The Magdalene Sisters Movie

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Fraz94

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Dear All,
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       Have any of you seen the movie "The Magdalene Sisters"? by Peter Mullan.  I have seen it a number of times and I have just watched it now and have been inspired to write this post.  For those who are not familiar it is a film set in Ireland in the late 60s and early 70s and tells the stories of fallen women who for their sins are sent as penitents to a Magdalene Asylum, a home for unmarried mothers- this was very wide spread in Ireland.  I want to write a post about the true story!!!

       It really shocks me the lies and anti Catholic propaganda in this movie- I am shocked and upset by it, it portrays the Sisters of Mercy as though they were Nazi Concentration Camp guards and shows them doing some very cruel and unkind things to the "inmates" and really gives a terrible impression of the Church.  The Church in Ireland as most people know has been through a terrible time lately, due to abuse scandals- which are shocking.  I am not a naive person who believes all Priests and Nuns are Saints and would never do anything wrong, of course they have and that is what all the scandals are about- some disgusting and perverted people have infiltrated the Church and done some appalling things whilst being in active ministry...but the subject of this post is the portrayal of the Nuns in the film "The Magdalene Sisters" not the Priestly sex abuse scandal.
I accept that some Nuns in these institutions may have been harsh or unkind but I am really against how this film has blacked the name of the Sisters. I can see past it, it does not affect my faith or my respect for the good Sisters. People can say what they like to me, but I believe the majority of Nuns who were involved in and ran the Magdalene homes were good and Holy Sisters. People forget that Social Services and the authorities in Ireland handed these women over to the sisters and very often families threw their own daughters out on the street and took them to the Sisters due to their disgust and shame at their daughters becoming pregnant.

I have read about it and seen other other documentaries, even “Philomena” who is in the media lately due to the movie says that the Sisters were nothing like portrayed in this movie. It is clearly propaganda. (Just to clarify Philomena was not in the Magdalene Laundry but in a separate institution run by the Sisters of Charity, who have also been accused of “crimes against humanity”). To go so far as to say that the Nuns are guilty of crimes against humanity is really too much! Philomena says that the majority of Nuns were good and kind people who just tried their best. People don’t understand the whole mentality of the Sisters, to them it was that a mortal sin had been committed by those girls and that it was their duty to help them atone for it and to give them the means to do it- most people don’t get that, but, any properly instructed Catholic understands the idea- even if they don’t agree with how it is and was done.

I know there are people out there and even on this site who will twist my words- I am not covering up or defending abusers, God help those Nuns who did do awful things but my problem is with the film the Magdalene Sisters and the incorrect attitude and ideas it has given people on whole about the Magdalene Homes and the Sisters who ran them. All the Nuns in the movie were fictional although “based” on the stories of “the survivors”- I mean the term used by calling them “survivors” sickens me as though they were comparing them to people who went through Auschwitz and suggesting the Sisters were as bad as Nazi murderers. I have a real problem with this- don’t misunderstand me or twist my words, I am making this post to yes talk about the movie and hear back from people on it, and the Magdalene Asylums, but, in defence of those Holy women who did actually sacrifice and dedicate their lives to God and helping fallen women- these holy sisters gave themselves for the rehabilitation of those in need!

God bless the Sisters of Mercy,
God bless the Sisters of Charity,
May God grant them vocations!

I have had a very positive experience with the Nuns in my home parish and the Nuns I work with in Pastoral Ministry as a Pastoral Assistant to a Priest.

P.S I love movies and as movies go for purely “film purposes” it is worth a watch but the message behind it is false!
 
I actually tried to watch this movie once, but found it too upsetting. I am sure that some abusive things happened in these institutions, but I don’t really know much about them. I personally think the following:
  1. Were the abuses the official teaching or policy of the Catholic Church? No.
  2. Were these abuses worldwide, or were they a product of a particular culture at a certain time? I think so - - I don’t think other countries / cultures had these kind of institutions. Or not to this extent?
  3. I think we can see these institutions as an abuse of the young people, and also as an abuse of the Church, this is a twisting of the mission and purpose of the Church. I think that contemporary faithful Catholics can be angry with the fact that these places existed, and that they do blacken the name of the sisters associated with them, because abuse should never have been the purpose of the sisters, or the Church.
 
