Sister Simona Brambilla, an Italian Consolata Sister with a doctorate from Rome is the new secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. First time a woman has been the head of this dicastery/office. This office is for both men and women religious, and she is now the number two person. I think it is a safe bet she has eyes on this case.
Thank you for this reporting. These horrible crimes and abuses need to be seen for what they are so that, at the very least, fewer and fewer superiors can simply look the other way. I am so sorry for what these women have suffered and continue to be disgusted by church handling of abuse.
I've read Sr. Theresa Aletheia's book "Memento Mori" for Lent. I do remember hearing that she started a religious Order in reparation for abuses committed in the Church, but I was curious as to why. Now this seems to at least been part of the reason. God bless her for staying in the Church.
She gets groomed by a spiritual director, and responds by founding a whole religious order in reparation for abuses committed in the church? My goodness. She could have gone into a shell, lost touch with her vocation or even faith. That's one of the bravest, most badass things I've ever heard.
I'm not so sure founding a religious community after this experience and after so few years in religious life and years that weren't exactly "healthy" is really a good idea. Seems a little premature.
Autumn of 2017 was six years ago. How long is no longer premature? (I don't know, and thankfully don't have to discern such a thing so I am just curious.)
The whole article, but especially those last two paragraphs – devastating. I can only imagine – the weight of this must be crushing. Thank you, Sisters, for coming forward. Prayers for you, and for all victims. 🙏
God bless these sisters for coming forward and for dedicating themselves to their new ministry, and God bless The Pillar for giving them a platform to shine a light on this vile corruption. You are doing a true opus Dei, a work of God.
The crimes of this man and the indifference of the Vatican is horrific. This is why the imprecatory Psalms exist. I found myself physically nauseated by reading this and repeatedly thought of John 13:27-30:
"And after the morsel, Satan entered into him. And Jesus said to him: That which thou dost, do quickly. Now no man at the table knew to what purpose he said this unto him. For some thought, because Judas had the purse, that Jesus had said to him: Buy those things which we have need of for the festival day: or that he should give something to the poor. He therefore having received the morsel, went out immediately. And it was night."
My God have mercy. I can’t even comprehend how the Catholic Church, the one who holds herself out as having the clearest, most complete understanding of human freedom and its implications for salvation, could have the audacity to claim a grown adult in a position of trust acted—in his own deliberate capacity and supposedly not under diabolical possession—in an “inappropriate” way but there was no credible evidence it was intentional. We are either free or we aren’t. The claim is either true or it isn’t. I am so tired of theological basket weaving that tries to pretend things aren’t what they are.
I also can’t fathom that a religious community thinks a *victim* of sexual assault is somehow handicapped while the perpetrators are lauded. My God, we are the Church. We claim the Great Physician as the remedy to all brokenness. But I guess if you are wounded by someone else that somehow counts you out and you just get kicked to the margins? We’re here for the broken, but eew not that kind.
Victims of sexual assault do tend to have psychological problems, and tend to need to be more careful about discerning what is going on. The reason the sister was ignoring all the red flags presented to her is probably because she had a habit of ignoring red flags... because she saw false red flags far more often than most people would, and was overcorrecting. This is a common problem, and part of the reason being abused makes a person more likely to be abused in the future. Of course, the other sisters were ignoring them due to naivete and being carried away by his charisma. That certainly doesn't mean she shouldn't be allowed in a religious community (and obviously she was admitted), but there's good reason to take some extra care. Religious life isn't easy, so there are requirements for physical and mental health.
The fact that the Church seems to have so little concern for justice is quite concerning. One might ask why he was not charged criminally, if there was sufficient evidence, but perhaps each individual case fell under he said-she said. But you know, Padre Pio was banned from giving spritual direction indefinitely because the Vatican thought he might be a fraud.
The Church is here for that kind of broken as well. The Church is not obliged to give that kind of broken priestly faculties and access to victims.
Analyzing the "psychological problems" of any of these women who have been brave enough to make themselves vulnerable to misunderstanding and attack for the sake of others entirely misses the point of the article.
I was not responding to the article, I was responding to Nicole's comment, wondering about religious communities looking at victims as handicapped. They aren't, but there's generally damage - sometimes very bad - that's why we call them victims, and not impervious attempted-victims.
