone who may have suffered so much.

[Jay]

Originally Posted by Titus2woman

I absolutely can not fathom how someone who got free of the horrors in Charlotte's book could possibly, if they had any sliver of conscience at all, have left other women behind to be repeatedly raped, tortured and killed and infants to be murdered. The fact that she never revealed enough details to help anyone else and never sought to get her story out to the authorities seems in my opinion beyond cowardly and truly monstrous if the experiences she relates are true. Who would deny that it is the legal and moral obligation of every human being with knowledge or something so henious to do their utmost to bring perpetrators to justice and save innocent victims.

The simple answer would be that she would have been in danger, but she did not feel in enough danger to not carry this tale into Pentecostal churches all over the country, so in my opinion that is absolutely no excuse. All the baloney about not wanting to upset her already estranged, still catholic family is just so much petty drivel when we are talking about saving the lives of women and infants... What in the world were those who paraded her from church to church thinking? If I ever heard such a story I would insist that we move heaven and earth to rescue those left behind and bring the criminals to justice.

I am not going to make any attempt to judge if or how many of her stories are true, only God knows the answer to that. But because she used her story for personal gain rather than to truly be a help to others, in my view she becomes less a person for each story that that is true, not each one that isn't.

And I feel truly terrible for my low opinion of someone who may have suffered so much.

There are some things that we must consider before becoming to severe about her apparent lack of agresssion against the RCC.

1) Cloisters were legal in most countries and off limits to all outsiders.

2) The influence weilded by the RCC is enough to make most officials turn a blind eye to the abuses inside a facility such as this.

3) The RCC being a well known entity would be difficult to attack because of the level of respect given to religious institutions. This would render her accusations of none effect, especially as so few were inclined to speak out about these issues.

4) She was raising awareness of these practices by giving her testimony.

5) If memory serves, her first convent was over seas making it difficult if not impossible for her to arrange the freedom of the women involved.

6) The cultic atmosphere would make it very difficult for anyone to leave the cloister, and only a few did willingly.

There are other things to consider as well. Including the fact that many of the cloisters in the U.S. and Mexico have now been opened, we have discovered that many of the descriptions of the cloistered life as she described were true.