The scandal of abuse in the Catholic Church would not be the fault of priests who were abusers alone, but also of nuns who allegedly committed sexual, physical and psychological abuse of hundreds of Quebec children. Over the past few weeks, The duty gathered the testimonies of 15 Quebecers who claim to have been indelibly marked by abuses allegedly committed by nuns. A phenomenon still unknown.
Note that none of the allegations made in this report has yet been proven legally. The congregations referred to in this article, like their lawyers, did not want to answer our questions because of the ongoing legal proceedings.
Bernard (fictitious first name) was 4 years old when he climbed for the first time the steps of the orphanage of Mont d’Youville, in Quebec. “My parents had just separated,” says the man who wishes to remain anonymous since those around him are not aware of the details of his story. Inconsolate, the young boy cried a lot when he arrived in 1951 at the establishment managed by the Sisters of Charity of Quebec.
A nun – “small, plump, with a hairy chin” – then took him under her wing. “She took care of me. It was soft and delicate, ”says Bernard. The nun took him aside from the others, consoled him and even allowed him to stay inside when it was very cold outside. “I was spoiled. “
Quietly, and “gently”, the sexual abuse then began, first at bath time, then on other occasions, Bernard alleges. “It was done with a friendly and kind approach,” he explains. “She was playing with my cock, she was rubbing herself against it. I didn’t know if it was good or not. “
At night, the nun sometimes came to look for him in the dormitory, he says. “She brought me [dans sa chambrette] so that I sleep with her. »She would have taken the opportunity to masturbate him again, says Bernard. “I was there often. “
The 74-year-old says he was branded with a hot iron by the assaults he said he suffered.
“It developed in me a terrible aggression towards others. […] I remained obsessed [par le sexe], but I have never acted violently. I always had the same kind approach [que celle de la religieuse]. “
Naked outside in winter
Hélène (fictitious name) lived in the same orphanage as Bernard for three years, in the early 1950s. “I don’t forget, the wound often reopens. “
At Mont d’Youville – the building, located in Beauport, still exists – the young girl often cried. “Once, the nuns [des Sœurs de la charité de Québec] put me naked outside in the middle of winter so that I would stop crying. I was tied after the arm of the gallery for a few minutes, ”testifies the 77-year-old lady, who wishes to remain anonymous to prevent this story from intruding into her life again.
In the refectory, she sometimes vomited while eating her oatmeal. ” [La sœur] said to me: see you tonight, you’re going to eat this [le gruau avec le vomi], otherwise you will not eat other things. The nun then kept her plate, and the young girl had to eat her vomit at the next meal, she reports. “It has happened several times. “
The lady, who says she was repeatedly beaten by nuns, also remembers episodes where she was allegedly humiliated while wetting the bed. She maintains that a nun put her naked when she woke up in front of the other children to punish her. “She would take 10 kids and tell them to give me a volley. Helene then had to walk around with her dirty dive on her head, she says. “The others were laughing at me. “
“It made me a very rebellious person, very tough during my teenage years. I spanked others to make sure I didn’t get spanked again. “
To heal their wounds, Hélène and Bernard united their voices with those of more than 500 alleged victims who have registered for the authorized class action against the Sisters of Charity of Quebec for the abuses allegedly committed at Mont d’Youville.
Daily therapy
“We are not able to forget that”, spits Michel, who only wishes to be designated by his first name so that his past does not resurface in his life. “I was in therapy every day for seven years,” he says. I made three suicide attempts. There are still days when I would rather be dead than alive. “
From 3 to 7 years old, Michel – born of an unknown mother and father – was lodged at the Youville crèche in Montreal, where he says he suffered sexual, physical and psychological abuse from nuns. of the Gray Nuns of Montreal.
The septuagenarian alleges that he was attacked while bathing by nuns who, under the pretext of washing him, stroked his penis. “They played between our legs and they said: we will show you how to clean [ton pénis]. When it’s been seven or eight strokes, you say: Hey, are you cleaning up? The man claims that when he didn’t let it go, he got beaten – like many other times.
