By Jose Kavi
New Delhi, Dec 8, 2021: A group of Catholic women on December 8 called for setting up a fact-finding team to study frequent cases of Catholic nuns dying by suicide in Indian convents.
The women, calling themselves as “concerned citizens” made the demand in a letter to Apostolic Carmel Sister Maria Nirmalini, the newly elected president of the Conference of Religious India (CRI), the national body of major superiors of sisters, brothers and religious priests in India.
“We urge the CRI leadership to take urgent action in this matter. Your being in leadership, as a woman of substance gives us hope that the matter is heard and addressed with more sensitivity and urgency,” says the letter signed by 89 women, most of them nuns from various congregations.
What prompted the letter was the suicide of a 30-year-old nun November 30 in the chapel of her convent in the northern Indian state of Punjab. Sister Mary Mercy belonged to the Franciscan Immaculatine Sisters, an Italian congregation founded in 1881.
“You must be deeply saddened and troubled at yet another suicide of a young religious Sister. We join in your anguish and want to express our solidarity at a time like this,” says the letter.
Sister Nirmalini, as the CRI president is popularly known, acknowledged receipt of the letter and mourned the young nun’s death “as unfortunate and sad.”
In an email response to a Matters India query, she says her team will “certainly take these issues to enlighten all.”
However, she says they need prayers to become spiritual animators.
She says the CRI has not addressed the matter at its sectional level, but agrees that it requires the attention of all.
Sister Nirmalini, who is also the superior general of her congregation, says she had returned to India only December 7 after a four-week visit to the East Africa Region.
“However in my own experience I feel it is very important for women religious to be accompanied and there is a guide/mentor for the young to express both within the congregation/community as well as a platform to address issues and seek help,” the head of the Indian religious said.
She also sees mental health is an important issue and “post pandemic has certainly added to the pressure of a challenging journey.”
The “concerned citizens” point out that Sister Mercy’s was the latest among nearly 20 reported nun suicide cases since 1997, almost all of them in Kerala, southern India.
“It troubles us, and we ask ourselves why some young women who join religious life with so much joy and eagerness to serve God and people end up taking their own lives,” the letter continues.
Sister Jessy Kurian, a Supreme Court lawyer and a signatory of the letter, wonders if convents have become death traps.
Sister Kurian, who was among the first to study suicide cases among nuns, points out that about 20 bodies of religious women were found in convent wells in Kerala.
Writing on her Facebook page December 2, she said she has reservations in believing Sister Mercy’s alleged suicide note.
Sister Kurian regrets that nuns’ unnatural deaths are “not at all an issue in the Indian Catholic Church.”
The lawyer nun wants lay people to raise their voice for justice because “above all they are your daughters.”
Asserting that a nun is “an Indian citizen and an Indian woman,” she wants the cause of her unnatural death should be made public.
Sister Kurian wants the Church to support the investigation in the interest of justice” as such frequent unnatural deaths of nuns raise a question.
Given below is the text of the “concerned citizens’” letter:
To
Sr. Maria Nirmalini AC, Superior General
President, National CRI
Apostolic Carmel Generalate,
6, East End Road, PB 4130, Jayanagar,
T Block PO, Bengaluru, KARNATAKA 560 041.
Sub: The unnatural death of Sr. Mary Mercy FIS on Nov 30, 2021
Dear Sr. Maria Nirmalini,
You must be deeply saddened and troubled at yet another suicide of a young religious sister. We join in your anguish and want to express our solidarity at a time like this.
Sr. Mary Mercy’s untimely death is the latest of nearly 20 reported suicides since 1987 involving novices and sisters serving in Catholic religious communities in Kerala. It troubles us and we ask ourselves why some young women who join religious life with so much joy and eagerness to serve God and people end up taking their own lives.
Suicides and suicide attempts have a ripple effect that impacts families, friends and communities, including religious communities. For those bereaved by the suicide of a loved one, the experience is not only very traumatic but also stigmatizing.
We acknowledge that suicidal behaviour is complex and that there is no single cause for why people attempt or commit suicide. Religious communities must be capacitated to recognize the warning signs early on. They need to provide a supportive environment for community members to seek mental health support in a timely manner. Suicides are certainly preventable and much can be done to prevent a suicide at the individual and community levels. Religious communities must promote connectedness, teach coping and problem-solving skills, create a supportive and safe environment for every member and identify and support members at risk.
Media coverage often reflects hesitation of congregations and Church leaders to report the news and this leads to delay in investigations besides suspicion on the cause and circumstances leading to suicide. This puts a blotch on the Church and only serves to add unnecessary speculations, besides more pain and anguish to loved ones.
