Nun Crucified for being possessed by the devil

[gc]

Romanian priest unrepentant after crucifixion of nun

By Laura Chiriac, Agence France Press

TANACU, Romania — A Romanian Orthodox priest, facing charges for ordering the crucifixion of a young nun because she was "possessed by the devil," was unrepentant Saturday as he celebrated a funeral ceremony for his alleged victim.

"God has performed a miracle for her, finally Irina is delivered from evil," Father Daniel, 29, the superior of the Holy Trinity monastery in north-eastern Romania, told an AFP reporter before celebrating a short liturgy "for the soul of the deceased", in the presence of 13 nuns who showed no visible emotion.

He insisted that from the religious point of view the crucifixion of Maricica Irina Cornici, 23, was "entirely justified," but admitted he faced excommunication as well as prosecution, and was seeking a "good lawyer."

Prosecutors said Saturday they had charged the priest and four nuns with imprisonment leading to death, while religious authorities said he would be barred from celebrating liturgy until the investigation was completed. The monastery will be shut if they are found guilty, Father Daniel's superiors said.

Cornici was found dead on Wednesday, gagged and chained to a cross, after fellow nuns called an ambulance, according to police.

Mihaela Straub, spokeswoman for the police in the province of Vaslui, said Daniel and four other nuns had claimed Cornici was possessed and should be exorcised.

Before being crucified she had been kept shut up for several days, her hands and feet tied and without food or drink, he said.

Cornici had entered the monastery just three months before, after visiting a friend who was a nun there, police said.

As her coffin entered the church of the monastery Saturday no church bells were sounded while nuns cast distrustful glances at the strangers, including two AFP reporters, present at the ceremony.

Claps of thunder from an approaching storm were sometimes the only sounds to break the silence.

"This storm is proof that the will of God has been done," Daniel said.

"You see it?" said the priest, gesturing at the body, lying in an annexe and still showing the marks of the gag.

Daniel has lived for the past four years in the isolated monastery located in the hills of one of the poorest regions of Romania, without running water or electricity.

"Over there, in your world, the people must know that the devil exists. Personally I can find his work in the gestures and speech of possessed people, because man is often weak and lets himself be easily manipulated by the forces of evil," said the bearded young priest.

"I don't understand why journalists are making such a fuss about this. Exorcism is a common practise in the heart of the Romanian Orthodox church and my methods are not at all unknown to other priests," he said.

Sociologist Alred Bulai said that corporal punishment was still commonly used in certain Romanian monasteries.

"It's happening particularly in the isolated monasteries, where the superiors have difficulty understanding the current realities and adapting themselves to modern life," Bulai said.

It was not clear why Father Daniel believed the nun was possessed. One parishoner, Dora, said the nun "had to be punished, she had an argument with the Father during a Sunday mass and insulted him in front of the congregation."

Mediafax news agency reported Saturday that the Cornici had recently been treated for "schizophrenia" at the local hospital, but the chief of the local child welfare office, Ionel Bratianu, said the nun was "in good health and did not suffer from any psychiatric trouble."

Cornici was raised in an orphanage until the age of 19, when she traveled to Germany to work as a nanny for a family of German doctors. After in-depth psychological and psychiatric tests, the German embassy had declared her apt to take care of children, said Bratianu.

Since the fall of the communist regime in December 1989, the Orthodox Church, which represents 85% of Romania's 22 million inhabitants, is rated in many opinion polls as the most trusted institution in the country.

Vitalie Danciu, the superior of a nearby monastery at Golia, called the crucifixion "inexcusable," but a spokesman for the Orthodox patriarchate in Bucharest refused to condemn it.

"I don't know what this young woman did," Bogdan Teleanu said.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2005...st_x.htm?csp=34

http://www.daily-news.ro/article_detail.php?idarticle=12569

This is a very sad commentary for this day in time!

gc

[johniam]

Sounds like a cult to me. Isn't this the same country that gave us Dracula?

[satori001]

The world will always condemn what it doesn't understand. Let's just be thankful that the priest took a stand and the nun was delivered.

[Stayed Too Long]

quote:

Originally posted by satori001:

The world will always condemn what it doesn't understand. Let's just be thankful that the priest took a stand and the nun was delivered.

She should have been given the option of being the first recruit for your suicide bombers squad. That way she would not only "have been delivered" but also have some virgins taking care of her now in heaven.

[gc]

quote:

Originally posted by satori001:

The world will always condemn what it doesn't understand. Let's just be thankful that the priest took a stand and the nun was delivered.

I do hope you are joking, even though it would be in bad taste at the expense of a murdered individual. But in case you aren't, she isn't delivered, she is dead. As far as the priest taking a stand, I hope their magistrates also take a stand and deal in justice.

gc

[Stayed Too Long]

The PC police are alive and well.

[Raf]

gc,

I'm purty danged sure he was joking. :)-->

That man doesn't have faith. He's got mental illness.

I mean the priest.

Satori's just nuts. ;)-->

[satori001]

It was black humor, but not a joke.

The story reminded me of TWI's standard response to the criticism of "unbelievers." I thought the wording would pretty much speak for itself.

As for the nun's fate, I've shared my opinion of the Catholic cult before. Crucifying a nun is isn't so extreme, considering the magnitude of human misery Catholicism brings into the world in God's name with their wretched teachings.

[Steve!]

4 nuns crucified vs. 2 nuns crucified, what difference does it make? Who cares if 2 of the nuns were malefactors, and 2 of the nuns were thieves? Or if it was duo nuns enteuthen kai enteuthen, with Jesus in the midst?

[Ham]

The real sad and scary part of all this is much of our former overseers, with da love of god in their souls, would do the same to some of us in the good old USA, if they COULD. And gladly, at that.

[gc]

quote:

Originally posted by satori001:

It was black humor, but not a joke.

The story reminded me of TWI's standard response to the criticism of "unbelievers." I thought the wording would pretty much speak for itself.

satori

Thanks for explaining, it always ruins the joke when you have to explain it, huh? I can appreciate black humor, the problem is, for me, I usually don't recognize it as quickly as most. :)-->

Thanks Raf :)-->

gc

[Stayed Too Long]

What is black humor?

[excathedra]

a nun's habit ?

[satori001]

that's a black bloomer...

or do the bloomers go under the habit?

the black humor is a bad habit.

[CoolWaters]

quote:

Originally posted by Stayed Too Long:

What is black humor?

Main Entry: black humor

Part of Speech: noun

Definition: in literature and drama, combining the morbid and grotesque with humor and farce to give a disturbing effect and convey the absurdity and cruelty of life

[Stayed Too Long]

Thank you!!

[satori001]

quote:

Originally posted by CoolWaters:

quote:

Originally posted by Stayed Too Long:

What is black humor?

Main Entry: black humor

Part of Speech: noun

Definition: in literature and drama, combining the morbid and grotesque with humor and farce to give a disturbing effect and convey the absurdity and cruelty of life

I would change the definition to this extent: ...combining the morbid and grotesque with humor and farce to give a disturbing effect and reveal the absurdity and cruelty of a person, circumstance, institution, culture, but rarely if ever all of life.

"Life" is too broad and vague a subject for most black humor I've come across. My targets were TWI and Catholocism. Life is a lot bigger than they are.

[CoolWaters]

YW, stl.

satori...I got the definition from Dictionary.com so feel free to let them know. ;)-->

[satori001]

A dictionary is only a guide, CW.

[CoolWaters]

Ah, grasshopper, you have touched the eternal reality.

Now your quest must needs be to find...

To where?

(This does relate to the topic...really.)