While I agree that movies do exaggerate things and I am sure their were good nuns in these places as well, I think that unless you were physically there, you shouldn’t really pass comment. I have spoken to people who were in places like those portrayed in the films, and their experiences were pretty close to how the films described it.

You also seem to forget that in the film (and probably real life) some of the girls hadn’t committed mortal sin…one was raped. The same with philomena, ok the girls had done wrong, but to be sent to a place where their children were basically sold WITHOUT their permission isn’t exactly helping regardless of how “nice” the nuns were to them. Plus they lied to both philomena and her son.

I can watch the films…which are very upsetting, it doesn’t make me feel bad about the church as a whole, I understand that people are human and that there are bad people everywhere but don’t fall into the trap of going the opposite…thinking that just because the church as a whole is good, that all nuns & priests are too…some (as the films portray) are downright horrible!

In short unless you were there, you don’t know the girls were fallen and you don’t know the nuns were holy, lovely people trying to help.
 
I agree with everything you have said. Those movies are very anti-catholic and are trying to push the anti-catholic agenda. It does annoy me when some people are naive enough to believe the way nuns or priests are betrayed in those movies as truth instead of seeking the “real” truth themselves and not the one they are fed or lead to believe. The world will always persecute the church just as it’s founder was. In the Divine Mercy chaplet Jesus says “Today bring to Me the souls of those who have separated themselves from My church. During My bitter passion they tore at My Body and Heart, that is My church. As they return to unity with the church My wounds heal”.
I wish the world could see how they are offending Jesus every time they persecute His church.
 
Truth_Faith13 said:
While I agree that movies do exaggerate things and I am sure their were good nuns in these places as well, I think that unless you were physically there, you shouldn’t really pass comment. I have spoken to people who were in places like those portrayed in the films, and their experiences were pretty close to how the films described it.

You also seem to forget that in the film (and probably real life) some of the girls hadn’t committed mortal sin…one was raped. The same with philomena, ok the girls had done wrong, but to be sent to a place where their children were basically sold WITHOUT their permission isn’t exactly helping regardless of how “nice” the nuns were to them. Plus they lied to both philomena and her son.

I can watch the films…which are very upsetting, it doesn’t make me feel bad about the church as a whole, I understand that people are human and that there are bad people everywhere but don’t fall into the trap of going the opposite…thinking that just because the church as a whole is good, that all nuns & priests are too…some (as the films portray) are downright horrible!

In short unless you were there, you don’t know the girls were fallen and you don’t know the nuns were holy, lovely people trying to help.
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I agree with you my friend. I wasn’t there and of course we shouldn’t pass judgment- but the problem with this film in particular as I tried to write in my post, it does just that- it passes judgement on the Sisters and leads people to get the wrong impression of the whole system and the Church in general, and the film is designed to make people think and believe that- of course there have been some awful Nuns in these places but if you read what I said I do think I was right in reasoning.

You are wrong about Philomena, she was not raped- I have heard her speak (as in the real woman herself not Judi Dench) and she fully admits that she did it willingly with the father of her baby, but that she didn’t realise what would come from it.

God bless!
 
anon98328916 said:
I agree with everything you have said. Those movies are very anti-catholic and are trying to push the anti-catholic agenda. It does annoy me when some people are naive enough to believe the way nuns or priests are betrayed in those movies as truth instead of seeking the “real” truth themselves and not the one they are fed or lead to believe. The world will always persecute the church just as it’s founder was. In the Divine Mercy chaplet Jesus says “Today bring to Me the souls of those who have separated themselves from My church. During My bitter passion they tore at My Body and Heart, that is My church. As they return to unity with the church My wounds heal”.
I wish the world could see how they are offending Jesus every time they persecute His church.
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What a wonderful way of putting it, thanks so much for commenting!
 
27lw said:
  1. Were these abuses worldwide, or were they a product of a particular culture at a certain time? I think so - - I don’t think other countries / cultures had these kind of institutions. Or not to this extent?
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I am not familiar with any details, but such institutions existed in the US and Canada, even Mexico.