If you'd like my response to the article, I should say that it sometimes seems like there are very few people who are not survivors of sexual abuse or spiritual abuse that seem inclined to treat it with anything approaching the urgency and seriousness it deserves. Having a community that denies it or minimizes it makes it harder to heal, because you have to assert the truth against everyone around you. They overcame all of that. The fact that these women are asserting the truth and insisting on it being treated seriously gives others that very refreshing assurance that they are not exaggerating the problem, nor are they alone in a sane assessment of it. And maybe even convinces others to start having a rational response to it. It is both difficult and important, and I hope and pray that they never give it up.
Your original comment indicates that you were referring to the women in the article. You referred to one of the sisters who "ignored red flags" and assumed it was because of her previous trauma and then you assumed the other sisters ignored red flags due to "naivete." This is a form of victim blaming. I am glad to see you are backtracking from that in this comment but I would just like to point out that the reason survivors of abuse do not come forward is because often people's responses boil down to something like your first comment that suggests that something was wrong with the women for not realizing what was happening rather than suggesting that something is wrong with the systemic culture of these Church institutions in which victims are blamed and abusive behaviors are minimized and enabled.
Referring to, yes, as a counter-example. The article paraphrased that "Something about him seemed off to her", that "Initially, Sr. Theresa Aletheia was uncomfortable with Nicgorski.", quoted her as saying "I thought it was weird, but I thought at the same time, he was so well respected. That was the start of my rejecting all of my red flags.”, that "“Almost every conversation I ever had with Father Dave had sexual overtones. It was often quite subtle", that he said things she thought were inappropriate. And "when she had concerns, the sister said, she attributed them to her own issues. She thought they were in her mind." "I would think, ‘Wow, I must be really messed up that I am thinking this way or feeling this way.’”"
I wasn't "victim blaming", I was just reading. I didn't assume it was because of her previous trauma, she said it was. She's not the only one I've heard that from. Previous victims may do this, and it can lead to them being re-victimized. Because ignoring red flags for whatever reason can lead to sexual assault. That's why you don't ignore red flags, and you don't let people who behave inappropriately in the clergy or other positions of trust. I think the reason Sister Theresa ignored her red flags was quite understandable, and neither sinful nor stupid nor otherwise her fault. I'm just not going to claim she didn't ignore them, contrary to her own statements. I figure she knows what she was thinking, and isn't a liar. My opinion on the culpability of the Church hierarchs that left the priest with his faculties is rather different.
There are a lot of reasons people don't come forward. Thinking that they're overblowing it, or that it was somehow their fault (the younger they are, the more likely to blame themselves, even without outside assistance). Or believing that it won't accomplish anything, thinking the people around them won't listen or understand or act appropriately, or will choose the abuser over them - the trouble being that those last are too often accurate. We don't just have something wrong with the culture in Church institutions, we have something wrong with the culture in the entire Western world. The bright side, such as it is, is that we can change that culture by changing ourselves: by training ourselves in the habits of listening carefully, speaking gently, thinking rationally, judging justly, and acting proportionately - habits which can be practiced everywhere. Do those things in small ways, and victims will start trusting us with the bigger stuff when they need to.
Courageous women; they give me hope in the face of corruption in the Church. I am grateful for the Pillar's coverage of this. Carballo...the same one who made Bishop Olson Pontifical Commissary over the Carmelites in Arlington? Will anyone correct his errors?
As mentioned in the article, he reviewed the complaint and concluded, essentially, that there was nothing he could do. He has a history of denying justice to women religious. I am glad he has left that post, but don’t hold out high hopes for other cases to be handled better.
Is "spiritual grooming" something that is on the rise or is it something we're just becoming more aware of? I would guess the latter, but wonder if all the pitfalls of our visual/technological age have exacerbated the problem. I confess I wasn't much aware of it until the last 10 years or so but stories are everywhere now it seems--Rupnik, Vanier, Leatherby, David Haas etc. God bless victims who are able to bring this filth to light and to The Pillar and others for telling their stories!
On a time scale of during-and post-Vatican II (which is, basically, since yesterday) we are only just finding out about things that have been going on since then. On a time scale of Christianity-so-far, sometimes you have Molinos.
