Priest and four nuns deny murdering novice by crucifixion

[karyn]

from daily news

A priest and four nuns have pleaded not guilty to murdering a young nun who died when they left her strapped to a crucifix with a cloth stuck in her mouth during a five day crucifixion ritual.

Father Petru Corogeanu and sisters Nicoleta Arcalianu, Adina Cepreaga, Simona Bardanas and Elena Otel told the court in Vaslui, eastern Romania, today that they had performed an exorcism to try and help 23-year-old Irina Cornici.

The five had last June kept Cornici locked in a room for five days at the Tanacu Monastery hanging on a cross with no water or food and a towel stuck in her mouth.

They said at the time that she had been possessed by Satan and that they had been compelled to carry out an exorcism. But the young woman fell unconscious after a few days and never recovered.

It emerged after her death that Cornici had been diagnosed as a schizophrenic and her "possession" was unlikely to be more than a series of schizophrenic episodes.

But Father Corogeanu told the court during a 45 minute hearing that the exorcism ritual he and the nuns had performed was "quite normal" and blamed medics who attended to Cornici for her death.

He said: "I consider myself not guilty because Irina Conrici's death was not down to the fact that we kept her locked up. We tied her up because she kept hitting and harming herself and we would have found her dead in her room eventually.

"I admit I tied her up and stuck a towel in her mouth and kept her like this for five days. I admit that I used to cover her mouth with tape while she took part in daily mass, but only because I did not want her to disturb the service.

"It was the four nuns who helped me tie her up and who guarded Irina for days. They tried to give her food and water but she refused. All she accepted was holy water. This was the best solution for her because she had to recover from her constant agitation.

"I never thought for a second that she had a medical problem. I realised from her very first seizure that she had a spiritual problem. She was acting as if she had supernatural powers and I realised she was possessed by a demon. Everybody in the monastery believed the same thing." And he added: "My biggest mistake was that I called the ambulance when I saw she was not moving. I think she died because the medics who came with the ambulance tried to resuscitate her by giving her too much adrenaline.

"Had I not called the ambulance, she would have been well now. It was the last stage of her exorcism and it is normal that a person possessed by demons faints when all the prayers end. She was supposed to recover after that.

"The ritual we performed on the young nun is quite ordinary in 90 per cent of Romanian monasteries."

But the Romanian Orthodox Church excommunicated him soon after the nun's death and said the ritual is against any Church teachings.

Another of the accused, Sister Arcalianu, said: "I feel I am innocent for everything I did. Irina Cornici was very aggressive and violent and we did not know what to do with her. I talked to Father Corogeanu and we took the decision of isolating her. She could have either killed herself or killed someone else had we not done that.

"I have seen the same kind of ritual in other monasteries and the possessed were tied up and treated in exactly the same way as we did with Irina.

"Irina knew that she was possessed by evil spirits because she was begging us to tie her up and help her."

Defence lawyer Maria Ilisei said her clients did not intend to kill Cornici.

She said: "They do not have to pay criminally for what they did. A civil suit is a different story. But not all tragic events are criminal and my aim is to absolve them of criminal guilt."

[Kidthorazine]

jesus, the catholic church really needs to get the fuck out of the middla ages.

[keiko]

jesus, the catholic church really needs to get the fuck out of the middla ages.

In Romainia it's a little different than the rest of hte catholic church. Here inthe states, stuff like that is only committed by Pentacostals and Scientologists. Still kinda fucked up...
K

[Kidthorazine]

they do mock crucifictions in mexico too, but for a tottaly different reason, and its voluntary, but this isnt the only fucked up thing that the catholic chrch has going on, Ideologically they are still waaaaaay behind current thought.

[Mr Karl]

cricifixion....why not?

[Wickedanima]

Actually, while the true name of the Eastern Orthodox Church is The Catholic Orthodox Church, it actually heralds its origins to an undivided Christian Church, and has little connection with the Roman Catholic Church. Not that the Roman Catholics, or Western Christians are any less messed up mind you, but the terminology is really off.