I would like to obtain peace and for them to recognize their wrongs.
“We remain marked for life, ignites Michel, who today lives in poverty and loneliness. What was their purpose of assaulting and spanking us? When we fell to the ground, they spank us with their feet. It gave people like me, who are so enraged. The man also says he suffered constant psychological violence at the orphanage. “They said to me: your parents didn’t even want to keep you, they got rid of you and they don’t want to see you. “
“Even today, I try to get out of it, loose Michel. But it’s there, inside of me, and it won’t go away [les souvenirs des agressions]. “
Aggressor in turn
Like Michel, Philippe R. Matte attended the Youville crèche, located at the time on Chemin de la Côte-de-Liesse, in Montreal. For the 81-year-old man, the drama of the assaults he allegedly suffered in childhood continued into the repetition of acts in adulthood. “I have touched children,” says the man who served a prison sentence for his actions.
The octogenarian – born in 1940 to a single mother at the Misericordia hospital in Montreal – claims to have suffered sexual touching while bathing (“she took my penis and played with it”) as well as physical abuse (“She gave it to her heart’s content – the more I cried, the more I had”) and psychological (“they called me a bastard”) committed by members of the Gray Nuns of Montreal. “But that doesn’t excuse what I did. “
Like many other people interviewed, he deplores the little education he has been offered. “I vegetated: I was housed, fed, dressed, period. “
Philippe R. Matte specifies that it is not all the nuns who abused children. “We saw for some that it was their vocation [de s’occuper des enfants]. “
Like Michel and Philippe R. Matte, around thirty alleged victims joined the request for authorization to take collective action against the Gray Nuns of Montreal for abuses allegedly perpetrated at the Youville crèche, in the Notre-Dame-de-Liesse school and the Catholic Orphanage of Montreal.
In addition, some 120 alleged victims came forward in the context of similar proceedings brought against the Sisters of Providence (or Sisters of Charity of Providence) for alleged abuses committed at the Institution for the deaf and mute of Montreal.
In these proceedings, the named member – whose identity is protected – alleges in particular that two nuns used statues of the Virgin Mary and washcloths wrapped with adhesive tape around tongue depressors as sex toys that they inserted into her. the vagina.
A taboo
Although nearly 700 alleged victims are participating in three ongoing legal proceedings, the alleged abuses allegedly committed by nuns are still unknown and poorly documented in Quebec. “There is not only the taboo of sexual abuse which is itself strong, but also the taboo of abuse by a person of the same sex. [une femme sur une petite fille] », Describes Me Jessica Lelièvre, who leads the case for the Maison des femmes deades de Montréal.
By launching collective action against the Sisters of Charity of Quebec (Mont d’Youville), Mr.e Jean-Daniel Quessy also thought he was dealing only with attacks committed by lay men employed by the congregation. “Nothing could lead us to believe that nuns had sexually assaulted children. But the phone started ringing, and we were told absolutely terrible stories, ”he says.
Excuses
In these three court cases, no discussion is underway at the moment to reach an amicable agreement. Law firms representing the Sisters of Charity of Quebec, the Gray Nuns of Montreal and the Sisters of Providence, as well as the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale – also targeted by the collective action concerning Mont d’Youville -, did not want to answer our questions because of the ongoing legal proceedings.
Several interviewees deplored the length of these judicial processes. Especially since it is above all an apology and recognition of the abuses suffered – more than financial compensation – which are expected by many alleged victims.
“I would like to obtain peace and that they recognize their wrongs”, explains Michel, who says, however, doubts that such a gesture will ever be made. At 81, Philippe R. Matte also clings to the hope of reparative words. “I need to free myself from all this trauma. “
With Ulysse Bergeron
To read Monday: The orphans of Duplessis feel forgotten
If you are a victim of sexual violence, you can contact a Sexual Assault Assistance Center (CALACS) near you. Click here for a list or call the Sexual Violence Info-Aide line at 1 888 933-9007.