Women describe alleged abuse by nuns: 'Secret not yet told'…
CBS News' Nikki Battiste has spoken with several women who recently reported misconduct, ranging from forceful kissing to molestation, all carried out by nuns
http://archive.today/2019.01.03-013249/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/women-describe-alleged-abuse-by-nuns-the-secret-not-yet-told/
When Trish Cahill was 15 years old she said she confided in Sister Eileen Shaw at a convent in New Jersey. Cahill said she told Shaw things she'd never revealed to anyone about her now-deceased uncle – a priest – whom she claims sexually abused her, starting at age five. "I would have done anything for her. I would have died for her," Cahill said. "She gave me everything that was lacking that I didn't even know I was lacking. I was so broken. She filled in all those pieces." She now describes that process as "grooming," saying Shaw plied her with drugs and alcohol while teaching her how to have sex with a woman.
"I'm with my friends during the day. And I'm with this pedophile nun on the evenings and on the weekends, and in the summer," Cahill said. The Catholic Church has been plagued with high-profile abuse scandals but "pedophile nun" is a phrase many people have probably never heard before. "That's really a shame. Because there's a lot of them out there … it's the secret not yet told," Cahill said. Mary Dispenza is trying to change that. "The demands of chastity and celibacy are unrealistic demands for many of us," Dispenza said. Dispenza, a former nun from another congregation, remembers what happened when a superior summoned her to her room. "I knelt down right next to her and she kissed me all over softly, my face … and I want to say, 'Oh but it wasn't bad,' but it was. And I've carried it with me until today," Dispenza said.
"That this is the beginning of many, many times more that I get to speak and I get to educate, and I get to, possibly, prevent this from happening to anyone ever again," Cahill said. Cahill said she believes other nuns had to have known what was going on with her. She's struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder, along with alcohol and drug addiction that she said began with her abuse. The Sisters of Charity said they're willing to meet with her to address her continuing concerns.