Post by Pacelli on Nov 3, 2017 6:38:54 GMT -5
WOULD-BE NUN SAYS SHE WAS BRAINWASHED AT CONVENT
AP, Associated Press
Jul. 21, 1988 1:12 AM ET
CINCINNATI (AP) _ A former nun whose family abducted her last month from a renegade New York convent says she was brainwashed there and is grateful to be home.
''Brainwashing is an information disease,'' said Mary Susan Greve, the former Sister Mary Cecelia. ''It's when you don't have information, you don't have the whole picture.
''That's why I can say I was happy at the convent. I only had their side of the story. And now I am happy to be back home - happier than I was - because I have the whole picture.''
Ms. Greve, 22, of Cincinnati, was dragged by her family from the St. Joseph Novitiate Convent in Roundtop, N.Y., on June 26.
In an interview published in Wednesday's editions of The Cincinnati Post, Ms. Greve said she was sometimes unhappy after entering the convent in September 1986. In her second year as a nun, she felt more comfortable but was then pressured when relations deteriorated between her family and the convent's spiritual leader, the Rev. Clarence Kelly.
Members of her family were longtime followers of Kelly. But they became disturbed at his conservative practices, which were not sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Church in Rome, and left his congregation.
Kelly has maintained Ms. Greve was brainwashed by her family into believing the convent was a cult. The church, however, has said little since New York police dropped charges against the family.
''I'm not going to go back to a convent,'' Ms. Greve said. She maintains her faith, saying, ''What people don't understand is that the Catholic faith is a way of life, and that is how I plan to live my life.''
She wants to finish college to get the teaching degree she left half- completed when she joined the convent.
The traditional religious order at the convent follows the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church before Vatican II, which gave bishops a greater influence in church affairs, gave the laity a more active part in the liturgy, and liberalized church positions with regard to non-Catholic and non-Christian faiths.
On Tuesday, she taped an interview for the ''Phil Donahue Show.'' The show, televised Wednesday, pitted her; her mother, Susan; and her brother David, against Kelly.
She sat quietly during the show, but spoke up when questioned and interrupted at the show's end to make her point.
''May I say something? I want to say I'm very thankful that my parents and brothers cared enough about me to do this,'' she said. ''My life wouldn't be the same if they hadn't.''
AP, Associated Press
Jul. 21, 1988 1:12 AM ET
CINCINNATI (AP) _ A former nun whose family abducted her last month from a renegade New York convent says she was brainwashed there and is grateful to be home.
''Brainwashing is an information disease,'' said Mary Susan Greve, the former Sister Mary Cecelia. ''It's when you don't have information, you don't have the whole picture.
''That's why I can say I was happy at the convent. I only had their side of the story. And now I am happy to be back home - happier than I was - because I have the whole picture.''
Ms. Greve, 22, of Cincinnati, was dragged by her family from the St. Joseph Novitiate Convent in Roundtop, N.Y., on June 26.
In an interview published in Wednesday's editions of The Cincinnati Post, Ms. Greve said she was sometimes unhappy after entering the convent in September 1986. In her second year as a nun, she felt more comfortable but was then pressured when relations deteriorated between her family and the convent's spiritual leader, the Rev. Clarence Kelly.
Members of her family were longtime followers of Kelly. But they became disturbed at his conservative practices, which were not sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Church in Rome, and left his congregation.
Kelly has maintained Ms. Greve was brainwashed by her family into believing the convent was a cult. The church, however, has said little since New York police dropped charges against the family.
''I'm not going to go back to a convent,'' Ms. Greve said. She maintains her faith, saying, ''What people don't understand is that the Catholic faith is a way of life, and that is how I plan to live my life.''
She wants to finish college to get the teaching degree she left half- completed when she joined the convent.
The traditional religious order at the convent follows the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church before Vatican II, which gave bishops a greater influence in church affairs, gave the laity a more active part in the liturgy, and liberalized church positions with regard to non-Catholic and non-Christian faiths.
On Tuesday, she taped an interview for the ''Phil Donahue Show.'' The show, televised Wednesday, pitted her; her mother, Susan; and her brother David, against Kelly.
She sat quietly during the show, but spoke up when questioned and interrupted at the show's end to make her point.
''May I say something? I want to say I'm very thankful that my parents and brothers cared enough about me to do this,'' she said. ''My life wouldn't be the same if they hadn't.''