Several former Missionaries of Charity sisters say abuse, neglect, bullying and exploitation are common within the Order.
Most say they are not trying to damage the Order St Teresa of Kolkata (Mother Teresa) founded. Rather, they want to help it become the best version of itself.
Allegations
Power and authority are abused in the Order, the former sisters claimed.
There is a climate of excessive control and unthinking obedience.
A podcast in 2021, “The Turning: The Sisters Who Left”, describes many former sisters’ experiences.
They spoke of depression, sexual abuse, feeling trapped and suicidal thoughts.
Sisters’ lives are isolated, with little family contact. Superiors keep sisters’ passports, review mail and supervise phone calls.
Boundary violations in terms of physical contact were tolerated or explained away, they said.
Sexual abuse could unfold over considerable periods without being detected or punished.
Alleged perpetrators were sometimes transferred rather than held accountable; alleged victims were encouraged to remain silent.
The former sisters describe attempting to bring these problems to the attention of authorities, inside the Order and in the Vatican.
There was generally no response.
Reasons for leaving
Many former sisters cited abusive behaviour within the order and lack of action to resolve it as their reasons for leaving the Order.
One spoke of the Order’s unhealthy attachment to suffering and harmful penances including daily self-flagellation.
Several said they were given little help when they left. Some were given as little as $500 after decades of service.
Years of Complaints
Former members say their attempts to bring concerns to church authorities, including the Vatican, yielded no concrete results for years.
As an example, one spoke of making a complaint at the Vatican around the time of Mother Teresa’s death in 1997.
She wrote to Pope Francis in 2018, insisting the issues she’d perceived two decades before were still present.
Shortly afterwards, she had a phone call and later a meeting with Archbishop José Rodríguez Carballo from the Vatican’s Dicastery for Religious.
Carballo said he was “very concerned” about the issue and feared a potential public scandal, given the Missionaries of Charity society’s global fame.
He said taking action was difficult as many sisters don’t want to write things down.
Some told him they prefer to use the confessional to discuss any problems they face.
Several former sisters said they have been in touch with Carballo’s successor at the Dicastery. Dialogue about problems within the Order is ongoing, they said.
“I believe that the pope should choose a person, or more people, to help the sisters to change and update their constitution or ways of life according to the Second Vatican Council” a former sister said.
Reaction
A spokesman for the Missionaries of Charity said the claim of an internal culture of abuse and neglect within the Missionaries “is patently false”.
The complaints are “repeats of old grievances from a determined, small group of former members, nearly all of whom left the Missionaries of Charity a decade or decades ago”.
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