Notes: In its issue of September 21 The Times devoted nearly three of its columns to a letter entitled “The English Benedictine Nuns in Rome.”
To see so much precious space devoted to the affairs of half a dozen nuns was in itself something of the strangest, and at once suggested that the letter in question contained very unpleasant tidings. And in fact it was a sad record of the consequences of incapacity, credulity, and unbusiness-like ways. The nuns had contracted a debt of £24.000, and when the time came for payment found they had no funds. A rich novice had left them under disgraceful circumstances, and the Abbess was of opinion that the Vatican ought therefore to have stayed the hands of the creditors.
The whole story was written in a spirit of bitter partisanship, and common fairness seemed to require that we should allow the Irish Augustinians, whose conduct was complained of, an opportunity of defending themselves before giving the publicity of our columns to the wholesale accusations brought against them.
Even The Times seems to have felt some hesitation about giving such a one-sided story to the world, so that, though the letter bore the date August it appeared only on September 21st.
We decided therefore, before reproducing the letter of the ex-Abbess, to make some inquiries, and specially as to the accuracy of the statement that an Italian Court of First Instance had decided that the Benedictine community were entitled to retain possession of the property they had acquired from the Augustinians, although admittedly it had not been paid for. Meanwhile a letter in The Times of Monday, from the Bishop of Clifton, seems to make further inquiry superfluous and to supply a complete vindication for the position taken up by the authorities at the Vatican.
But Miss Pynsent censures the ecclesiastical authorities for not interfering to prevent the expulsion from the convent. Your readers will be surprised to learn that Miss Pynsent does not believe in the Christian religion. She confided this to me in May 1900, but begged me not to let anyone know.
Early in this year she wrote to release me from my promise of secrecy and said she did not care if all the world knew her unbelief. Many of your readers will not think any the worse of the lady for being an Agnostic, but I think they will all acknowledge that the Roman authorities of the Church could not assist to avert the dispersion and expulsion of a community which was presided over by an Abbess who did not believe in Christianity.
Probably, on reflection, Miss Pynsent will admit that it is hardly reasonable to complain that the authorities at the Vatican did not actively exert themselves to perpetuate the rule of a lady who has ceased to be a Christian over a community of Catholic nuns. Perhaps, too, it may some day or other occur to Miss Pynsent to wonder whether, being in fact an Agnostic, she was justified in writing to The Times as though she were still only a disappointed Catholic.
We need hardly point out that the suggestion of The Times that the suit brought by the Irish Augustinians against Miss Pynsent’s community was the only instance of an appeal by Catholic ecclesiastics to the Italian Courts in secular matters is very wide of the mark. To go no further back than a few weeks ago, our readers will remember the victorious way in which Mgr. Campbell vindicated his honour in those same Courts against some journalistic traducer.
Transcribed in whole or part from scanned originals: Presented with or without modified text and punctuation. For absolute accuracy refer to the original newspapers. Source: The British Newspaper Archive
Referenced
GRO1138 Devonport: Lucretia Anna Maude Pinsent: 1857 – 1934