Nun Jesme Raphael

A former nun has rocked the Church in the South Indian state of Kerala with an autobiography in which she details illicit relationships, sexual harassment and bullying that she says occurred in the convent where she spent 30 years. 

UCA News reports the Church is playing down a former nun's controversial autobiography. 

A leading English language daily, "The Indian Express," ran a story on February 19, titled "Ex-nun's confession set to rock Kerala Church." The newspaper carried excerpts from the autobiography of Jesme Raphael, a former nun and member of the Congregation of Mother of Carmel. 

The book, in Malayalam, was released in mid-February under the title "Dedicated to Jesus, Amen." 

In the book, Sister Jesme says when she became a nun she discovered priests were forcing novices to have sex with them, the New Zealand Herald reports. 
 

There were also secret homosexual relationships among the nuns and at one point she was forced into such a relationship by another nun who told her she preferred this kind of arrangement as it ruled out the possibility of pregnancy. 

"I did not want to make this book controversial. I want to express my feelings and to explain what happened to me ... I want people to know how I have suffered," she said, speaking from the town of Kozhikode. 

"People say that everything is OK, but I was in the convent and I want them to know what goes on. I have concerns for others." 

In her book, she says that while travelling through Bangalore, she was once directed to stay with a purportedly pious priest who took her to a garden "and showed me several pairs cuddling behind trees. He also gave me a sermon on the necessity of physical love and described the illicit affairs that certain bishops and priests had." 

Fr Paul Thelakat, spokesperson of the Syro-Malabar Church, dismissed the autobiography as "trivial" and an "aberration of the Church." However, the Church official agreed the nun's autobiography would "certainly tarnish" the Church's image and create confusion among Catholics about convent life. 

"Many people are going to believe (Raphael's) words as she was a principal in a women's college. So the Church should take it seriously," Fr Thelakat said. 

The Church needs to review issues related to Catholic religious life in Kerala in the wake of the book release, and restructure religious formation courses to meet modern challenges, he added. 

The priest also agreed the autobiography could become another tool in the hands of the Church's critics. 

Fr Stephen Alathara, deputy secretary of the Kerala Catholic Bishops' Council, declined to comment on the issue, saying he had not read the book. "From the media reports, I am aware that a book by an ex-nun is published. We will discuss the issue later," he said, adding that the Church "would take appropriate actions regarding her allegations." 

In an interview, Raphael, 50, said she did not write the book for fame. She left the convent in August 2008 after 33 years of religious life. 

"When I left the convent, I thought that I should share my feelings," she explained. The book, she added, is "an evaluation of my past, more than a revelation" about convent life. 

She claims she has written only the truth. 

The book is the latest controversy to haunt the Catholic Church in Kerala where local Christians believe Saint Thomas the Apostle first preached Christianity. 

On February 11, a nun committed suicide, the second such case reported in the state in six months. In November last year, the police arrested two priests and a nun in connection with the murder of another nun nearly 17 years ago. 

Pope Benedict suspended Bishop John Thattumkal of Cochin in October amid controversy over his adoption of a young woman as his daughter, UCA News says.