As the victim noted in this article who was abused by former OMV Jim Montanaro, my soul is raging right now and is crushed for the Sisters. There’s no doubt in my mind there are more victims. I felt like I was reading my own story all over again and I’m heartbroken to know others have to endure this suffering.
Your courage, Gina, is an important factor in these victims being believed by people reading this account. Please God, accelerate that capacity for belief in those with power and authority.
I know. This is like a documentary of my experiences except I am a lay woman and went to the Office of Professional standards and not the Vatican. I don’t think there is any intention on the part of these offices that handle complaints to actually seek truth or justice. It is a ruse, a charade. They trick victims, pretending to be pastoral or virtuous but making zero effort to do anything.
Worse than making zero effort, they go to great lengths to discredit victims and willingly believe those who have abused their authority, itself an abuse of authority. They are accountable to no one.
It is suspicious that the accounts of several women aren't enough to counter the priest's own account. It isn't "he said she said". There were several women against one man in this case.
Honestly, it’s distressing that women so often are told or forced to ignore their gut intuition and the red flags that they see, only to be subjected to assault.
Also, does the Dicastery ever actually do anything, or is it just a jobs program for priests?
I know. I tell my daughters that we should respect priests like we respect all people. But that doesn't mean we can automatically trust them or that they are automatically safe. This is true for everyone. But in the church with priests I think it is worse because we are so vulnerable and our leaders have a habit of neglecting our safety. It is a sad, tragic fact.
Amen, Sisters, Amen.
May the Lord Jesus bless these women.
Thank God for The Pillar.
Pray for the Church.
Are there any women in the Vatican Dicasteries who review these cases?
Such a good question. Interested to know.
Sister Simona Brambilla, an Italian Consolata Sister with a doctorate from Rome is the new secretary of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. First time a woman has been the head of this dicastery/office. This office is for both men and women religious, and she is now the number two person. I think it is a safe bet she has eyes on this case.
Thank you for this reporting. These horrible crimes and abuses need to be seen for what they are so that, at the very least, fewer and fewer superiors can simply look the other way. I am so sorry for what these women have suffered and continue to be disgusted by church handling of abuse.
I've read Sr. Theresa Aletheia's book "Memento Mori" for Lent. I do remember hearing that she started a religious Order in reparation for abuses committed in the Church, but I was curious as to why. Now this seems to at least been part of the reason. God bless her for staying in the Church.
She gets groomed by a spiritual director, and responds by founding a whole religious order in reparation for abuses committed in the church? My goodness. She could have gone into a shell, lost touch with her vocation or even faith. That's one of the bravest, most badass things I've ever heard.
She is. Here's a story by the New York Times about her before this happened:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/us/memento-mori-nun.html
I'm not so sure founding a religious community after this experience and after so few years in religious life and years that weren't exactly "healthy" is really a good idea. Seems a little premature.
Autumn of 2017 was six years ago. How long is no longer premature? (I don't know, and thankfully don't have to discern such a thing so I am just curious.)
I think its a kick-ass response to clerical abuse. Fail or succeed, its a very faithfilled and courageous thing to bring the battle to the Church.
The whole article, but especially those last two paragraphs – devastating. I can only imagine – the weight of this must be crushing. Thank you, Sisters, for coming forward. Prayers for you, and for all victims. 🙏
Absolutely horrifying.
Thank you to The Pillar for this important reporting. Your work is greatly needed in our Church.
To these women - I am so sorry for the ways you were harmed. Thank you for your courage in speaking out.
Thank you for exposing this important report. The whitewashing of this and other similar events by the church has got to stop. God help us.
God bless these sisters for coming forward and for dedicating themselves to their new ministry, and God bless The Pillar for giving them a platform to shine a light on this vile corruption. You are doing a true opus Dei, a work of God.
The crimes of this man and the indifference of the Vatican is horrific. This is why the imprecatory Psalms exist. I found myself physically nauseated by reading this and repeatedly thought of John 13:27-30:
"And after the morsel, Satan entered into him. And Jesus said to him: That which thou dost, do quickly. Now no man at the table knew to what purpose he said this unto him. For some thought, because Judas had the purse, that Jesus had said to him: Buy those things which we have need of for the festival day: or that he should give something to the poor. He therefore having received the morsel, went out immediately. And it was night."