As the most representative body of the Catholic religious in India, CRI is best placed to take up this issue of suicide among religious, particularly women religious in India, both within congregations and at a regional and national level. We strongly feel that CRI must proactively engage on this issue in the following manner:
§ Explore the systemic and personal reasons leading to suicides and find ways of resolving the related issues;
§ Promote, and if possible, provide training for religious congregations to understand and respond to the mental health needs of their members, in a timely and supportive manner;
§ Insist that every congregation put in place a mental health policy and action plan in consultation with professionals;
§ Actively work to promote and nurture the mental and spiritual wellbeing of their members by encouraging the creation of space in congregations for individual expressions and concerns to be heard and addressed better;
§ Create helpline networks, preferably of women religious with counselling skills, and publicize the same so that sisters in distress can be counseled, accompanied and assisted in dealing with the congregations and if necessary, family members;
§ Encourage congregations to be open to providing shelter to women religious who would like to leave their congregations or perhaps join a different congregation;
§ Network with NGOs and Church associations that provide job skilling;
§ In the extreme event of death by suicide, congregations must be encouraged and supported to conduct suicide audits to learn lessons and inform prevention plans.
We strongly advocate that the CRI appoint an objective and competent fact finding team of experts to look into the cases of suicides starting with Sr. Mary Mercy FIS, so that we can find out what needs to be done in order to prevent the repeated occurrence of these sad and traumatic incidents.
We urge the CRI leadership to take urgent action in this matter. Your being in leadership, as a woman of substance, gives us hope that the matter is heard and addressed with more sensitivity and urgency.
In concern and solidarity,
1. Adv. Flavia Agnes, Majlis, Mumbai, Maharashtra
2. Adv. Sr. Jessy Kurian, SSA, Delhi
3. Adv. Sr. Julie George SSpS, Mumbai, Maharashtra
4. Adv. Sr. Philo Thomas RA, Pune, Maharashtra
5. Dr. Astrid Lobo Gajiwala, Core Team – CBCI Council for Women Mumbai, Maharashtra
6. Dr. Kochurani Abraham, Feminist Theologian, Kerala
7. Dr. Nameeta Renu, Pune, Maharashtra
8. Dr. Neena Joseph, Ernakulam, Kerala
9. Dr. Shobana Nelasco, Madurai, Tamil Nadu
10. Dr. Sr. Daphne Viveka, RSCJ, Mumbai, Maharashtra
11. Dr. Sr. Metti Amirtham, SCC, Tindivanam, Tamil Nadu
12. Ms. Aira Miriam, Surat, Gujarat
13. Ms. Anita Cheria, Bangalore, Karnataka
14. Ms. Anna Saby, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
15. Ms. Anna Sebastian, Bangalore, Karnataka
16. Ms. Catherine Mathai, Delhi
17. Ms. Chinnamma Jacob, Delhi
18. Ms. Christina Pais, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
19. Ms. Cini Denny, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
20. Ms. ClementeenRaffee, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
21. Ms. Corrina Remedios, Bangalore, Karnataka
22. Ms. Cristina Pious, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
23. Ms. Deodita Das, Dubai, UAE
24. Ms. Evelyn Williams, Pune, Maharashtra
25. Ms. Jackie de Almeida, Catechist, Pune, Maharashtra
26. Ms. Joji Saby, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
27. Ms. Joyce D’Souza, Mumbai, Maharashtra
28. Ms. Kochuthressia Clements, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh
29. Ms. Marcia D’Cunha, Mumbai, Maharashtra
30. Ms. Margaret Peters, Kerala
31. Ms. Marietta Dsouza, Mumbai
32. Ms. Martinette Vase, Pune, Maharashtra
33. Ms. Molly Cherian, Delhi
34. Ms. Naigy Pious, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
35. Ms. Nalini Raj, Retired Teacher, Pune, Maharashtra
36. Ms. Raynah Braganza Passsnha, Chairperson, Women’s Commission, Pune, Maharashtra
37. Ms. Remi Clement, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
38. Ms. Rita Joseph, Journalist, Delhi
39. Ms. Rosa Varghese, Kerala
40. Ms. Shobha Varghese , Ahmedabad, Gujarat
41. Ms. Twinkle George, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
42. Ms. Virginia Saldanha, (Former Exec. Sec. FABC Office of Laity, Family, Women and CBCI Commission for Women) Mumbai, Maharashtra
