Sexual abuse in the African church
A book review about a taboo subject. Guest post by Volker Seitz
The film "The Abused Servants of God" (2019) and Pope Francis' admission that the abuse of nuns exists have sensitized societies in Europe. In Africa there was silence. In her pioneering work, nun Mary Lembo from Togo describes the exploitation of young nuns by Catholic priests. The book has now been published in German.
By Volker Seitz
There were rumors in every country in Africa where I worked. But they were always condemned as sensational news. And if a case could not be covered up, the raped nun was fired and at best paid off with - comparable - a few hundred euros, and the priest was transferred to another parish or sent for further training. Initiatives against abuse have petered out for years. The Catholic Church in Africa has long ignored the problem of abuse.
Mary Makamatine Lembo from Togo has submitted a courageous dissertation on the taboo subject of "Sexual abuse of nuns in Africa". The book was published in German in May 2024 by the Catholic Aschendorff Verlag in Münster, founded in 1720. The author teaches psychology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and belongs to the Order of St. Catherine's Sisters. She had to spend several years persuading African nuns to talk to her about their experiences of abuse by priests. She had to overcome not only the fear and shame of those affected, but also a widespread culture of silence and cover-up. The sexual misconduct of priests towards nuns in sub-Saharan Africa had not been researched before.
Her study focuses on four countries in West Africa and one country in East Africa. It shows that the problem is not limited to a small geographical area.
Status of priests and nuns
In Africa, life as a priest or nun enables the satisfaction of various basic needs such as food, housing, medical care, the need to belong to a diocese or religious institute, and the need for social recognition in society.
The priest's word carries weight with the traditional authorities, the chief of the village or area and his advisors, the traditional storytellers (griots) and the nuns. He is often asked for advice and help. The respect and appreciation for the priest can be mixed with a certain fear in some people (e.g. nuns and their families), which can lead to them not daring to confront the priest with misconduct, to upset him or to make him angry because they fear that this could bring a curse on them.
A priest has a positive image in Africa. He inspires trust. He can also abuse this naive trust, as Mary Lembo shows. In most cases, the nun or young woman in formation for religious life is not believed when she tells her story of physical abuse, sexual abuse or discrimination by the priest. She is thus made a victim again and accused of wanting to damage the priest's reputation and prestige. In this way, the abuse of power destroys the ability to confide and rely on another person.
Nuns and their tormentors
The nuns describe their experiences with rape, attempted sexual acts in the pastoral relationship, intrusive declarations of love with sexual requests, occasionally combined with gifts. The duration of the relationships varied between four months and thirteen years. For some, it was very difficult to end the sexual relationship. They felt humiliated, disappointed, helpless in the face of the reality they were experiencing. They were unable to say “No” or act.
They only opened up to the compassionate head of the study and described the relationship with friends, other priests and people at their workplace. Which was impaired by the behavior of the tormentor, who treated them badly in their presence, threatened them, showed jealousy and issued admonitions.
One of the priests simultaneously abused two young women who were in training for religious life in the same community. Incidentally, Mary Lembo did not interview the priests involved and she does not know their identities.
Silence of families
The analysis of the participants' reports has shown that feelings of guilt are one of the consequences that add to the confusion of the nuns. The priests involved are guilty, but project their responsibility onto the nuns and the young women in formation for religious life. In her field research, it was obvious that when the priests asked for forgiveness, they only did so to win back the nuns or women in formation for religious life and abuse them again. The silence of the families of the victims and the perpetrators can be an expression of naivety and carelessness, an idealization of the clergy and complete trust in them. Because of his vocation and his service, the priest in Africa is easily put on a pedestal. He is also often surrounded by an "aura of holiness". It can also be a tacit complicity - if the abuse becomes known - if the families fear the consequences for their daughters and sons.
With her book, Mary Lembo appeals to society and the church, which must understand what is happening, how it is happening and why such behavior exists between clergy and the nuns who depend on them. In her opinion, raising awareness and educating people about sexual violence can take place in the dioceses and parishes. The abuse of power and trust within the church should be addressed there. For a long time, Africans were convinced that the problem did not exist in the African church. For the church, which is dominated by male power, this was a problem in the West. In Africa, people do not talk about sex and sexuality. That is slowly changing. This is also due to the nun Jacinta Ondeng, who has established a compulsory "safeguarding" course for prospective priests and members of an order at the Catholic Tangaza University in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. She also offers training opportunities for priests who are already working in parishes.
The book by the courageous nun Mary Lembo will also help to break the silence about sexual exploitation in the African Church. It gives hope that this issue is finally being heard, and that there is no longer a conspiracy of silence on the part of the Catholic Church. At least the collected facts have been brought to the public's attention. In my opinion, an appropriate reaction from the Church should be to confront the perpetrators, hold them accountable and take effective measures to prevent future cases.
This text was first published in full in German on Achgut and translated into English by me. The author, Volker Seitz, was in the German diplomatic service from 1965 to 2008, including seventeen years as ambassador to Africa. He also wrote the bestseller "Afrika wird armregiert" (Africa is being governed into poverty), dtv, 11th edition 2021.
Guest posts do not automatically reflect the opinion of the blog owner. In this case, she (me) hopes that someone will also take up the issue of sexual abuse of children in African churches and report on it – and that the perpetrators will be held accountable.