US nuns demand action to end ‘culture of silence’ on abuse
VATICAN CITY (AP) – The largest association of Roman Catholic nuns in the United States is urging its members to report any sexual abuse of religious sisters by clergy and demanded that church authorities “take action to end a culture of silence, hold abusers accountable and provide support to those abused.”
The Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which represents about 80 percent of Catholic sisters in the U.S., issued a statement Monday in response to an Associated Press report about several sisters coming forward recently to denounce assaults by priests and bishops.
The LCWR said it didn’t have data on incidents in the U.S., but thanked the sisters for their courage in speaking out.
FILE – In this Sunday, April 1, 2018 file photo, nuns are silhouetted in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. Some nuns are now finding their voices, buoyed by the #MeToo movement and the growing recognition that adults can be victims of sexual abuse when there is an imbalance of power in a relationship. The sisters are going public in part because of years of inaction by church leaders, even after major studies on the problem in Africa were reported to the Vatican in the 1990s. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)
The group said bringing the “horrific practice to light” may be the only way to end it.
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