The Demands of Rome: Her Own Story of Thirty-One Years as a Sister of Charity in the Order of the Sisters of Charity of Providence of the Roman Catholic ChurchSchoffen, Elizabeth
Religion
The Demands of Rome: Her Own Story of Thirty-One Years as a Sister of Charity in the Order of the Sisters of Charity of Providence of the Roman Catholic Church
Schoffen, Elizabeth
Ex-nuns -- United States -- Biography; Monastic and religious life of women
Two days later, "Father" Carti came to see me for the second time, with
practically the same message as before, viz., to return to the community
and in regards to settlement of my claims against them.
The next day, Thursday, April 25th, "Father" Carti telephoned to me and
asked me to come to the Gonzaga College, so we could talk further in
regard to the settlement and if possible, come to some agreement.
Mrs. Kearney accompanied me to the college, and when "Father" Carti saw
that I had a witness, he asked, "Do you want this woman to hear what we
have to say?" I answered, "Yes, I want her to hear whatever is said." He
hinted that there would be no business transacted in her company, so we
left.
From the college I called on my attorney, whom I had retained as my
adviser, and he advised me to give them till the first of May to settle
for two thousand dollars. On returning home, I telephoned to "Father"
Carti, and informed him that I had been to see my attorney since I left
the college and that I would give them (the community) until the first
of May to settle for the two thousand dollars I originally asked; and
that in the future all business was to be transacted through my
attorney, as I was not physically able to attend to it myself, being on
the verge of nervous collapse. He was very angry, saying that I was
wrong and had no business to go to secular law (meaning a secular
attorney) and that we could have settled it ourselves.
I had been out of the sisterhood nearly four weeks, and had attended
church only once, so now I thought I would take up my religion again and
attend mass and church service. So, on Sunday, April 28th, I again went
to Hilyard and heard the Latin mass and the priest preach. During the
sermon I was looking at the statues and other religious show in the
church, and then and there, in that house, being used for so-called
religious services, God revealed Himself to me. The whole show really
was nauseating to me, and before the sermon was finished I retired as
quietly as I could. I had heard of the idols and images of the Chinese
Joss-house, and that is just as it appeared to me that day. When I
arrived home, I told Mrs. Kearney to not awaken me again for mass,
unless I told her to do so.
The following week, Mrs. Kearney came to me and told me that "Father"
Carti had told her to put me out of her house, that by keeping me there
it would hurt her with the sisters, the priests and the Roman Catholics.
My answer was that I had left the sisterhood because of the wrongs and
oppressive, tyrannical treatment; now I see that there is something
wrong with that religion, too. If they are going to follow and hound and
down me, I am through with them, and I do not want anything further to
do with any of them. I also told her that if anything happened me, or if
I got sick, to call the first Protestant minister she could find.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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