43. Sr. Amrita Manjaly SCN, Bangalore, Karnataka
44. Sr. Ann Moyalan SCN , Trichy, Tamil Nadu
45. Sr. Annie Jaise CMC, Ernakulam, Kerala
46. Sr. Basanti Lakra SCN, (Former Provincial Superior), Mokama, Bihar
47. Sr. Beena Chirackal SCN, (Vice Provincial Superior) Bangalore, Karnataka
48. Sr. Carmen Gomes MCJ, Zankhvav, Gujarat
49. Sr. Caroline DSouza FMA, Sindhudurg, Maharashtra
50. Sr. Christina Sabaridas MCJ, Tankhla, Gujarat
51. Sr. Clare ICM, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
52. Sr. Deepti Ponnembal SCN, Chikmaglur, Karnataka
53. Sr. Elsa Muttathu PBVM, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
54. Sr. Gloria Kerketta MCJ, Zankhvav, Gujarat
55. Sr. Hazel D’Lima DHM, (Former Superior General and CRI President) Mumbai, Maharashtra
56. Sr. Hilda Fernandes DHM, Mumbai, Maharashtra
57. Sr. Hilda Lobo SCN, Chikmangalur, Karnataka
58. Sr. Julie Amrita Ekka MCJ, Zankhvav, Gujarat
59. Sr. Jyotisha Kannamkal SND, Patna, Bihar
60. Sr. Kiran CJ, (Provincial Superior and Bihar Region CRI President), Patna, Bihar
61. Sr. Lisa Pires PBVM, Goa
62. Sr. M. Sujita SND (Former Superior General) Patna, Bihar
63. Sr. Magy Allesu DHM, (Provincial Superior and Western Region CRI President) Mumbai, Maharashtra
64. Sr. Manju Kulapuram SCSC, (Former FORUM National Executive Secretary) Patna, Bihar
65. Sr. Manisha, RSCJ, Mumbai, Maharashtra
66. Sr. Mariazinha Carvalho PBVM, Goa
67. Sr. Mary James MCJ, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
68. Sr. Nancy Vaz FdCC, (Former Provincial Superior) Mumbai, Maharashtra
69. Sr. Noella de Souza MCJ, (Former Provincial Superior) Mumbai, Maharashtra
70. Sr. Patricia D’Souza RSCJ, Mumbai, Maharashtra
71. Sr. Philomena D’Souza FMA, Mumbai, Maharashtra
72. Sr. Philomena Sequeira DHM, Mumbai, Maharashtra
73. Sr. Prema Chawallor SCC, Guwahati, Assam
74. Sr. Priyanka Xess MCJ, Zankhvav, Gujarat
75. Sr. Ramila Dodia DHM, Mumbai, Maharashtra
76. Sr. Rosaria RJM, (Former Provincial Superior) Gujarat
77. Sr. Roselyn SCN, Gaya, Bihar
78. Sr. Sabina RGS (Former Provincial Superior), Chennai, Tamil Nadu
79. Sr. Sagayamary M SChSA, Mumbai, Maharashtra
80. Sr. Saroj SCN, Trichy, Tamil Nadu
81. Sr. Selma Nalloor SCSC, (Former Provincial Superior) Siliguri, W. Bengal
82. Sr. Shanti Fernades RSCJ, Pune, Maharashtra
83. Sr. Shanti Picardo FC, Siliguri, West Bengal
84. Sr. Stella Kaiprampatt SCN, Bangalore, Karnataka
85. Sr. Therese Meera RGS, (Former Provincial Superior and CRI Women’s Section Secretary)Trivandrum, Kerala
86. Sr. Valsa MMS, Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu
87. Sr. Valeria, RSCJ, Mumbai, Maharashtra
88. Sr. Vinaya SCN, Kenya
89. Sr. Vinnarasi Arockya DHM, Mumbai, Maharashtra
CC to:
CRI WOMENS’ SECTION
Sr. Teresa Kandlakunta JMJ – Vice-President:tresakvm@gmail.com
Sr. Ann Jose CSST – Treasurer: annjose2012.k@gmail.com
Sr. Norah SJC – Secretary: norahabraham08@gmail.com
CRI BROTHERS’ SECTION:
President: Bro. T Amalan FSC: tamalanfsc@gmail.com
Vice-President: Bro. Jerome Ellens FSP: ellensjerome@gmail.com
Treasurer cum Secretary: Bro. Edwin Fernandes CFC: brstevecfc@gmail.com
CRI PRIESTS’ SECTION:
President: Fr Thomas Thekkel CMI: thekkelcmi@gmail.com
Vice-President: Fr Felix Fernandes SDB: felixsdb@gmail.com
Treasurer cum secretary: Fr K Ignacimuthu MSFS: muthumsfs95@gmail.com
The vocation scenario in the West is rapidly replicating itself in India. Over the decades, apostolic religious life received a lot of attention in vocation promotion. Other types of consecrated life were excluded, until very recently.
I am not surprised when religious sisters share that they would have made another choice if only they had been familiarised with religious congregations with a different outlook towards their lifestyle, the degree of interaction with the world, emphasis on contemplation/action, etc.
Several even say that they had never heard about other canonical options such as hermits, order of consecrated virgins, secular institutes, societies of apostolic life, etc. Besides, we cannot forget to mention the lay associations and movements that have celibate members with private vows. There are also individual women who take private vows and still serve the Church and Society. Nowadays, options for married couples to lead committed lives of service are also emerging.