My God have mercy. I can’t even comprehend how the Catholic Church, the one who holds herself out as having the clearest, most complete understanding of human freedom and its implications for salvation, could have the audacity to claim a grown adult in a position of trust acted—in his own deliberate capacity and supposedly not under diabolical possession—in an “inappropriate” way but there was no credible evidence it was intentional. We are either free or we aren’t. The claim is either true or it isn’t. I am so tired of theological basket weaving that tries to pretend things aren’t what they are.
I also can’t fathom that a religious community thinks a *victim* of sexual assault is somehow handicapped while the perpetrators are lauded. My God, we are the Church. We claim the Great Physician as the remedy to all brokenness. But I guess if you are wounded by someone else that somehow counts you out and you just get kicked to the margins? We’re here for the broken, but eew not that kind.
God have mercy.
Victims of sexual assault do tend to have psychological problems, and tend to need to be more careful about discerning what is going on. The reason the sister was ignoring all the red flags presented to her is probably because she had a habit of ignoring red flags... because she saw false red flags far more often than most people would, and was overcorrecting. This is a common problem, and part of the reason being abused makes a person more likely to be abused in the future. Of course, the other sisters were ignoring them due to naivete and being carried away by his charisma. That certainly doesn't mean she shouldn't be allowed in a religious community (and obviously she was admitted), but there's good reason to take some extra care. Religious life isn't easy, so there are requirements for physical and mental health.
The fact that the Church seems to have so little concern for justice is quite concerning. One might ask why he was not charged criminally, if there was sufficient evidence, but perhaps each individual case fell under he said-she said. But you know, Padre Pio was banned from giving spritual direction indefinitely because the Vatican thought he might be a fraud.
The Church is here for that kind of broken as well. The Church is not obliged to give that kind of broken priestly faculties and access to victims.
Analyzing the "psychological problems" of any of these women who have been brave enough to make themselves vulnerable to misunderstanding and attack for the sake of others entirely misses the point of the article.
I was not responding to the article, I was responding to Nicole's comment, wondering about religious communities looking at victims as handicapped. They aren't, but there's generally damage - sometimes very bad - that's why we call them victims, and not impervious attempted-victims.
If you'd like my response to the article, I should say that it sometimes seems like there are very few people who are not survivors of sexual abuse or spiritual abuse that seem inclined to treat it with anything approaching the urgency and seriousness it deserves. Having a community that denies it or minimizes it makes it harder to heal, because you have to assert the truth against everyone around you. They overcame all of that. The fact that these women are asserting the truth and insisting on it being treated seriously gives others that very refreshing assurance that they are not exaggerating the problem, nor are they alone in a sane assessment of it. And maybe even convinces others to start having a rational response to it. It is both difficult and important, and I hope and pray that they never give it up.
Your original comment indicates that you were referring to the women in the article. You referred to one of the sisters who "ignored red flags" and assumed it was because of her previous trauma and then you assumed the other sisters ignored red flags due to "naivete." This is a form of victim blaming. I am glad to see you are backtracking from that in this comment but I would just like to point out that the reason survivors of abuse do not come forward is because often people's responses boil down to something like your first comment that suggests that something was wrong with the women for not realizing what was happening rather than suggesting that something is wrong with the systemic culture of these Church institutions in which victims are blamed and abusive behaviors are minimized and enabled.
Referring to, yes, as a counter-example. The article paraphrased that "Something about him seemed off to her", that "Initially, Sr. Theresa Aletheia was uncomfortable with Nicgorski.", quoted her as saying "I thought it was weird, but I thought at the same time, he was so well respected. That was the start of my rejecting all of my red flags.”, that "“Almost every conversation I ever had with Father Dave had sexual overtones. It was often quite subtle", that he said things she thought were inappropriate. And "when she had concerns, the sister said, she attributed them to her own issues. She thought they were in her mind." "I would think, ‘Wow, I must be really messed up that I am thinking this way or feeling this way.’”"
I wasn't "victim blaming", I was just reading. I didn't assume it was because of her previous trauma, she said it was. She's not the only one I've heard that from. Previous victims may do this, and it can lead to them being re-victimized. Because ignoring red flags for whatever reason can lead to sexual assault. That's why you don't ignore red flags, and you don't let people who behave inappropriately in the clergy or other positions of trust. I think the reason Sister Theresa ignored her red flags was quite understandable, and neither sinful nor stupid nor otherwise her fault. I'm just not going to claim she didn't ignore them, contrary to her own statements. I figure she knows what she was thinking, and isn't a liar. My opinion on the culpability of the Church hierarchs that left the priest with his faculties is rather different.