Last year, on a Catholic history blog, an excerpt from a book published 100 years ago revealed their existence. The excerpt is glowing with praise, but if you read closely you can see what we would regard today as abuses. The comments which readers added to the blog indicate that the North America facilities ran for quite some time.
patheos.com/blogs/mcnamarasblog/2013/06/the-good-shepherd-sisters-buffalo-new-york-1914.html
 
Fraz94 said:
I agree with you my friend. I wasn’t there and of course we shouldn’t pass judgment- but the problem with this film in particular as I tried to write in my post, it does just that- it passes judgement on the Sisters and leads people to get the wrong impression of the whole system and the Church in general, and the film is designed to make people think and believe that- of course there have been some awful Nuns in these places but if you read what I said I do think I was right in reasoning.

You are wrong about Philomena, she was not raped- I have heard her speak (as in the real woman herself not Judi Dench) and she fully admits that she did it willingly with the father of her baby, but that she didn’t realise what would come from it.

God bless!
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I wasn’t on about philomena…I haven’t watched it for a while but I’m sure one of the girls in the magdalene sisters was raped (scene in the barn). I have heard the real philomena speak too…she has been on TV a lot recently. So you think it was right for the nuns to sell the children to America without the mothers permission (it was a forced adoption), then to lie to the son & mother, then to burn all the papers when they realised how wrong it was?

My problem with what you are saying is I’m getting the impression you don’t want anything bad written involving the church at all. A sort of sweep it under the carpet so as not to taint the big picture. As I said I don’t watch the films and blame the church…I see it for what it is, a few nuns making atrocious decisions. Whether you like it or not things like this happened to people…awful things. I agree, that doesn’t mean the church as a whole is bad, but you can’t ignore the stories of those that say it happened to them.
 
Just as another point, I find it interesting how you are quick to judge the girls calling them “fallen” and falling into mortal sin, however my point was that (with the exception of Philomena who has spoken about it openly) we don’t know for sure what the girls did, or if indeed they were in the wrong. If memory serves me correctly, one of the girls was in there simply for running away from home? (the girl that gets beaten by her father and dragged back) - it might be her who is later picked up by her brother.

Yet on the flip side, you make it sound like the nuns cant put a foot wrong just because you have been fortunate enough to deal with the good ones. I went to a convent school and know plenty of decent nuns, good, kind and caring people who truly just want to help. But you cant judge one person, on another persons good deeds.

I’m only concerned as I feel this type of thinking is what got the church into trouble over the sex scandal. Yes it was a few (out of the billion or so that are in the church) people who did some very wrong doings, no I don’t blame the church for that. However what the church did do wrong was ignore it, cover it up, pretend like it never happened. Not accepting that a few of its flock had gone bad.

To put it into this context, instead of being quick to defend the church and call it “anti catholic propaganda” - accept it for what it is…a few bad people who did bad things. Everyone’s story deserves to be told. I honestly don’t see the films as anti catholic or anti the church. They are just telling someones story.
 
I know that bad people have been inside the Church, as I said I am not so naive as to think all Nuns and Priests are Holy Saints- but I resent the attitude that all The Magdalene institutions run by the Nuns are being presented as Concentration Camps and that those who were in them today are called “survivors” as though the Sisters were as bad as the Nazis and committing crimes against humanity.
 
Fraz94 said:
I know that bad people have been inside the Church, as I said I am not so naive as to think all Nuns and Priests are Holy Saints- but I resent the attitude that all The Magdalene institutions run by the Nuns are being presented as Concentration Camps and that those who were in them today are called “survivors” as though the Sisters were as bad as the Nazis and committing crimes against humanity.
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Are ALL of them being presented that way though? or was the film focusing more on a set group of people?

Its sort of like the old mental health institutions…in todays world, what happened in some of those places were awful hence why they (as well as the laundrettes with nuns) have been closed down…but do I watch films and think all mental health wards are bad now? Of course not! Do I watch them and think all the doctors and nurses in years gone by were bad, of course not! Its just a film portraying that particular experience of a small group of people.

The other thing you have to bear in mind is that these places no longer exist (as far as I am aware) which says something?
 