Most seminaries do not teach the future priests and other students about the variety of these options. So too with vocation promoters in most dioceses.
It would not be true to say that members of these other vocational options do not have their own problems, but most of them do not have a lot of regimentation in their lifestyle. Unfortunately, a few leaders in the Church seem to feel threatened with these other options wherein women are more free.
I think youth have a baptismal right to be familiarised with various vocational options instead of being informed only about apostolic religious life.
Consecrated life is a wide umbrella that covers many types of vocations, but the Church in India tends to categorise everyone as clergy, religious, and laity. The word “religious” is used as a synonym for “consecrated life” which is a kind of hermeneutical violence towards other vocations that have their own identities. Perhaps people will wake up when members of these other varieties of consecrated life start commiting suicide out of frustration with the indifference, discrimination, and rejection they experience? Or maybe their stories will never be publicised like those of religious.
The vocational scenario in India is sickly. It needs deeper research, diagnosis of the problem, and healing.
As far as Nuns go, women by-and-large are not respected by men in many cultures with India being one egregious country. Indian women may think their lives will be improved if they join a convent.
What is needed is a resolve from nuns that they will expose priests who make inappropriate approaches. They should also resolve themselves to not protecting priests if they have clear proof that a priest is guilty. Convent rules should be amended to permit dismissal of erring nuns if found to
have indulged in cover up operation.
Lastly, no Mass service should be performed in secluded chapels of convents. For confession and communion service, the nuns should attend nearest church. Crores are spend to defend the priests without any transperancy and accountability to church members. This should end. No spending without permission from parishners.
Pathetic as Sister Mary Mercy’s mysterious death may be (passed off as suicide), all the 89 very competent signatories of Concerned Citizens, are silent on the composition of “Objective and Competent fact-finding Team of Experts.” At the most it is a pious appeal (tokenism) without any compulsion of the part of the Carmel Congregation to heed the letter.
If the experts are chosen from within the Carmel Congregation, or from any other religious congregation, then one may rest assured, there will be a thick blanket put on the inquiry and nothing will come to light. Earlier precedents point to this penchant for Church Authorities to sweep contentious matters under the carpet. So the fact-finding team should comprise thorough professionals and not those from the place of incidence, more specially so when it took place in Jalandhar Diocese the hotbed of Franco Mulakkal! Another million dollar question is: Who is the Appointing Authority – Carmel Congregation or the State of Punjab? If the state intervenes, can the Church can cry foul as an interference of the government into the management of Minority Institution – violation of Article 30 of the Indian Constitution!
I have been saying for years that suicides require a detailed psychological and sociological study. Equally, rash or irresponsible driving by young priests resulting in accidental deaths, also need to be analyzed.
Between 1979 and 1982 I was the Secretary of the U.P. Regional Youth & Vocations Bureau. I had evolved an entirely new system of promoting mature vocations. The Vatican II documents stress rightness of intention and freedom of choice in vocation promotion. This is sadly lacking. Most youngsters enter a novitiate or seminary without knowing what they are getting in to. Prevention is always better than cure. So discernment of vocation at the entry and early stages, before it is too late to turn the clock back, is essential.
Good initiative
The church hierarchy is unable and unwilling to discuss the reasons or remedies for the rising suicides among priests and nuns. Half a dozen priests/nuns died by suicide in the last eight months alone.
Priests and nuns are humans with human desires and aspirations. Just by joining a seminary or a convent they are not surrendering their rights to anybody. If they desire to leave their religious life and pursue another vocation, they have every right to do so. But the training and formation they get in seminary and convent prevent them from leaving the security they get in the church. Unhappy with their religious life, and unable to pursue a different life, they become frustrated. Some suffer silently, many adjust themselves to the situation, but a few choose to end their lives.
Mental health is an issue in dealing with rising suicide cases inside convent. Behind any suicide there remains the psychological factor of depression. Within congregations when structures become oppressive there could be innocent individuals who become victims, who may not have mechanisms to cope with demanding pressures. There are whole lot of issues of individuals’ coping mechanisms under various types of pressures one encounters during religious life and journey. The issue of suicide within convent confines is a complex issue. It’s a serious issue . Therefore an appropriate diagnosis to this trend of suicide by Religious should be addressed by the hierarchy and leaders of Various congregations.
Copies should have been send to the National and State Women’s Commissions.Such unnatural deaths should be investigated in a fast track mode and aspecial court should be set up, if needed.It is high time that the state and our justice administration consider those in the four walls of these convents and monastries as citizens with all human and says fundamental rights. As Adv Sister Jessy Kurian rightly asks’ are the Indian convents becoming death traps ? These types of alleged suicides are seldom reported from convents abroad.