There are a lot of reasons people don't come forward. Thinking that they're overblowing it, or that it was somehow their fault (the younger they are, the more likely to blame themselves, even without outside assistance). Or believing that it won't accomplish anything, thinking the people around them won't listen or understand or act appropriately, or will choose the abuser over them - the trouble being that those last are too often accurate. We don't just have something wrong with the culture in Church institutions, we have something wrong with the culture in the entire Western world. The bright side, such as it is, is that we can change that culture by changing ourselves: by training ourselves in the habits of listening carefully, speaking gently, thinking rationally, judging justly, and acting proportionately - habits which can be practiced everywhere. Do those things in small ways, and victims will start trusting us with the bigger stuff when they need to.
“Theological basket weaving … “ What a great visual!
Courageous women; they give me hope in the face of corruption in the Church. I am grateful for the Pillar's coverage of this. Carballo...the same one who made Bishop Olson Pontifical Commissary over the Carmelites in Arlington? Will anyone correct his errors?
He is now coadjutor of a diocese in Spain. Look for new monastery-to-parador conversions in the near future.
He is? Can you provide documentation of that? Thats horrendous.
https://catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/brodcar.html
I’m confused. I thought you were talking about Fr. Dave Nicgorski. What does this bishop have to do with this?
As mentioned in the article, he reviewed the complaint and concluded, essentially, that there was nothing he could do. He has a history of denying justice to women religious. I am glad he has left that post, but don’t hold out high hopes for other cases to be handled better.
Ohhhhh. I see. Thank you for explaining.
Wow.
God be Praised.
Is "spiritual grooming" something that is on the rise or is it something we're just becoming more aware of? I would guess the latter, but wonder if all the pitfalls of our visual/technological age have exacerbated the problem. I confess I wasn't much aware of it until the last 10 years or so but stories are everywhere now it seems--Rupnik, Vanier, Leatherby, David Haas etc. God bless victims who are able to bring this filth to light and to The Pillar and others for telling their stories!
...Marie-Dominique Philippe, his brother Thomas Philippe (who was spiritual director to Jean Vanier) et aliis ad nauseum
On a time scale of during-and post-Vatican II (which is, basically, since yesterday) we are only just finding out about things that have been going on since then. On a time scale of Christianity-so-far, sometimes you have Molinos.
And Maciel.
As the victim noted in this article who was abused by former OMV Jim Montanaro, my soul is raging right now and is crushed for the Sisters. There’s no doubt in my mind there are more victims. I felt like I was reading my own story all over again and I’m heartbroken to know others have to endure this suffering.
God bless you Gina!
Your courage, Gina, is an important factor in these victims being believed by people reading this account. Please God, accelerate that capacity for belief in those with power and authority.
I know. This is like a documentary of my experiences except I am a lay woman and went to the Office of Professional standards and not the Vatican. I don’t think there is any intention on the part of these offices that handle complaints to actually seek truth or justice. It is a ruse, a charade. They trick victims, pretending to be pastoral or virtuous but making zero effort to do anything.
Worse than making zero effort, they go to great lengths to discredit victims and willingly believe those who have abused their authority, itself an abuse of authority. They are accountable to no one.
Because women are of no account to this church. Sad to have to acknowledge that, but I feel somewhat freed after having done it.
It is suspicious that the accounts of several women aren't enough to counter the priest's own account. It isn't "he said she said". There were several women against one man in this case.
I'm beginning to think the best approach is to inform the police first, and to record all conversations when reporting to organizational officials.
Honestly, it’s distressing that women so often are told or forced to ignore their gut intuition and the red flags that they see, only to be subjected to assault.
Also, does the Dicastery ever actually do anything, or is it just a jobs program for priests?
I know. I tell my daughters that we should respect priests like we respect all people. But that doesn't mean we can automatically trust them or that they are automatically safe. This is true for everyone. But in the church with priests I think it is worse because we are so vulnerable and our leaders have a habit of neglecting our safety. It is a sad, tragic fact.