Truth_Faith13 said:
Just as another point, I find it interesting how you are quick to judge the girls calling them “fallen” and falling into mortal sin, however my point was that (with the exception of Philomena who has spoken about it openly) we don’t know for sure what the girls did, or if indeed they were in the wrong. If memory serves me correctly, one of the girls was in there simply for running away from home? (the girl that gets beaten by her father and dragged back) - it might be her who is later picked up by her brother.

Yet on the flip side, you make it sound like the nuns cant put a foot wrong just because you have been fortunate enough to deal with the good ones. I went to a convent school and know plenty of decent nuns, good, kind and caring people who truly just want to help. But you cant judge one person, on another persons good deeds.

I’m only concerned as I feel this type of thinking is what got the church into trouble over the sex scandal. Yes it was a few (out of the billion or so that are in the church) people who did some very wrong doings, no I don’t blame the church for that. However what the church did do wrong was ignore it, cover it up, pretend like it never happened. Not accepting that a few of its flock had gone bad.

To put it into this context, instead of being quick to defend the church and call it “anti catholic propaganda” - accept it for what it is…a few bad people who did bad things. Everyone’s story deserves to be told. I honestly don’t see the films as anti catholic or anti the church. They are just telling someones story.
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Yes, thanks for commenting. It is always good to hear and see different points of view etc. Although to use your own words earlier “who are you to judge”…who are we to judge the actions of the Sisters, or the girls. I was just using the term “fallen women” as that is what they were known as and referred to. When we talk about St. Mary Magdalene she certainly was a fallen woman and the Magdalene Institutions were originally dedicated in her honour for women who had got themselves into trouble.

I have said exactly what you claim “accept it for what it is, a few bad people who did bad things” you have put it perfectly! “A few” bad people did bad things, yet those “few people”- have given the whole orders and institutions a bad name and an awful reputation as criminals- that is the whole point my dear friend. As I said it is not right to judge the whole institution by the actions of so few, it is the same with the Priestly sex scandals. When does the media ever report on or show good and Holy Nuns and Priests- I mean they can’t even show Mother Teresa without linking her to some scandal or other.
 
Although I must say, from the acting point of view the film is very good. I like the actress Gerald McEwan and thought she was wonderful as Sr. Bridget- the Mother Superior, she deserves an Oscar for her acting skills. I enjoy movies as I said, but as noted I don’t agree with the institutional incorrect picture and widespread lies that it has lead to. Sr. Bridget is a fictional character although I understand she was based on testimonies from many “survivors”- if they had based her on a real Sister, there would have been public outcry and would have blacked the her name. But as acting goes she was wonderful as Sr. Bridget- my favourite character in the movie (from the actress and acting point of view) was very well done as a movie. I really like her character, wonderful lady!
 
I agree that this movie was made with a specific anti-catholic bias and may well not be truthful in all details. But what a weapon these people now have against the Church as these people had positions of authority within the Church and silence ruled.
The Royal Commission in Australia on child abuse is coming out with tragic details that will take years to investigate. Needless to say it was initiated specifically to attack the Catholic Church, however no organisation that had charge of children over the last twenty years is coming out unscathed.
The Salvos have been found guilty of pimping out little boys from their orphanage to local homosexuals. The Scout movement is next on the list. Terrible abuses have been proven in government run institutions.
But the saddest abuse was a pedophile ring that pervaded an entire order of Catholic Brothers who had control of mentally retarded children and their abominations have only just come out after twenty years of horror.
This Royal Commission is doing the will of God in my opinion and the Church will never be the same or have the same reputation. Satan has won a victory which will take two generations to repair. All we can do is to pray that our leaders have the courage to put in place procedural controls over its vocational system and a comprehensive external audit of all institutions under its control. The heart must be ripped from the homosexual infiltration even up to the level of the Vatican.
If the Church does not act more aggressively against the problem it will lose millions of good Catholics that cannot accept the dissonance between doctrine and practice.
 
Fraz94 said:
…and that those who were in them today are called “survivors” as though the Sisters were as bad as the Nazis and committing crimes against humanity.
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May I point out that this needn’t automatically refer to Nazis and Concentration Camps… I’ve got reliable information that people who have become victims of sexual abuse also call themselves “survivors” and are encouraged to do so because it makes clear that they do have strength and are not helpless any more.
 
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