Church dispraised over treatment of nuns

An association of religious orders and institutions of the Catholic Church has dispraised the treatment of nuns and have called for their equal representation.

Nuns in India have been reduced to the status of domestic workers and are deprived of training and education to meet with the demands of their works, said Br. Mani Mekkunnel, secretary of the Conference of Religious India (CRI).

Mekkunnel was speaking at the plenary meeting of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) in Guwahati on March 3.

Church leaders need to respect women's dignity, appreciate their consecrated status and acknowledge their work by providing "decent remuneration," Mekkunnel said, according to Catholic news agency UCAN.

Nuns form about 80 percent of India's more than 125,000 Religious.

Mekkunnel suggests bishops to involve more women Religious and further make efforts to change patriarchal structures and practices in the Church and society.

Even among women's congregation, there is still "a long way to go in realizing tangible results," he said.

However, Mekkunnel notes that despite the shortcomings there have been improvements in the treatment of women since Church leaders began to take the issue four years ago.

Religious men have become more aware of discrimination against women and are turning more sympathetic to their plight, the Montfort brother said.

Last year, former president of the CBCI, Cardinal Varkey Vithayatil, also expressed similar concern of nuns who he said was humiliated by priests and made to live in constant fear.

In his biography titled 'Straight from the heart', Cardinal Vithayatil lamented that priests were mistreating nuns and using them as servants.

These are all unjust ways of treating the women Religious, he said, adding they must be freed from this "pitiable situation".